Peter Robinson (novelist)

Peter Robinson (17 March 1950 – 4 October 2022) was a British-born Canadian crime writer who was best known for his crime novels set in Yorkshire featuring Inspector Alan Banks. He also published a number of other novels and short stories, as well as some poems and two articles on writing.

Peter Robinson
Robinson in 2010
Born	(1950-03-17)17 March 1950 Armley, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England[1]
Died	4 October 2022(2022-10-04) (aged 72) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma mater	University of Leeds (BA Hons) University of Windsor (MA) York University (PhD)
Genre	Crime
Notable works	Inspector Alan Banks
Notable awards	CWA Dagger in the Library (2002)[2] Anthony Awards 2000 Barry Award 1999
Spouse	Sheila Halladay
Website
www.inspectorbanks.com

Early life

Robinson was born in Armley, Leeds, on 17 March 1950.^[1][3] His father, Clifford, worked as a photographer; his mother, Miriam (Jarvis), was a homemaker.^[4] Robinson studied English literature at the University of Leeds, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with honours.^[3] He then emigrated to Canada in 1974 to continue his studies, obtaining a Master of Arts in English and Creative Writing from the University of Windsor, with Joyce Carol Oates as his tutor. He was later awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in English at York University in 1983.^[3][4][5]

Career

Robinson taught at several colleges and universities in Toronto, and the University of Windsor (his alma mater) as writer-in-residence from 1992 to 1993.^[3] He was best known for the Inspector Banks series of novels set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Eastvale. His first novel, Gallows View, was published in 1987.^[3][6] It garnered him the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award, which he went on to win six more times during his career.^[6] The series was eventually translated into twenty languages at the time of his death.^[7] He also wrote two collections of short stories – Not Safe After Dark (1998) and The Price of Love (2009) – as well as another novel, Caedmon's Song, released in 1990.^[3]

Personal life

Robinson resided in the Beaches area of Toronto^[2] with his wife, Sheila Halladay, and he occasionally taught crime writing at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies. He also taught at a number of Toronto colleges and served as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Windsor, 1992–1993.^[4] Robinson and his wife had a holiday cottage in Richmond, North Yorkshire.^[5] He died on 4 October 2022, at the age of 72.^[8][9]

Awards and honours

In 2020, Robinson received the Grand Master Award from Crime Writers of Canada, and in 2010, he received their Derrick Murdoch Award.^[10] Two years prior, he had been honoured with the Toronto Public Library Celebrates Reading Award.^[7]

Awards and honours for Robinson's writing

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
1988	Gallows View	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
1989	A Dedicated Man	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
1990	The Hanging Valley	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
1990	"Innocence"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story	Winner	[11]
1991	Caedmon's Song (The First Cut)	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
1991	"Innocence"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Winner	[10]
1991	Past Reason Hated	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel	Winner	[11]
1992	Past Reason Hated	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Winner	[10]
1993	Wednesday's Child	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
1994		TORGI Talking Book Award		[12][13]
1995	Final Account	Author's Award, Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Letters		[12][13]
	"Lawn Sale"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Finalist	[10]
	"Summer Rain"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Finalist	[10]
	Wednesday's Child	Edgar Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[14]
1996	"Carrion"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Finalist	[10]
1997	Innocent Graves	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel	Winner	[11]
1998	Dead Right (Blood at the Root)	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
	"The Two Ladies of Rose Cottage"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Finalist	[10]
		Macavity Award for Best Short Story	Winner	[15]
1999		Anthony Award for Best Short Story	Nominee	[16]
2000	In a Dry Season	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Winner	[17]
		Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
		Barry Award for Best Novel	Winner	[18]
		Edgar Award for Best Novel	Finalist	[14]
		Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	[15]
	"Missing in Action"	Edgar Award for Best Short Story	Winner	[19]
2001	Cold is the Grave	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Winner	[10]
	In a Dry Season	Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière		[13][20]
		Martin Beck Award	Winner	[13][20]
	"Missing In Action"	Anthony Award for Best Short Story	Nominee	[17]
	"Murder in Utopia"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Winner	[10]
2002	Aftermath	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
	The Hanging Valley	Spoken Word Bronze Award		[13]
2004	The Summer That Never Was (Close To Home)	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Nominee	[17]
		Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
2005	Playing with Fire	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
		Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	[15]
2006	Cold is the Grave	Palle Rosenkrantz Award		[12][3]
	Strange Affair	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
		Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	[15]
2007	Piece of My Heart	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	[10]
		Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	[15]
2009	"Walking the Dog"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Finalist	[10]
2012	Before the Poison	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Winner	[10][21]
		Martin Beck Award	Winner	[12]
2017	"The Village That Lost Its Head"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novella	Finalist	[10]
2018	Sleeping in the Ground	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Winner	[10]

Publications

Inspector Banks series

Set in the fictional English town of Eastvale in the Yorkshire Dales. Robinson has stated that Eastvale is modelled on Ripon and Richmond and is somewhere north of Ripon, close to the A1 road [sic].^[5] A former member of the London Metropolitan Police, Inspector Alan Banks leaves the capital for a quieter life in the Dales. Since 2010 several of the novels have been adapted for television under the series title DCI Banks with Stephen Tompkinson in the title role.^[22]

1. Gallows View (1987), ISBN 9780425156728
2. A Dedicated Man (1988), ISBN 9780380716456
3. A Necessary End (1989), ISBN 9780140115451
4. The Hanging Valley (1989), ISBN 9780684193939
5. Past Reason Hated (1991), ISBN 9780330469401
6. Wednesday's Child (1992), ISBN 9780684196442
7. Dry Bones That Dream (1994), ISBN 9780094744400 (published in the United States as Final Account)
8. Innocent Graves (1996), ISBN 9781743031681
9. Dead Right (1997), ISBN 9781743030905 (published in the United States as Blood at the Root)
10. In a Dry Season (1999), ISBN 9780380975815
11. Cold Is the Grave (2000), ISBN 9781743031636
12. Aftermath (2001), ISBN 9780333907429
13. The Summer that Never Was (2003), ISBN 9780333907443 (published in the United States as Close to Home)
14. Playing with Fire (2004), ISBN 9780061031106
15. Strange Affair (2005), ISBN 9780060544331
16. Piece of My Heart (2006), ISBN 9780340836873
17. Friend of the Devil (2007), ISBN 9780340836903
18. All the Colours of Darkness (2008), ISBN 9781551991450
19. Bad Boy (2010), ISBN 9780062008763
20. Watching the Dark (2012), ISBN 9781848949058
21. Children of the Revolution (2013), ISBN 9781444704914
22. Abattoir Blues (2014), ISBN 9781848949072 (published in the United States as In the Dark Places)^[23]
23. When the Music's Over (2016), ISBN 9780062466389
24. Sleeping in the Ground (2017), ISBN 9780062395078
25. Careless Love (2018), ISBN 9780771072789
26. Many Rivers to Cross (2019), ISBN 9781444787030
27. Not Dark Yet (2021), ISBN 9781529343120
28. Standing in the Shadows (2023), ISBN 9780062994998

Other works

Although Caedmon's Song is a standalone novella, it is related to Friend of the Devil, which is also related to Aftermath.

• Caedmon's Song (1990), ISBN 9780143043331
• The First Cut – American edition of Caedmon's Song (1993), ISBN 9780060735357
• No Cure for Love (1995), ISBN 9780143173281
• Not Safe After Dark (Crippen & Landru, 1998 & Macmillan Publishers, 2004), ISBN 9781743032312 (Short stories; includes three Inspector Banks stories)
• The Price of Love (2009), ISBN 9781848944374 (Short stories; includes an Inspector Banks novella and three Banks stories)
• Before the Poison (2011), ISBN 9780771076220

References

1. "Peter Robinson: Armley-born writer returns to roots to help budding authors". Yorkshire Post Newspapers. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
2. "About Peter". Inspectorbanks.com. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
3. Napier, Jim (14 November 2012). "Peter Robinson". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
4. "Peter Robinson". notablebiographies.com. notablebiographies. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
5. Stephenson, Hannah (11 July 2018). "Crime in the blood: creator of DCI Banks comes home". The Yorkshire Post. p. 15. ISSN 0963-1496.
6. "British Canadian crime novelist Peter Robinson dead at age 72". CBC News. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
7. "Peter Robinson". inspectorbanks.com. Peter Robinson. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
8. "Yorkshire crime writer and Inspector Banks creator Peter Robinson dies aged 72". The Yorkshire Post. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
9. "DCI Banks author Peter Robinson dies aged 72". BBC News. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
10. "Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence". Stop, You're Killing Me!. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
11. "Award Winners 1984–2005". Crime Writers of Canada. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
12. "A Statement from McClelland & Stewart, Penguin Random House Canada on Peter Robinson". Penguin Random House. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
13. Sloniowski, Jeannette; Rose, Marilyn, eds. (25 March 2014). Detecting Canada: Essays on Canadian Crime Fiction, Television, and Film. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 9781554589289.
14. "Category List – Best Novel". Edgar® Awards Info & Database. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
15. "Macavity Awards". Mystery Readers International. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
16. "Anthonys 1995 – 1999". Bouchercon. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
17. "Anthonys 2000 – 2004". Bouchercon. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
18. "Barry Awards". Deadly Pleasures. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
19. "Category List – Best Short Story". Edgar® Awards Info & Database. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
20. Cogdill, Oline H. (20 February 2005). "Two Writers Modernized British Crime Fiction". Sun-Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale. p. 23. ProQuest 389831798. Retrieved 7 October 2022 – via ProQuest.
21. "2012 Winners". Crime Writers of Canada. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
22. "ITV orders six-part run of DCI Banks". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
23. "In the Dark Places". HarperCollins. Retrieved 13 March 2022.

External links

• Peter Robinson's official website
• Interview with Peter Robinson at www.TheCrimeHouse.com 2009