
In A Dry Season
Peter Robinson(Author)
Pan Books (Publisher)
Published on 27. March 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
544 pages
978-1-0350-5843-3 (ISBN)
Description
'The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are the best series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong' - Stephen King
A lost village. Past crimes. Present evil.
During a blistering summer, drought has depleted Thornfield Reservoir, uncovering the remains of a small village called Hobb's End - hidden from view for over forty years. For a curious young boy this resurfaced hamlet is a magical playground . . . until he unearths a human skeleton.
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks is given the impossible task of identifying the victim - a woman who lived in a place that no longer exists, whose former residents are scattered to the winds. Anyone else might throw in the towel but DCI Banks is determined to uncover the murky past buried beneath a flood of time . . .
Widely acclaimed as Robinson's best and most ambitious novel, In a Dry Season is a gripping, high-paced tale in which past truths and presents secrets collide. If you enjoyed it, then you'll love the next instalment in the Banks series - which became the major British ITV Drama DCI Banks - Cold is the Grave.
*****
Critical acclaim for the Inspector Banks series:
'A powerfully moving work' - Ian Rankin
'Top-notch police procedure' - Jeffery Deaver
'A wonderful novel' - Michael Connelly
'An addictive crime-novel series' - New York Times
'A guaranteed page-turner' - Mirror
'Demonstrates how the crime novel, when done right, can reach parts that other books can't . . . A considerable achievement' - Guardian
'One of the most authentic and atmospheric of crime series' - Independent
'The master of police procedural' - Mail on Sunday
'Near, perhaps, even at the top of, the British crime writers' league' - The Times
'Banks is genuinely human, rather than a hard man' - Observer
A lost village. Past crimes. Present evil.
During a blistering summer, drought has depleted Thornfield Reservoir, uncovering the remains of a small village called Hobb's End - hidden from view for over forty years. For a curious young boy this resurfaced hamlet is a magical playground . . . until he unearths a human skeleton.
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks is given the impossible task of identifying the victim - a woman who lived in a place that no longer exists, whose former residents are scattered to the winds. Anyone else might throw in the towel but DCI Banks is determined to uncover the murky past buried beneath a flood of time . . .
Widely acclaimed as Robinson's best and most ambitious novel, In a Dry Season is a gripping, high-paced tale in which past truths and presents secrets collide. If you enjoyed it, then you'll love the next instalment in the Banks series - which became the major British ITV Drama DCI Banks - Cold is the Grave.
*****
Critical acclaim for the Inspector Banks series:
'A powerfully moving work' - Ian Rankin
'Top-notch police procedure' - Jeffery Deaver
'A wonderful novel' - Michael Connelly
'An addictive crime-novel series' - New York Times
'A guaranteed page-turner' - Mirror
'Demonstrates how the crime novel, when done right, can reach parts that other books can't . . . A considerable achievement' - Guardian
'One of the most authentic and atmospheric of crime series' - Independent
'The master of police procedural' - Mail on Sunday
'Near, perhaps, even at the top of, the British crime writers' league' - The Times
'Banks is genuinely human, rather than a hard man' - Observer
Reviews / Votes
An expert plotter with an eye for telling detail * The New York Times * It would be easy to become addicted to Robinson * The Observer * A powerfully moving work -- Ian Rankin, author of the bestselling Inspector Rebus novels Top-notch police procedure -- Jeffery Deaver, bestselling author of <i>The Final Twist</i> A wonderful novel -- Michael Connelly, bestselling author of <i>Desert Star</i> An addictive crime-novel series * New York Times * A guaranteed page-turner * Mirror * Demonstrates how the crime novel, when done right, can reach parts that other books can't . . . A considerable achievement * Guardian * One of the most authentic and atmospheric of crime series * Independent * The master of the police procedural * Mail on Sunday * Near, perhaps even at the top of, the British crime writers' league * The Times * Banks is genuinely human, rather than a hard man * Observer * Peter Robinson emerges as a definite contender for fiction's new top cop * Independent on Sunday * Absorbing * Scotsman * Atmospheric * Time Out * Exhilarating * Toronto Star * Peter Robison is a mystery writer's mystery writer . . . I can't imagine a more flawless police procedural * Globe and Mail *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Interest Age: From 18 years
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 125 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
368 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-0350-5843-3 (9781035058433)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Peter Robinson
In A Dry Season
The Gripping 10th Novel in the Number One Bestselling Inspector Alan Banks Crime Series
E-Book
08/2009
Pan Books
€14.49
Available for download
Person
Peter Robinson is author of twenty-four books in the number one bestselling DCI Banks series as well as two collections of short stories and three standalone novels, including the number one bestseller Before The Poison. Peter's critically acclaimed crime novels have won numerous awards in Britain, the United States, Canada and Europe, and are published in translation all over the world.
Peter's DCI Banks was a major ITV1 drama by Left Bank productions. Stephen Tompkinson (Wild at Heart, Ballykissangel) plays Inspector Banks, and Andrea Lowe (The Bill, Murphy's Law) plays DI Annie Cabbot.
Peter's standalone novel Before the Poison won the IMBA's 2013 Dilys Award as well as the 2012 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel by the Crime Writers of Canada. This was Peter's sixth Arthur Ellis award.
Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and lived between Richmond and Canada. He died in October 2022.
Peter's DCI Banks was a major ITV1 drama by Left Bank productions. Stephen Tompkinson (Wild at Heart, Ballykissangel) plays Inspector Banks, and Andrea Lowe (The Bill, Murphy's Law) plays DI Annie Cabbot.
Peter's standalone novel Before the Poison won the IMBA's 2013 Dilys Award as well as the 2012 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel by the Crime Writers of Canada. This was Peter's sixth Arthur Ellis award.
Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and lived between Richmond and Canada. He died in October 2022.