Close to Home (49 page)

Authors: Peter Robinson

BOOK: Close to Home

4Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

He could hear his father snoring in the next room. At least
there had been a reconciliation of sorts between the two of them. Though Arthur Banks would never actually admit anything, his attitude had changed since their drink together that evening. Banks could tell that his father had been proud of him for his success in solving Graham's murderâthough he insisted Michelle had done most of the workâand for not trying to cover up Jet Harris's role. Proud for perhaps the first time in his life.

How strange it was to be at home in his old bed. As he drifted toward sleep, he imagined his mother calling him for school in the morning: “Hurry up, Alan, or you'll be late!” In his dream, he fastened his tie as he dashed downstairs for a quick bowl of cornflakes and a glass of milk before picking up his satchel and meeting the others out in the street. But when he walked out of the door, Dave and Paul and Steve and Graham all stood there waiting for him with the bat, the ball and the wickets. The sun shone in a bright blue sky and the air was warm and fragrant. There was no school. They were on holiday. They were going to play cricket on the rec. “It's summer, you fool,” Graham said, and they all laughed at him.
The summer that never was
.

About the Author

P
ETER
R
OBINSON'S
award-winning novels have been named a Best-Book-of-the-Year by
Publishers Weekly,
a Notable Book by the
New York Times,
and a Page-Turner-of-the-Week by
People
magazine. Robinson was born and brought up in Yorkshire, England, but has lived in North America for nearly twenty-five years.

www.peterrobinsonbooks.com

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

Praise
Critical acclaim for award-winning author
PETER ROBINSON
and
CLOSE TO HOME

“SUSPENSEFUL AND ENGROSSINGâ¦

[It] offers a growing complexity of character,
motive, and event.”

Orlando Sentinel

“AN ELABORATE MYSTERY PLOTâ¦

poignant, thoughtfulâ¦effectiveâ¦refreshingly down-to-earthâ¦[It] takes on a mature, substantial aspect that is especially welcome in police procedural fictionâ¦And Mr. Robinson, like his hero, understands the deeply mixed emotions that accompany a return to the past.”

New York Times

“RICHLY COMPLEXâ¦

satisfying and subtleâ¦lots of suspense.”

Publishers Weekly

“WITH THE FADING OF

P.D. James and Ruth Rendell,

British crime fiction needs a new leader.

Peter Robinson may be the next top gun.”

San Antonio Express-News

“The novels of Peter Robinson are CHILLING, EVOCATIVE, deeply nuanced works of art.”

Dennis Lehane

“Very absorbingâ¦a TAUT, TIGHTLY WOUND mysteryâ¦[that delivers] the pleasures of a thriller and the emotional weight of a literary novel.”

Madison Capital Times

“Robinson's skill with the British police procedural has been BURNISHED to a high gloss.”

Chicago Tribune

“A highly entertaining book that will keep you up lateâ¦Robinson's cops are as flawed as the rest of us, and even his VILLAINS ARE COMPLEX sortsâ¦
Close to Home
should gain him a wider following.”

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

“Among THE FINEST mystery writers.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Peter Robinson has been called the whodunit world's BEST KEPT SECRETâ¦He succeeds splendidly.”

San Diego Union-Tribune

“A superior detectiveâ¦a SUPERIOR writer.”

Denver Post

“STRIKINGâ¦[a] well-crafted novel that examines and contrasts the 1960s and the present dayâ¦The story is a very good one and Banks continues to be an INTRIGUING character.”

Tampa Tribune

“Robinson brings a seamlessness to his creation of Banks and his world that has helped the series remain freshâ¦It's [the] dips into English history and culture that make Robinson so READABLE, as well as his WELL-DETAILED villains, including a few British cops.”

Seattle Times

“Highly readableâ¦[a] FIRST-CLASS STORYTELLERâ¦
Close to Home
never fails to be entertaining, but its implications insist on being taken seriously.”

National Post

“Peter Robinson is an INCREDIBLE writer.”

Calgary Herald

“Returning to the world of Alan Banks is always A PLEASURE.”

Boston Globe

Also by Peter Robinson

G
ALLOWS
V
IEW

A D
EDICATED
M
AN

A N
ECESSARY
E
ND

T
HE
H
ANGING
V
ALLEY

P
AST
R
EASON
H
ATED

W
EDNESDAY
'
S
C
HILD

F
INAL
A
CCOUNT

I
NNOCENT
G
RAVES

B
LOOD AT THE
R
OOT

I
N A
D
RY
S
EASON

C
OLD
I
S THE
G
RAVE

A
FTERMATH

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

CLOSE TO HOME
. Copyright Â© 2003 by Peter Robinson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Â© Edition MAY 2006 ISBN: 9780061969973

10 9 8 7