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 Detective Superintendent Alan Banks (born 1958) is the fictional protagonist in a series of crime novels by Peter Robinson. From 2010 to 2016 several of the novels were adapted for television, and other original stories were produced, under th ...

. 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 Armley is a district in the west of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It starts less than from Leeds city centre. Like much of Leeds, Armley grew in the Industrial Revolution and had several mills, one of which houses now the Leeds Industrial ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, on 17 March 1950. His father, Clifford, worked as a photographer; his mother, Miriam (Jarvis), was a homemaker. Robinson studied English literature at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

with

honours Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

. He then emigrated to Canada in 1974 to continue his studies, obtaining a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in English and Creative Writing from the

University of Windsor , mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge , established = , academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada , former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963) , type = Public universit ...

, with

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...

as his tutor. He was later awarded a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in English at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

in 1983.

Career

Robinson taught at several college and universities in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, including the University of Windsor (his alma mater) as

writer-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

from 1992 to 1993. He was best known for the Inspector Banks series of novels set in the fictional

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

town of Eastvale. His first novel, ''Gallows View'', was published in 1987. It garnered him the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award, which he went on to win six more times during his career. The series was eventually translated into twenty languages at the time of his death. He also wrote two collections of short stories – '' Not Safe After Dark'' (1998) and ''

The Price of Love "The Price of Love" is a song by the Everly Brothers, released in 1965. It charted at No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 3 on the Irish Singles Chart. It spent one week at Number 1 on the UK's NME chart, but in the US, the song failed to chart ...

'' (2009) – as well as another novel, '' Caedmon's Song'', released in 1990.

Personal life

Robinson resided in the Beaches area of Toronto 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. Robinson and his wife had a holiday cottage in Richmond, North Yorkshire. He died on 4 October 2022, at the age of 72.

Awards and honours

In 2020, Robinson received the Grand Master Award from

Crime Writers of Canada {{primary sources, date=January 2015 Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) is a national, non-profit organization, founded in 1982 by Derrick Murdock and other professional crime writers. Its mandate is to promote crime writing in Canada and to raise the p ...

, and in 2010, he received their Derrick Murdoch Award. Two years prior, he had been honoured with the Toronto Public Library Celebrates Reading Award.

Publications

Inspector Banks series

Set in the fictional English town of Eastvale in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills ri ...

. Robinson has stated that Eastvale is modelled on Ripon and Richmond and is somewhere north of Ripon, close to the A1 road. A former member of the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

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 ''DCI Banks'' is a British television crime drama series produced by Left Bank Pictures for the ITV network. Originally broadcast over five series in 2010–2016, the series was based on Peter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks novels and ...

'' with

Stephen Tompkinson Stephen Phillip Tompkinson (born 15 October 1965) is an English actor, known for his television roles as Marcus in '' Chancer '' (1990), Damien Day in ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), Father Peter Clifford in ''Ballykissangel'' (1996–9 ...

in the title role. # ''

Gallows View ''Gallows View'' is the first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel ca ...

'' (1987), # '' A Dedicated Man'' (1988), # '' A Necessary End'' (1989), # '' The Hanging Valley'' (1989), # '' Past Reason Hated'' (1991), # '' Wednesday's Child'' (1992), # '' Dry Bones That Dream'' (1994), (published in the United States as ''Final Account'') # ''

Innocent Graves '' Innocent Graves '' is the eighth novel by Canadian detective fiction writer Peter Robinson in the Inspector Banks series of novels. The novel was first printed in 1996, but has been reprinted a number of times since. The novel was selected ...

'' (1996), # '' Dead Right'' (1997), (published in the United States as ''Blood at the Root'') # ''

In a Dry Season '' In a Dry Season '' is the tenth novel by Canadian detective fiction writer Peter Robinson in the Inspector Banks series of novels. The novel was first printed in 1999, but has been reprinted a number of times since. The novel is widely acc ...

'' (1999), # ''

Cold Is the Grave '' Cold Is the Grave '' is the 11th novel by Anglo-Canadian detective fiction writer Peter Robinson in the Inspector Banks series, published in 2000. It won the 2001 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel, and the Danish Palle Rosenkrantz Aw ...

'' (2000), # ''

Aftermath Aftermath may refer to: Companies * Aftermath (comics), an imprint of Devil's Due Publishing * Aftermath Entertainment, an American record label founded by Dr. Dre * Aftermath Media, an American multimedia company * Aftermath Services, an America ...

'' (2001), # ''

The Summer that Never Was The ''Inspector Banks'' series is a collection of mystery novels by Peter Robinson about Detective Superintendent Alan Banks. The series is set in the fictional English town of Eastvale in the Yorkshire Dales. Robinson has stated that Eastvale ...

'' (2003), (published in the United States as ''Close to Home)'' # '' Playing with Fire'' (2004), # '' Strange Affair'' (2005), # ''

Piece of My Heart "Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul love song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles char ...

'' (2006), # ''

Friend of the Devil "Friend of the Devil" is a song recorded by the Grateful Dead. The music was written by Jerry Garcia and John Dawson and the lyrics are by Robert Hunter. It is the second track of the Dead's 1970 album '' American Beauty''. The song is lar ...

'' (2007), # ''

All the Colours of Darkness All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

'' (2008), # '' Bad Boy'' (2010), # '' Watching the Dark'' (2012), # '' Children of the Revolution'' (2013), # '' Abattoir Blues'' (2014), (published in the United States as ''In the Dark Places'') # '' When the Music's Over'' (2016), # ''

Sleeping in the Ground Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a d ...

'' (2017), # ''Careless Love'' (2018), # ''Many Rivers to Cross'' (2019), # ''Not Dark Yet'' (2021), # ''Standing in the Shadows'' (2023),

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), * ''The First Cut'' – American edition of '' Caedmon's Song'' (1993), * ''No Cure for Love'' (1995), * '' Not Safe After Dark'' (

Crippen & Landru Crippen & Landru Publishers is a small publisher of mystery fiction collections, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1994 by husband and wife Sandi and Douglas G. Greene in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is named af ...

, 1998 &

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

, 2004), (Short stories; includes three Inspector Banks stories) * ''

'' (2009), (Short stories; includes an Inspector Banks novella and three Banks stories) * ''Before The Poison'' (2011),

References

External links

Peter Robinson's official website

Interview with Peter Robinson at www.TheCrimeHouse.com 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Peter 1950 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian short story writers Alumni of the University of Leeds Anthony Award winners Barry Award winners British expatriates in Canada Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers Canadian mystery writers Edgar Award winners English crime fiction writers English male novelists English male short story writers English short story writers Macavity Award winners Members of the Detection Club People from Armley University of Windsor alumni Writers from Leeds Writers from Toronto