Strange Affair

'Move over Ian Rankin - there's a new gunslinger in town looking to take over your role as top British police procedural author...' Independent on Sunday

'The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are the best series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong' - Stephen King

When Alan Banks receives a disturbing message from his brother, Roy, he abandons the peaceful Yorkshire Dales to seek him out amidst the bright lights of London. But Roy seems to have vanished into thin air.

Meanwhile, DI Annie Cabbot is called to a quiet stretch of road just outside Eastvale, where a young woman has been found dead in her car. In the victim's pocket, scribbled on a slip of paper, police discover Banks's name and address.

Living in Roy's empty South Kensington house, Banks finds himself digging into the life of the brother he never really knew, nor even liked. And as he begins to uncover a few troubling surprises, the two cases become sinisterly entwined . . .

Strange Affair is a pulse-pounding, high-octane tale. If you enjoyed it, then you'll love the next instalment in the Banks series - which became the major British ITV drama DCI Banks - Piece of My Heart.

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' - The 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' - The Guardian

'One of the most authentic and atmospheric of crime series' - The Independent

'The master of police procedural' - The Mail on Sunday

'Near, perhaps even at the top of, the British crime writers' league' - The Times