THE PRICE OF LOVE AND OTHER STORIES
Peter Robinson
William Morrow
Mystery/Short Stories
ISBN: 9780061809484
Peter Robinson is best known for his book-length work concerning the exploits of Detective Inspector Alan Banks of the London Major Crimes Unit, which makes THE PRICE OF LOVE AND OTHER STORIES a much-anticipated and most welcome treasure.
Banks is somewhat low-key, possessed of an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and a tendency to be unlucky in love. He is also, to the criminal mind, a quite lethal adversary. Robinson’s sharp characterizations of not only Banks but also of his supporting cast combine with intriguing plots to make this series a revered one among mystery aficionados. The 12 shorter works that comprise THE PRICE OF LOVE do not all concern Banks, but exhibit the same high quality of craft as do their better known (and longer) cousins.
THE PRICE OF LOVE is wisely and delightfully bookended by two Inspector Banks novellas. “Going Back” opens the volume; it had never been published in the United States before, though portions of it appear in CLOSE TO HOME. The story deals with Banks’s somewhat reluctant return home for a family reunion occasioned by his parents’ golden wedding anniversary. Robinson does not begin with pyrotechnics; instead, he pulls off the neat trick of perfectly capturing the tediousness of coming back to a small town and the awkwardness of an adult child around aged parents with whom contact is infrequent and irregular. Even so, Robinson somehow manages to quietly ratchet up the suspense in increments.
“Like a Virgin,” the novella that closes the collection, was written especially for THE PRICE OF LOVE. Banks revisits the horrific event that resulted in his transplant from London to Eastvale. While suspenseful, it is the cerebral aspects of “Like a Virgin” that ultimately make the story what it is. The manner in which Robinson slices in and out of life and the emotions, constructive and otherwise, define our humanity. As with so much of his work, he mines deep territory without burying the reader in the gravitas of the subject matter. It is a perfect way to end the book.
And what about the material that lays between the beginning and end? These stories --- even the eight pieces that don’t feature Banks --- are also worth reading. One does not think of Robinson as a writer of dark fantasy, yet “The Magic of Your Touch” is just that --- and perfect to boot. Fans of the genre will see what’s coming within the first page or two, yet the joy of the journey is such that you will not mind. “Birthday Dance,” on the other hand, tiptoes slowly to a bad place that is revealed about two-thirds of the way through; even after its surprising revelation, Robinson saves the best for last, a shocking scene that is only a sentence or two in length yet stays coiled in the mind.
With so many good stories --- not a bad one in the pack --- it’s hard to choose a winner. Actually, on second thought, it’s not. “Blue Christmas,” a Banks story written for a limited edition work, is worth the price of admission all by itself. While it is very different from most of the tales appearing in the Banks canon, anyone unfamiliar with Robinson’s work will immediately seek out each and every volume that he has written based on this short and simple account dealing with the interruption of Banks’s Christmas by a missing persons case.
Robinson is simply incapable of writing anything badly. And THE PRICE OF LOVE features 12 self-contained examples of writing done right.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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