Playing with Fire (Robinson novel)


Playing with Fire is the 14th novel by Yorkshire-born, Canadian detective fiction writer Peter Robinson in the Inspector Banks series. It was published in 2004, and nominated for that year's Hammett Prize.

Plot

Smarting from the break-up with his girlfriend, DI Annie Cabbot, and still in shock from his ex-wife's recent pregnancy, DCI Alan Banks welcomes the diversion of a fire on two houseboats on the old Eastvale canal.. even though two bodies are then found on board. But was it arson or accident? And why was the boyfriend of one of the victims found lurking in the woods watching the fire-fighters in action? The case soon widens with another fire, another death, the discovery of art fraud, paedophilia and incest. And to add to it all DI Cabbot has a new man - one that Banks doesn't like or trust an inch. As the case unravels and becomes ever more complicated, so Banks' personal life becomes entangled, occasionally blurring both his and Cabbot's vision of the real villain in their midst. Crossing the York moors from city to village, Robinson draws a vivid picture of life in the North. This time, Banks may have bitten off more than even he can chew....