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Modern Greats: Peter Robinson
144 Plays12 days ago
During his writing career, Peter Robinson--the creator of the Alan Banks series and author of several stand alone novels--won awards in multiple countries, including the Grand Master Award from the Crime Writers of Canada. In today's episode, Brook and Sarah discuss the works and career of this modern great.
Discussed and mentioned
Gallows View (1987) Peter Robinson
Before the Poison (2011) Peter Robinson
Standing in the Shadows (2023) Peter Robinson
References
"Peter Robinson reflects on writing his latest Inspector Banks mystery novel in a post-Brexit world" (August 21, 2020) The Next Chapter. CBC Radio
"Peter Robinson, Remembered" (May 4, 2023) Crime Reads
"About Peter Robinson" InspectorBanks.com
"Peter Robinson Celebration of Life, May 2023" InspectorBanks.com
"A Tribute to Peter Robinson" Harrogate International Festivals (click on the "watch online now" button)
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Transcript
Introduction and Topic Announcement
00:00:10
Speaker
Welcome to Clued in Mystery. I'm Sarah. And I'm Brooke, and we both love mystery. Hi Brooke. Hi Sarah. I'm looking forward to speaking with you today about another modern great in the mystery space.
00:00:28
Speaker
Yeah, me too. So we are going to be talking today about Peter Robinson. It was so interesting to learn about him. 1987 introduced mystery fans to inspector Alan Banks in the book gallows for you.
00:00:43
Speaker
From that first novel, author Peter Robinson received award nominations, and over the course of his career, the list of awards he received reflects the broad appeal of his writing.
Success and Impact of Peter Robinson
00:00:52
Speaker
It has been translated into at least 20 languages and earned awards from France, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Poland, the Crime Writers of America, the Crime Writers of Canada, who recognized him multiple times, including awarding him the Grand Master Award, as well as the Anthony Award, Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award,
00:01:13
Speaker
Mystery Readers International McCavity Award, and several others. He was invited to join the detection club in 2006. According to his death notice, he sold over 8.75 million books, though I expect that the number is actually higher because there was another Banks novel published in 2023 shortly after his death.
00:01:34
Speaker
And it's easy to see why Robinson's novels were so well received. His writings is accessible and the mysteries are satisfying. At the start of the series, Banks, his detective, has a wife who plays a role in humanizing his character. Banks is curious and compassionate, appreciates music and whiskey, and at the beginning of the series, a good cigarette. His marriage shows signs of strain and ultimately ends after a few books.
00:01:59
Speaker
Robinson said in an interview in Cool and Choir, I found as the series developed that what I was really doing was writing books about a man who happens to work as a policeman and about things that happened to him as he grows older.
Personal Life and Legacy
00:02:11
Speaker
Born in 1950 in Yorkshire, where he set his detective bank series, Robinson moved to Canada in 1974 to study, first completing a Master's of Arts in Creative Writing and then later a PhD in English. He and his wife settled in Toronto, although they had a second home in the UK. Robinson died in 2022 following a brief illness.
00:02:32
Speaker
and Just to speak to how well-respected Robinson was in the mystery space, um there is a video on his publisher's website of Ian Rankin, Michael Connolly, and Louise Penny sharing their memories about him after he died, and it's it's definitely worth a watch.
00:02:56
Speaker
Yes, I loved learning about Peter Robinson. I know that I had read some, you know, he, he began writing in the late eighties and that was early teen years for me. And so I know that I had read a couple of his novels along the way, but it was so great to learn about him. I feel like he was such a kind and, um, very generous guy. And I think that comes out in detective banks.
00:03:26
Speaker
I agree, Brooke, and and in this session with Louise Penny and Ian Rankin and and Michael Connolly, um they speak about his generosity and how he was, you know, so supportive of of other writers and um there's actually a video as well of his um celebration of life slash the book launch for his final book um and the speakers in that also talk about how you know supportive he was of
00:03:59
Speaker
other mystery writers and how generous he was with his time um ah around mystery writing. So he he ended up um teaching occasionally at some of the universities in Ontario and I can only imagine how wonderful it would have been to take a course from him.
00:04:21
Speaker
I know. I was thinking the same thing. And he and his wife also um began the Peter Robinson Scholarship, which helps students from less advantaged backgrounds study English at Leeds. um So I think that just speaks to, like, he loved education. He loved to help people, you know, learn and and study literature. and I agree. I would have loved to take a class from him. I also was interested that when he first came to Canada to study, one of his tutors was Joyce Carol Oates. So there's like you know such a ah gathering of just incredible authors there.
00:05:01
Speaker
yeah But you made the point Brooke that, um, a lot of that kindness and warmth is in, we see that in banks and I would agree, you know, he, he is a thoughtful detective who I think is quite understanding of the motivations of the people he's investigating.
Character and Writing Style
00:05:26
Speaker
Right. I think that um and this week I read Gallo's view. I went ahead and started at the beginning. And there's a couple times throughout the story that Banks just like basically just loses composure either because he's so upset about what's happening to the victims. And in this situation, there's a peeping Tom, um which is only actually tangentially related to the murder that happens. But um he gets so emotionally caught up in it. And then another time he's talking to a potential suspect and he just gets very angry. the way I was thinking that's you know the way that you want your big brother or your dad to stick up for you you know he because Banks is that invested in the investigation. It feels like it's not just a job for him.
00:06:18
Speaker
Although I loved the quote you mentioned and that I hadn't come across that where um he realizes throughout the series that he's mostly writing about this man and happens to be a police officer. And I just love that that shines through as well.
00:06:35
Speaker
Well, and we'll include links to a couple of interviews that that I listened to where he talks about that he is a similar age to to banks and and, you know,
00:06:54
Speaker
You get the sense that he's put a lot of himself into that character. ah And so you know the kind of things that he's experiencing in his life, there's obviously some differences and in that.
00:07:09
Speaker
Robinson was married to his wife and until he died. ah Whereas Banks, his marriage dissolves and he ends up living alone. And and in this one interview that i I listened to, he talks about how Banks becomes a bit with and and you know he just wants to have a glass of whiskey and listen to music at night and he doesn't want to see people and and Robinson says, but you know that's not me. um But you know I think the some of the um personality traits that Banks has, I think they shared.
00:07:48
Speaker
hu One reviewer said his plots had the precision of a Swiss watchmaker, and I would agree. They're complex. They're very intriguing. I know for Gallo's view, like page one, I was just like completely invested. So he definitely has that ability to to grab you. um But I think as much as the plot, I loved his pacing. like I felt like he's dribbling out the clues and the information so slowly, but it never got boring. um And that's just such a unique skill to be able to do that because I'm wanting to know what happens next you know and he's just dribbling it out.
00:08:31
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree. um And I also read Gallo's view. And then I read a couple of other I had previously read some of his books before we decided that we were going to do an episode on him. But I haven't read the final book in this series. And it would be interesting to see that kind of um trajectory that Banks takes as he ages.
00:09:00
Speaker
I agree. Yeah. i I hope to work my way through the series and and see where he goes. How about ah his writing method? Sarah, did you learn anything on that? I did. and And so this was from an interview with his widow that appeared in crime reads. And she says, while he was flexible and didn't commit to a strict schedule, he would generally concentrate on writing for three to four hours in the morning. I was very lucky that he did not wake in the middle of the night to frantically write.
00:09:32
Speaker
And then later on she says that he did not plot out his books in advance um and had to keep all of the ah elements of the mystery straight in his head. um And she said he always found it amusing when people would tell him the page when they knew who the murderer was and he would tell them that he didn't know until much later.
00:09:53
Speaker
Oh, that's fantastic. I also ah saw reference that his wife noted that if the writing was going well in the morning, he would go back to it in the afternoon. And if it wasn't, he would go to the pub. And I thought that was really cute.
00:10:09
Speaker
Yeah, and if you look at the, um you know, list of the books, he generally released one a year until the the latter part of his life, ah then they were spaced out a little bit more. He wrote a few standalone books ah in addition to the Alan Banks series. Did you read any of this
Robinson's Unique Contributions to Genre Fiction
00:10:29
Speaker
standalone?
00:10:29
Speaker
I have not. So I read Before the Poison, um which was released in 2011, and ah it features a um musical composer who is originally from the Yorkshire area, moves to l LA, has quite a career there, and then returns to Yorkshire, buys this old house ah that has some secrets in it and he, you know, takes it upon himself to to discover those secrets. So the um family that had lived there most recently, ah the husband had died and the wife was hanged for his murder and so he
00:11:18
Speaker
this gentleman decides that he's going to find out the truth behind it. Oh, wow. That sounds like a wonderful set up. Yeah. I would definitely read that. Well, and it it was interesting because this investigator, he wasn't a professional investigator, so it wasn't, yeah he wasn't using police resources. It was his own, um, his own methods. And so, you know, I i imagine it must've been interesting for Robinson to, um,
00:11:50
Speaker
step out of the detective's shoes. h Yeah, I don't know how often we see that where somebody writes police procedurals, but then we'll also do amateur detectives. I feel like those are pretty you know separate, so that's really interesting. Going back to the idea of his education, i one thing I found interesting was that Here was a guy who had a PhD in English, but he was writing genre fiction. and I really love that and that you know speaks to the idea of having him as a professor because so many times I think professors are encouraging students to write literary fiction or you know highbrow or or that there's just genre fiction gets looked down down on in general. and That was obviously not the case with Peter Robinson and look at the amazing contribution he made as a as a genre writer. I get the impression that he was proud of the fact that he was writing genre fiction. um But I did read somewhere that he was a little frustrated that
00:13:06
Speaker
genre fiction and particularly crime fiction isn't recognized in literary circles as being significant or meaningful. Um, I think that was one of the frustrations that he had. And rightfully so. And how about screen adaptation, Sarah?
Adaptations and Criticisms
00:13:27
Speaker
So there was a television series that was developed in ah between 2010 and 2016 based on his books and I've seen a few of those episodes and they're quite good. um it's and It was originally done by ITV in the UK and I don't know if they're available. I would look on Brit Box and see if they're available there. um But in these, ah it's ah they pick him up a little later into his career and his marriage, you know, he's no longer married. um And so we don't get to see him as a as a younger detective, but you know, someone who's who's more established and they're they're good.
00:14:20
Speaker
I hunted down an episode to watch and really enjoyed it. And I found the the actor is Steven Tompkinson. I have to say, his portrayal really fit the image that I had in my mind. um I really liked that. So one thing I will say about um Robinson's writing, and this was true in both Before the Poison and in the Banks series, is that um his characters his main characters are male, and they always have quite an appreciation for women.
00:14:56
Speaker
I don't know if you picked that up, Brooke. If I had one kind of criticism, I think it would be the way that some of the the female characters are discussed. And I wonder if that's just a function of like the time when Robinson started writing. And I don't know how reflective it is of how men Think of women, but it was an interesting insight that I don't remember getting from a lot of the other detective fiction that I've read.
00:15:27
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So I I noticed it too and I was a little torn because Like I said, the gallows view is about a peeping Tom. And so there's gonna be that thrust right that this guy is Working to watch women um so i I was like, okay, maybe it's that it is the times right? We're in the late 80s. There's a little um ah association with noir where we've got that femme fatale vibe. um But I would agree. And I wonder if as the series progresses and as um not only Peter Robinson, but also Alan Banks ages if that changes at all. um But ah yes, I did pick that up too.
00:16:16
Speaker
Well, thank you, Brooke. It has been really interesting to talk about Peter Robinson.
Closing Remarks on Robinson's Legacy
00:16:22
Speaker
You know, I have to feel a little bit of pride as a Canadian that he's such a well-loved author who chose to live here. um And it's been really fun to read a little bit more of his work and to learn a little bit more about him.
00:16:43
Speaker
Yes, I was happy to be reminded of this series, um something to return to and maybe read more fully and see the ah complete arc of the character. But for today, everyone, thank you for joining us on Clued in Mystery. I'm Brooke. And I'm Sarah. And we both love mystery.
00:17:03
Speaker
Clued In Mystery is written and produced by Brooke Peterson and Sarah M. Stephen. Music is by Shane Ivers. If you liked what you heard, please consider telling a friend, leaving a ri review, or subscribing with your favorite podcast listening app. Visit our website at cluedinmystery.com to sign up for our newsletter, The Clued In Chronicle, or to join our paid membership, The Clued In Cartel. We're on social media at Clued In Mystery.