The Hanging Valley by Peter Robinson

 

A hiker's body is found in a small village in DCI Alan Banks territory.  It turns out to be the body of a local man, one who grew up just outside the village and who was living in Canada.  He was back on a visit and the gravesite was one of his favorite boyhood haunts.  Banks wonders if this death is connected to one five years ago of a private investigator who came to the valley for what purpose no one knows, or at least is saying.  Around that time, a local woman dating the most prominent citizen also disappeared.  What is going on in this little village?

The village is focused around two brothers who own the biggest house and the factory where most of the locals work.  Steven runs the factory and Nicolas does whatever he wants which is usually chasing the local women.  There is a pub where all the men gather each night and a bed and breakfast run by a couple who came to the village around five years ago.  He is desperate to be accepted by the locals and she is a woman who exudes sexual desire although she seems unaware of it and only wants to be left alone.  

Banks is making no progress and when the superintendent's nephew, who lives in Toronto where the victim had also been living, says he is going to a conference and his apartment can be used, decides to track down the story in Canada.  His investigation has also uncovered the fact that the missing woman has been sighted in Toronto and she may know something of the murders.  He goes and finds some pieces that send him to Oxford on his return where the story seems to have started.  Will Banks find the answers?

This is the fourth book in the Peter Robinson series.  Banks solves his cases by thinking and interviewing with very little forensic work used.  He is adept at working out what happened and is tenacious and won't let go until he solves everything to his satisfaction.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.