Careless Love (Robinson)
It's not like Peter Robinson to end on a cliff-hanger, but that's exactly what he does in this novel, albeit only relating to a minor sub-plot (and a new character) that haven't really been all that well developed. This subplot of Zelda's (she is a former victim of sex trafficking and also girlfriend to Ray, Annie Cabbot's father) has all the hallmarks of the beginning of a Big Bad arc that might carry on through several instalments.
Meanwhile, the case of the week (as it were) also involves the exploitation of women, resulting in the untimely deaths of two of them. Adrienne Munro is dead of the effects of a drug overdose; what makes her case stand out is that her body has been dumped in a broken-down car in a remote place, after the local police's initial investigation. (The car bears a wonderfully ironic sign, "POLICE AWARE"). On the same night there's another death with inexplicable aspects - this time a man - which may be related. And then there's a third death later on, along with an enabler who is assaulted and a villain who gradually makes himself obvious, and I won't say more than that.
As always, I enjoyed the unfolding of the evidence. The fact that we get the autopsy results for the first victim right at the very end of the book struck me as unusual verisimilitude. Fortunately for Banks, said results confirmed the conclusions he and his team had already reached.
A solid entry in the series.
