A Dedicated Man (Inspector Banks #2) by Peter Robinson

From Goodreads:

The body of a well-liked local historian is found half-buried under a drystone wall near the village of Helmthorpe, Swainsdale. Who on earth would want to kill such a thoughtful, dedicated man? Penny Cartwright, a beautiful folk singer with a mysterious past, a shady land-developer, Harry’s editor and a local thriller writer are all suspects – and all are figures from Harry’s previous, idyllic summers in the dale. A young girl, Sally Lumb, knows more than she lets on, and her knowledge could lead to danger. Inspector Banks’ second case unearths disturbing secrets behind a bucolic facade.

My Rating: ⭐⭐

Dull and boring after the first in the series proved quite interesting. The investigation was entirely based on conversations and hunches, Columbo-esque without the charm of Peter Falk. I found the characters shallow and uninteresting and the premise of the case being based on teenage events of a decade previous was far from gripping. The requirement for a big reveal and detailed explanation (in an incredibly unbelievable setting) at the very end says it all really.

It wasn’t terrible but the main reason I stayed with it was so I wouldn’t miss anything I needed to know in later books.

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