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.

Early life

Robinson was born in Armley, Leeds, on 17 March 1950.<ref name="born">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=Historica/> His father, Clifford, worked as a photographer; his mother, Miriam (Jarvis), was a homemaker.<ref name="RobBio"/> Robinson studied English literature at the University of Leeds, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with honours.<ref name=Historica/> He then emigrated to Canada in 1974 to continue his studies, obtaining a Master of Arts in English and Creative Writing<ref name=":5">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name=Historica/><ref name="RobBio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="YP">Template:Cite news</ref>

Career

Robinson taught at several colleges and universities<ref name=":5" /> in Toronto, and the University of Windsor (his alma mater) as writer-in-residence from 1992 to 1993.<ref name=Historica/> 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.<ref name=Historica/><ref name="CBC obit">Template:Cite news</ref> It garnered him the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award, which he went on to win six more times during his career.<ref name="CBC obit"/> The series was eventually translated into twenty languages by the time of his death.<ref name="PR">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=Historica/>

Personal life

Robinson resided in the Beaches area of Toronto<ref name="About Peter">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="RobBio"/> Robinson and his wife had a holiday cottage in Richmond, North Yorkshire.<ref name="YP"/> He died on 4 October 2022, at the age of 72.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="BBC obit">Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Two years prior, he had been honoured with the Toronto Public Library Celebrates Reading Award.<ref name="PR" />

Awards and honours for Robinson's writing

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
1988	Gallows View	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
1989	A Dedicated Man	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
1990	The Hanging Valley	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
1990	"Innocence"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1991	Caedmon's Song (The First Cut)	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
1991	"Innocence"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Winner	<ref name=":0" />
1991	Past Reason Hated	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel	Winner	<ref name=":1" />
1992	Past Reason Hated	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Winner	<ref name=":0" />
1993	Wednesday's Child	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
1994		TORGI Talking Book Award		<ref name="Penguin obit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Sloniowski>Template:Cite book</ref>
1995	Final Account	Author's Award, Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Letters		<ref name="Penguin obit"/><ref name=Sloniowski/>
	"Lawn Sale"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
	"Summer Rain"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
	Wednesday's Child	Edgar Award for Best Novel	Finalist	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1996	"Carrion"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
1997	Innocent Graves	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel	Winner	<ref name=":1" />
1998	Dead Right (Blood at the Root)	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
	"The Two Ladies of Rose Cottage"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
		Macavity Award for Best Short Story	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1999		Anthony Award for Best Short Story	Nominee	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2000	In a Dry Season	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
		Barry Award for Best Novel	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Edgar Award for Best Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":2" />
		Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":3" />
	"Missing in Action"	Edgar Award for Best Short Story	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2001	Cold is the Grave	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Winner	<ref name=":0" />
	In a Dry Season	Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière		<ref name=Sloniowski/><ref name=Cogdill>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Martin Beck Award	Winner	<ref name=Sloniowski/><ref name=Cogdill/>
	"Missing In Action"	Anthony Award for Best Short Story	Nominee	<ref name=":4" />
	"Murder in Utopia"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Winner	<ref name=":0" />
2002	Aftermath	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
	The Hanging Valley	Spoken Word Bronze Award		<ref name=Sloniowski/>
2004	The Summer That Never Was (Close To Home)	Anthony Award for Best Novel	Nominee	<ref name=":4" />
		Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
2005	Playing with Fire	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
		Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":3" />
2006	Cold is the Grave	Palle Rosenkrantz Award		<ref name="Penguin obit"/><ref name=Historica>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
	Strange Affair	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
		Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":3" />
2007	Piece of My Heart	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
		Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel	Finalist	<ref name=":3" />
2009	"Walking the Dog"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
2012	Before the Poison	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Martin Beck Award	Winner	<ref name="Penguin obit"/>
2017	"The Village That Lost Its Head"	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novella	Finalist	<ref name=":0" />
2018	Sleeping in the Ground	Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel	Winner	<ref name=":0" />

Publications

Inspector Banks series

The novels are 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.<ref name="YP"/> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

1. Gallows View (1987), Template:ISBN
2. A Dedicated Man (1988), Template:ISBN
3. A Necessary End (1989), Template:ISBN
4. The Hanging Valley (1989), Template:ISBN
5. Past Reason Hated (1991), Template:ISBN
6. Wednesday's Child (1992), Template:ISBN
7. Dry Bones That Dream (1994), Template:ISBN (published in the United States as Final Account)
8. Innocent Graves (1996), Template:ISBN
9. Dead Right (1997), Template:ISBN (published in the United States as Blood at the Root)
10. In a Dry Season (1999), Template:ISBN
11. Cold Is the Grave (2000), Template:ISBN
12. Aftermath (2001), Template:ISBN
13. The Summer that Never Was (2003), Template:ISBN (published in the United States as Close to Home)
14. Playing with Fire (2004), Template:ISBN
15. Strange Affair (2005), Template:ISBN
16. Piece of My Heart (2006), Template:ISBN
17. Friend of the Devil (2007), Template:ISBN
18. All the Colours of Darkness (2008), Template:ISBN
19. Bad Boy (2010), Template:ISBN
20. Watching the Dark (2012), Template:ISBN
21. Children of the Revolution (2013), Template:ISBN
22. Abattoir Blues (2014), Template:ISBN (published in the United States as In the Dark Places)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

1. When the Music's Over (2016), Template:ISBN
2. Sleeping in the Ground (2017), Template:ISBN
3. Careless Love (2018), Template:ISBN
4. Many Rivers to Cross (2019), Template:ISBN
5. Not Dark Yet (2021), Template:ISBN
6. Standing in the Shadows (2023), Template:ISBN

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

External links

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