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Book Review of Friend of the Devil (Inspector Banks, Bk 17)

Friend of the Devil (Inspector Banks, Bk 17)
barbsis avatar reviewed on + 1076 more book reviews


This is one series I haven't read in sequence and really wish I had. I'd love to know what happened with Cabbot and Banks to cause such tension between them. And I'd understand all the particulars about the wheelchair victim who'd obviously been a previous case for Banks and Cabbott. It's not really important information to enjoy the mystery but it would certainly help with background details.

The story starts with two seemingly unconnected murders: a wheelchair-bound paraplegic with her throat cut and a teenage girl brutally raped. DI Annie Cabbott caught the wheelchair case and DCI Alan Banks the rape case. Both cases are bizarre with no suspects and no real evidence. The investigation of the rape case goes round and round in circles and seems hopeless until one tiny inconsequential detail finally registers in Banks subconscious. Annie's investigation falls back on an 18 year unsolved murder with a very remote possible connection.

I enjoyed the research and investigation of both cases and other than the miscellaneous British slang that totally confused me, thought this was a terrific mystery. I've read a few books in this series and have always liked Annie and Banks, together and apart. I'll have to do some research and see if I can find the book that featured the wheelchair victim so I can find out the reasons for the animosity of the victims, suspects and cops with regard to her demise and their ambivalence.