In 2019, the 1980 murder of college student Alice Poole was still unsolved. Skeletal remains were discovered when an archeological dig was underway. It appeared the remains were those of a murder victim. Could the two cases somehow be connected? Heading the 2019 investigation, Detective Superintendent Alan Banks has more questions than answers.
STANDING IN THE SHADOWS, a novel by Peter Robinson, is a well-plotted and complex story. Told in two different timelines, initially there didn't seem to be any reason to connect the cases. Gradually, certain facts emerge and the cases begin to converge. The narrative is packed with procedural tactics that are so vividly depicted readers will feel they are part of the investigations. The well-developed characters are an eclectic group. Some are not who they seem to be and when secrets are revealed this becomes understandable.
I found STANDING IN THE SHADOWS to be a suspenseful story with tension in all the right places and it keeps readers engrossed until the very end. Highly recommended.
In November 1980, Nick Hartley returns home from a university lecture to find his house crawling with police. His ex-girlfriend, Alice Poole, has been found murdered, and her new boyfriend Mark Woodcroft is missing. Nick is the prime suspect. The case quickly goes cold, but Nick cannot let it go. He embarks on a career in investigative journalism, determined to find Alice’s murderer—but his obsession leads him down a dangerous path.
Decades later, in November 2019, an archaeologist unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more contemporary than the Roman remains she is seeking. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in to investigate, but there is little to be gleaned from the remains themselves. Left with few clues, Banks and his team must rely on their wits to hunt down a killer.
As the two cases unfurl, the investigations twist and turn to an explosive conclusion.