THE HANGING VALLEY

A nameless corpse found in a valley outside Swainshead leads DCI Alan Banks (A Necessary End, etc.) far afield in time and space—to Leeds and Toronto, and finally to Oxford to reopen the investigation of two unsolved murders going back over five years. Except for the bittersweet trip across the Atlantic, Robinson focuses less on Banks than on the suspects—especially Stephen and Nicholas Collier, salt- and-pepper brothers who are clearly hiding something, and on innocently sensual guesthouse-keeper Katie Greenock and her brutish husband Sam—a concentration that pays off in his most powerful story yet. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Ruth Rendell and Reginald Hill, who'll appreciate the counterpoint of bucolic Yorkshire placidity and turbulent currents beneath.