Author Peter Robinson on why DCI Banks is fighting county lines crime in Yorkshire in latest novel

Yorkshire author Peter Robinson’s timely new Alan Banks novel focuses on the issue of county lines crime in the Dales. Chris Burn speaks to the crime-writer about his latest book.
Author Peter Robinson has just written his 26th Alan Banks detective novel.Author Peter Robinson has just written his 26th Alan Banks detective novel.
Author Peter Robinson has just written his 26th Alan Banks detective novel.

After 26 books and 32 years of writing crime novels involving his famous detective Alan Banks set in the fictional North Yorkshire town of Eastvale, one of the challenges that affable author Peter Robinson faces is coming up with new plots that are relevant to the modern world - not least because he begins writing novels a year before publication.

In a sign of his good detective work in identifying topical issues, his latest Banks novel Many Rivers To Cross is tackling the topic of so-called ‘county lines’ crime in which city-based gangs recruit vulnerable children to act as drug dealers in small towns and rural areas, with offences typically facilitated through mobile phone hotlines. The book’s publication in hardback tomorrow comes after the problem made front-page news earlier this week when a select committee of MPs warned that local councils are unwittingly acting as “recruiting sergeants” for county lines drugs gangs by sending vulnerable children to live miles away from home where they are inadvertently being place in grave danger.

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Speaking to The Yorkshire Post earlier this month after arriving back in Yorkshire (Robinson lives in Toronto but also has a property in Richmond which he uses as a base for his annual book tours and regular visits to the UK), he says crime-writing is a portal to examining wider issues.

Caroline Catz as DI Helen Morton & Stephen Tompkinson  as DCI Banks in the spin-off television show.

 Picture: ITVCaroline Catz as DI Helen Morton & Stephen Tompkinson  as DCI Banks in the spin-off television show.

 Picture: ITV
Caroline Catz as DI Helen Morton & Stephen Tompkinson as DCI Banks in the spin-off television show. Picture: ITV

Crime is an excellent way of looking at society,” he says. “If you want to know something about a country, read its crime writers. In some ways, writers are a bit like detectives - very curious about motives and why do people do certain things.”

His first novel about Banks, a London detective who moves to the Dales with his family in the hope of a quieter life, was published back in 1987 and admits he did not anticipate the longevity of the character.

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“I had no idea how long it would go on for. I originally thought I would emulate Ruth Rendell with different kinds of novels. I have done three others which I very much enjoyed and I would like to do more. But often the ideas I wanted to write about worked well in the context of a Banks novel.”

While Banks has aged over the course of the novels, he has done so more slowly than real life. “There is real time and fictional time. If his cases took place at the same speed, he would have retired by now. But sometimes three of my books will take place in the same year.”

However, the novels are set in the modern day, with references to Brexit and President Donald Trump, while most importantly reflecting advances in policing through forensic science and technology.

“You have to be aware of these things. Somebody couldn’t kill somebody in a car park without being caught on CCTV cameras - you wouldn’t have a case. But obviously the pictures aren’t always great, people can wear pulled down hoods or the camera might not work.

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“You have just got to think about it. If you don’t mention something like the CCTV was out, readers will pick up on it.”

Robinson says he is willing to learn from reader feedback - particularly when it comes from experts.

“If they say, that is inaccurate and if they are police officers, I ask them how it would happen.”

In a symbol of his openness to suggestions (or at least be polite about them), when asked about whether he would ever consider a plot set amongst Yorkshire’s horse-racing community - at the request of The Yorkshire Post’s racing correspondent who is a big fan of the Banks books, Robinson says: “That would be a lot of fun to do. There is an old abandoned racecourse outside Richmond which would be a good place to find a body.”

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He says he often takes his inspiration for plots from the news, while returning to other issues - such as sex trafficking, which is also part of Many Rivers to Cross, after covering them in previous books.

His latest novel is the second part in a three-part trilogy which follows on from last year’s Careless Love but Robinson says readers do not have had to have read the latter to enjoy this one.

“That is part of the challenge to make each book stand alone but part of an ongoing story without having to repeat too much. Each of the books has its own investigation. In this one, it is to do with county lines, which results in a murder, as well as the ongoing story.”

After growing up in Leeds where he was raised in a one-up, one-down terraced house where his family shared a privy with several neighbours, Robinson moved to Canada to do an MA in English and creative writing at Canada’s University of Windsor in 1974 after doing an English literature degree at Leeds University.

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He settled down in Canada with wife Sheila and after initially focusing on poetry while working as a part-time teacher, created the character of Banks and the town of Eastvale - partly as a way of keeping in touch with his Yorkshire roots.

“That is how I started. When I first moved to Canada, I was very homesick and nostalgic. Writing about Yorkshire was a way of coping when I was a long way away,” he says.

As the success of the books grew around the world and allowed him to afford a property in North Yorkshire, he says having a physical presence in the region changed his writing.

“When I started spending more time here in Richmond and being part of the community, albeit away most of the time, the books have become a bit more reflective of the way things really are. The earlier books are a bit through rose-tinted glasses.”

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The Banks books were also adopted for a popular television series starring Stephen Tompkinson between 2010 and 2016 but was not universally popular with loyal readers, partly thanks to considerable plot changes such as the killing-off of one major character who is still alive in the books.

“Most of my long-term readers didn’t like the TV series much,” Robinson admits. “They have their own ideas of what he was like and a book allows for that. But on TV, you can only have one view. They were good to me, I was on set a few times and had a cameo in the first one.”

He says while crime-writing currently seems well-respected, it has not always been the case.

“Things go up and down. In the mid-90s I was dumped by my US publisher and barely had my head above water in the UK but at least they published my books.

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“It changed in the early 2000s and became more popular and it was the increasing popularity of the books that led to the TV series.

“I don’t think the TV series actually did a huge amount for book sales. It wasn’t like everybody was buying them overnight. They were very different markets in some ways.”

Robinson says that while as far as he is aware, there are no firm plans for the television show to return, such a possibility is greater than it has been in previous years.

“I have heard whispers of it now the landscape is very much different for getting TV shows up and running thanks to the likes of Amazon and Netflix.”

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As for himself, the 69-year-old has no plans to end Banks’ detective career.

“I will keep going as long as the ideas keep coming. I’m not really worried about having him retire. If he did, he could work as a consultant on cold cases. I could also go back earlier in his career.”

Scholarship students to help aspiring writers in Leeds

Peter Robinson set up a scholarship scheme for students from poorer backgrounds wanting to study English, with an interest in writing, at Leeds University in 2008.

He says it has been fantastic to meet young people hoping to follow in his footsteps and assist them.

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“It is great to see people so passionate about writing at such a young age. One of the young ladies had won a poetry competition and we talked about how her favourite poet was Allen Ginsberg. I used to like Allan Ginsbery as a Beat Poet. It is fascinating to find out what young writers like and sometimes it is the same as my influences.”

Many Rivers to Cross (Hodder & Stoughton) is published tomorrow, RRP £20. For book tour dates, visit www.inspectorbanks.com.