Not Dark Yet: A DCI Banks Novel

Written by Peter Robinson

Narrated by Simon Vance

“Robinson is an author with amazing empathy, a snare-trap ear for dialogue, and a clear eye for the telling detail.”—Michael Connelly

One of the world's greatest suspense writers returns with the 27th novel featuring the legendary detective Alan Banks in the mystery series Stephen King calls “the best now on the market.” 

When property developer Connor Clive Blaydon is found dead, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his Yorkshire team dive into the investigation. As luck would have it, someone had installed a cache of spy-cams all around his luxurious home. The team hope that they’ll find answers—and the culprit—among the video recordings.  

Instead of discovering Connor’s murderer, however, the grainy and blurred footage reveals another crime: a brutal rape. If they can discover the woman’s identity, it could lead to more than justice for the victim; it could change everything the police think they know about Connor and why anyone would want him dead.

Meanwhile, tensions are rising between Banks and his friend, Zelda. A super recognizer—able to recognize faces significantly better than most people—Zelda is determined to bring the men who abused her to justice. But stirring up the murky waters of the past will put her in far greater danger than ever before, and Banks worries that he won’t be able to stop her from plunging too deep before it’s too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Mar 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063065895

Peter Robinson

One of the world’s most popular and acclaimed writers, Peter Robinson was the bestselling, award-winning author of the DCI Banks series. He also wrote two short-story collections and three stand-alone novels, which combined have sold more than ten million copies around the world. Among his many honors and prizes were the Edgar Award, the CWA (UK) Dagger in the Library Award, and the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy Martin Beck Award.

Reviews for Not Dark Yet

[edwardsgt · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Yet another story where Albanians get a bad press! Banks investigates the disappearance of Ray Cabott's partner, who was originally trafficked from Moldova, whilst Annie Cabott investigates the murder of a local organised crime boss and a rape on the premises. Interesting cast of characters and good exchanges in Annie's interviews.

[rsummer_7 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Nowhere near his best work.

[Dax · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like the narrator. But the meandering plot eventually veered into sanctimonious preachiness like the church lady on vintage Saturday Night Live. It's a murder mystery after all. Give it a break.

[byl_strother · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'll make this short. I enjoyed the book a lot. If you think you would enjoy it you should back up to Careless Love (#25) at the very least and go from there. It's best to start with #1 because there are long, ongoing relationships over the entire series that it helps to understand. If that's a bit too much though at least go back to #25 since #25-#27 form a distinctive narrative arc.

[Barb L · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent story t! Great intriguing story and outstanding narration. A must-read!

[naggedman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rather out of the ordinary for the author and his character, plotlines somewhat less credible than usual.

[terran_9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read most of the books in this series, so at least I know most of the characters. The biggest difference to me in this episode is that Inspector Banks seems to be more disillusioned than ever with his profession. He wants to be able to help Zelda, a woman involved with his friend, Ray. She has a painful past, but has survived and helped police identify criminals and put them behind bars. She has also, Banks suspects, wreaked vengeance on some personal enemies. It's hard for him to justify turning her in to authorities because the people she may have killed are hard-core criminals who tortured many women over the years.Personal events such as his daughter's wedding and his son's farewell tour with his band distract Banks from the criminal investigations, but he does manage to fulfill his parental obligations. In spite of the details about Zelda's experiences and those surrounding the death of another young woman, this book was a good read. Banks introduces many musical artists and genres throughout the book, which are interesting to follow through on by listening to some

[the7ken7petersen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't sure about this book, when I started reading. The story was immediately disturbing and, as I use detective fiction as a good wind down to the arms of Morpheus, that's not what I need. Gradually, however, Peter Robinson's superb storytelling technique drew me in and I was hooked. I will keep to my usual review style and give nothing of the plot away, but it is safe to draw the conclusion that Alan Banks' time in the force is coming towards its close. This leaves some interesting questions: will there be another tale in the series? Will Banks become a freelance assistant to the police force (as per Rebus)? Will he become a private eye?I await the answer to these, and doubtless questions that I haven't considered, in the fullness of time...

[scrabblenut · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A very dark story, not my favourite.

[smik_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another many stranded plot, firmly rooted in the infiltration of Britain by East European mafia. Added to that the exploration of Banks's personal life. Some heart stopping moments as not only Zelda is abducted but also Banks himself is snatched and then thinks his end has come. I am always an advocate of reading a series in order, and that has stood me in relatively good stead in the case of the Inspector Banks series. However I have missed only one of the recent titles in this series, but it was enough to ensure that I did not know who one of the important characters in this title, Zelda, was.

[twink_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not Dark Yet is the 27th entry in Peter Robinson’s fabulous Inspector Banks series. I’ve read each and everyone and couldn’t wait to pick up this latest. Not Dark Yet picks up where the last book left off. We met Zelda in the 25th book, Careless Love. She worked with law-enforcement to identify those in the sex trafficking trade, that she herself survived. She moved to Eastvale and has found a partner and new life within Banks' circle. But for Zelda, she feels like she has unfinished business with her past.Banks and his team have business to attend to as well - there's been a double murder at a luxury home. The Albanian mafia may have been responsible - and a series of covertly filmed videos that add another layer to the case.The plotting in Robinson's books is always intricately woven. Seemingly disparate threads are slowly but expertly woven together. The conclusion is always satisfying, but not always what the reader might have imagined. The plots ring true, often taking inspiration from current social issues and headlines. Banks has always had a strong moral compass,- but it doesn't always fit into the legal parameters of the department. Indeed, he makes some interesting choices in Not Yet Dark - and I can't say I disagree with them. Regular supporting characters Annie and Gerry are back. Annie has always been a favorite of mine and Gerry has really grown on me. Inspector Banks books are meant to be savored. The story moves along well, but at a thoughtful pace that allows the reader to ruminate along with Alan. I enjoy his honest self contemplation and his love of music. (I often search out his playlists) He seems world weary in this latest - I hope it doesn't herald the end of Banks....Another excellent addition to this series.

[porte01 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There is nothing as satisfying to me as sinking into the newest installment of a favorite top-tier crime series. This outstanding addition to the DCI Alan Banks series, (#27), delivers everything you would expect from this author, (whose characters just keep getting better with age) and at the same time, introduces a bit of a wistful and nostalgic tone that makes me wonder if changes are afoot in this series for Banks (who at this point, has seen many of his cronies off into retirement). If so that would be sad.DCI Alan Banks is a fabulous, complex, and compassionate character - an odd-duck British detective who is a passionate lover of music (a multitude of genres, but always best on vinyl), a bit of a wise-guy, and a proud father of two young adults (each of them moving on and away with the next stages of their lives). Banks, at this point in the series single again, is now given to “dark and lonely” contemplations over a glass or two of red wine (sometimes whiskey), at home alone in his gravel-fronted cottage, wondering if fighting crime can really form the meaningful substance of an entire life. In a bit of new twist, in this book Banks’s detecting forms only one of the three main threads running in parallel that interleave to form this story. Banks, with the help of his NCA and international contacts, comes up against pure evil as he pursues the killer of a notorious villain with ties to sex-trafficking and drugs in deep affiliation with the Albanian mob. Meanwhile, the rest of Bank’s core team, DC Gerry Masterson and DI Annie Cabbot follow their own inquiries (leading to several clever plot twists and turns) after the discovery of the drugging and rape of a young girl.The final thread re-introduces beautiful Zelda, a mysterious figure who we know to be running from a past full of “deeds that haunted her”, leaving her to wonder if she could ever “remake herself into a decent normal human being”. As we have seen before, (and although we get to know more of Zelda’s background in this novel) Zelda and Banks clearly have unfinished business.The plot is complex, each thread interesting and engaging in its own right, and in typical Peter Robinson fashion, all three threads weave together beautifully into a grand finale that is oddly satisfying as well as (typical of good series form) tantalizingly suggestive of things to come. I can’t wait to read the next edition of this wonderful series. A big thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an advance review copy of this novel. All thoughts presented are my own.

[samsattler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not Dark Yet, Peter Robinson’s twenty-seventh “DCI Banks Novel” picks up where the previous Banks novel, Many Rivers to Cross, leaves off, bringing Zelda’s story to what seems to be a logical place to leave it. Zelda, for those unfamiliar with the goings-on in Many Rivers to Cross, is a stunningly beautiful Eastern European woman who was abducted by a sophisticated ring of sex traffickers as a seventeen-year-old as she walked out the front door for the last time of the orphanage in which she had grown up. Zelda now lives in Yorkshire with one of Banks’s best friends, and if he were only to admit it to himself, Alan Banks is probably a little bit in love with Zelda, too.Zelda is something called a “super-recognizer,” meaning that she is highly skilled at recognizing faces years after she has last seen them, even in old photos and videos. This is a skill especially valued by law enforcement authorities, and they have made good use of Zelda’s willingness to work with them in locating and identifying sex traffickers who would much prefer to remain anonymous. But being a super-recognizer also allows Zelda to locate the men responsible for making her a sex slave so that she can extract her own brand of revenge on them, and she is determined to do exactly that.In a parallel plot-line, Banks, Annie, and the rest of the team are trying to find the killer of Connor Clive Blayton, a wealthy man who was found floating face-down in the luxury pool inside his mansion. Blayton was known for the wild, anything goes, parties at which he enjoyed nothing more than surrounding himself with celebrities and powerful politicians. But after a trove of secretly recorded video recordings are found — and reviewed — the list of people who would be happy enough to see Blayton’s mouth closed for good turns out to be a long one. One recording, however, stands out to investigators because it shows the brutal rape of what appears to be an underaged young woman — and that’s the thread that investigators start yanking on in hopes that it will somehow lead them to the killer they seek. At this point in his career, Banks is a seasoned investigator with a good track record, and he has pretty much seen it all. But it’s one thing to investigate a crime, and it’s another thing entirely to get caught up in the crime himself. Before this one is over, Banks will be second-guessing both his future as a policeman and the fine line that sometimes separates the good guys from the bad guys.Bottom Line: Not Dark Yet is a satisfying chapter of Alan Banks’s life, adding personal details about Banks, his family, and his friends to the man’s history while the two separate police investigations run their course. There’s even a potentially ominous (for fans) hint at the end of the novel that Banks may be pondering a change in his lifestyle when one character asks if Banks is going to arrest them, and he responds, “No, I’ve had enough of all that. More than enough.” So, even if he remains a cop, Alan Banks is going to be a different cop from the one he was before he met Zelda.

[delphimo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy most of the Alan Banks series by Peter Robinson. I wish that he would provide an index of the songs that Alan hears. Many classical musical, of which I am very unfamiliar and would like to know and many hear myself. I guess I could make the list myself, but I am too busy with all the characters. Not Dark Yet explores the many images of darkness very poignantly. I am incredibly surprised that Peter Robinson does not quote Bob Dylan’s song “Not Dark Yet” in this book. The story jumps from Romania, Paris, Yorkshire, and London. The English countryside awakens the senses with the birds, scenery, and climate. Towards the end of the story, Alan admits he loves Zelda. Will the two ever enjoy the other’s company? Alan seems lost in his own, lonely world of past loves: Sandra-his ex-wife and Annie his ex-girlfriend. The story briefly invades the world of sex slavery by looking at Zelda’s prior life and displays the perils of drugs and alcohol and wild parties by the wealthy.

[carol420 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It has a rather complicated plot. When you take into consideration that the author has inserted many passages into an otherwise interesting storyline that describes scenery, meals, and musical selections, although still "interesting"...they seemed to be tedious and unnecessarily. The usual characters…Alan, Annie, and Gerry were their usual captivating and capable selves, but not much was touched on about their personal lives which is usually a big part of this series. This was only addressed and touched on in passing. While after reading what I have said, it seems trivial. However for myself, it caused this remarkable police procedural series to lack the depth, subtlety, and superior writing that has made the earlier Inspector Banks books such very good reading.

[edgoldberg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've been a big fan of Peter Robinson for a long time, but more recently his books are not as engrossing. I vaguely remember something about a trilogy starring Zelda, Ray Cabbot, the Tedic brothers and Phil Keane, of which this would be the third. If you don't remember prior plots involving these characters, you're sort of out of luck.A criminal was found butchering in his swimming pool along with his butler, who apparently took films of people doing deeds in the mansion's bedrooms. One of them shows a man with an under age girl. The problem--the images are blurry and no one knows the participants so they can't be found.Of course, Banks, Cabbot and Gerry (Winsome is on maternity leave) are on the case and slowly but surely clues appear.Also, Zelda is kidnapped so Banks' attention is diverted.I thought I remembered cold cases in the Inspector Banks books but there are none here. That's a shame. Not Dark Yet is a reasonable book. Nothing outstanding but I've read a whole lot worse. I'd say it's for Robinson fans mostly.

[lostinalibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In Not Dark Yet, Police Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are investigating a double murder of a corrupt developer and his butler as well as a possible rape. The developer is linked to the Albanian mob which places Zelda, the victim of sex trafficking, high on the list of suspects. As Banks investigates the murders, Annie and the rest of his team work to identify the rape victim and it soon becomes clear the two cases are linked. Banks is sure Zelda is not involved but her strange behaviour after she returns from Croatia is hard to ignore. And then she disappears. Peter Robinson is one of my favourite writers of the mystery genre in general and police procedurals in particular and Not dark Yet is an example of why. It is, as always, well-written and well-plotted and if it is more violent and darker than earlier books, it is also intelligent with characters who age and grow with each book. And, of course, there are the usual music references, everything from classical to classic rock including the title which, if you're wondering is from a Dylan song. A fine addition to a great series.Thanks to Netgalley & Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

[brianewilliams · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Police Superintendent Alan Banks and his team of detectives are investigating a double murder at a posh residence. The victims are a shady property developer and his majordomo. The murders were vicious, one of the victims was disemboweled and his body thrown into a swimming pool. The police suspect the killers are some of the developer's Albanian gangland allies. This storyline continues one that starts in an earlier book in the Banks series and hopefully brings it to a close. Getting to that point however is an adventure for Banks and he faces extreme physical danger which he only narrowly escapes.There are developments on the personal side for Banks as well. His daughter (finally) marries and his son, a successful musician, retires from his band. He is at peace with his personal life. Things seem to be winding down for Banks's career too. Is retirement from the police far off?This is the 27th book in the series of police procedural crime novels and a worthy entry to the lineup. It is grittier than earlier ones: the villains are particularly nasty evil people. Britain has changed and not for the better; there's even some veiled unfavourable references to Brexit and its consequences. All in all, it's a tough read with plenty of gratuitous violence. Despite that, fans of the series will likely enjoy it.A few nits. The endless musical references throughout the book can stand to be culled. Similarly, a slew of police-related acronyms (PACE, ANPR) could be explained for those readers unfamiliar with English police procedure.I requested and received a complementary advance reader's copy of the eBook from the publisher Penguin Random House Canada via Netgalley.