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Available
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Publication
New York : Scribner's : Maxwell Macmillan International, 1994.
Description
Fiction. Literature. Mystery. Wednesday's child is full of woe... It was a crime of staggering inhumanity: a seven-year-old girl taken from her home right in front of her desperate working-class mother. With each passing moment, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks realizes that the child's death becomes more and more likely. But there are worse fates than death in a nightmare world of human monsters and their twisted games. And the grisly discovery of a young man slain in a particularly savage fashion only starts the clock ticking faster, drawing Banks into the sordid depths of an evil more terrible and terrifying than anything he has ever encountered.
User reviews
LibraryThing member tripleblessings
This is the 5th Inspector Banks novel by Canadian author Peter Robinson. Set in the English village of Swainshead, where a seven-year-old girl is kidnapped, and there is a dreadful possibility of ritual satanic abuse. A corpse is found at an abandoned mine. When the two cases converge, Inspector
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Banks confronts one of the most truly terrifying villains he will ever meet. This is a very good series, growing more fascinating and richly detailed with each book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Heptonj
I was right, these Inspector Banks books are a very good read.
John Banks finds himself up against a very frightening, clever and unstable criminal. There are random crimes seemingly unrelated including the abduction of a young girl and a murder. Gradually, they all seem to link together leading to
John Banks finds himself up against a very frightening, clever and unstable criminal. There are random crimes seemingly unrelated including the abduction of a young girl and a murder. Gradually, they all seem to link together leading to
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an exciting conclusion. Show Less
LibraryThing member Romonko
I am becoming a big fan of Inspector Banks mysteries. He is such an ordinary "copper", and I love watching his thought processes as he tries to solve a case. In this case, a seven year old girl goes missing. All the stops are pulled out to try to find her, but before they can they find a murdered
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man in an abandoned quarry? It doesn't look like the two cases are related but as Banks investigates he finds out all kinds of things, and he finds a link between the two cases. I love the characters in these books, and I love the mysteries. For anyone who likes British police procedurals, this is not a series to be missed. Show Less
LibraryThing member debavp
This one just didn’t grab me, the entire time reading felt more chore like. Partly I think as I didn’t believe all was lost when the victim was announced, but maybe more so in that it seemed Robinson was not going to be prone to detail with any of the characters. After finishing I think I see
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why that was, but still, the story could have been so much more, instead it really left you unexcited as to what the central characters might get up to from here. Show Less
LibraryThing member ashergabbay
“Wednesday’s Child” is the sixth book in the Inspector Adam Banks detective series by Peter Robinson.
Seven-year-old Gemma is kidnapped from her home, willingly given away by her confused mother to a well-dressed and well-spoken couple who claimed to be social workers. A couple of days later,
Except Banks plays somewhat of a secondary role in this book. Robinson has chosen to make Banks’ boss and sometimes mentor, Superintendent Gristhope, the main lead of the kidnapping investigation. A similar case many years back haunts the veteran detective’s memories as he frantically tries to get to the abducted girl before she is murdered. Finding Gemma’s bloodied clothes in a field does not raise hopes that he can win this race against time.
The plot of this book is less surprising that in previous Alan Banks books. The abductor/murderer character is revealed well in advance of the ending. It seems Robinson took somewhat of a pause in “Wednesday’s Child” to develop some of the characters that surround Banks, most notably Gristhope but also others. In a way I found this book to be a more relaxing read, despite the gruesome crime committed in the very first chapter.
Seven-year-old Gemma is kidnapped from her home, willingly given away by her confused mother to a well-dressed and well-spoken couple who claimed to be social workers. A couple of days later,
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the body of a young man is found in the ruins of an old lead mine. Two seemingly unrelated cases which (surprise!) converge into one intricate case for our dear Inspector Banks.Except Banks plays somewhat of a secondary role in this book. Robinson has chosen to make Banks’ boss and sometimes mentor, Superintendent Gristhope, the main lead of the kidnapping investigation. A similar case many years back haunts the veteran detective’s memories as he frantically tries to get to the abducted girl before she is murdered. Finding Gemma’s bloodied clothes in a field does not raise hopes that he can win this race against time.
The plot of this book is less surprising that in previous Alan Banks books. The abductor/murderer character is revealed well in advance of the ending. It seems Robinson took somewhat of a pause in “Wednesday’s Child” to develop some of the characters that surround Banks, most notably Gristhope but also others. In a way I found this book to be a more relaxing read, despite the gruesome crime committed in the very first chapter.
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LibraryThing member -Eva-
Inspector Banks is following the leads on a dead body found in a mine while Superintendent Gristhorpe is investigating two fake social workers who have abducted a child, but the two cases soon turn out to have a close connection. This installment works at a slower pace than the others I've read,
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but that's because there's time spent on properly introducing Banks' coworkers since they play a larger part in this than before. As is true with the rest of the series, this is a solid police procedural with an interesting, if not complex, plot and some very good characters. The audiobook reader, James Langton, does a great job with the voices and doesn't dumb down the Yorkshire dialect too much (one of the previous installments has a truly horrific reader, so I'm very grateful Langton took over). Show Less
LibraryThing member the.ken.petersen
My idea of a good fictional story is one that sets realistic people in a fantastic situation. Nobody wants to read about their everyday, mundane life but, for me, when Superman, or Wonder Woman turns up, the connection to the human is broken. Peter Robinson does the ordinary cop very well.
Through the series of Banks books, the characters, not just Banks, but his wife, his boss, Grisethorpe, and the DC's with whom he works, all develop in a believable way. Details mentioned, en passant in an earlier work are enhanced, as necessary, further into the series and the group of characters all have reality.
I do not want to make these books seem too much like great works of literature, they are not intended so to be. They are cracking pieces of escapism. The thing that I enjoy most in these books is that I am always just half a page ahead of the detective. Robinson knows instinctively, just when to release information to the reader and when to allow his hero to recognise the significance. I never find myself chapters ahead and irritated by Banks' dim-wittedness, or amazed by a thought that hadn't struck me; although, it has been known for me to be lead, skilfully, down a blind alley for a while!
The murders are not too bloodthirstily drawn, or the solutions too far fetched. Naturally, they may not be exactly true to police procedure, but, they are sufficiently so to convince me. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I have each of the other tales in the series. I eke them out as an occasional treat and my only difficulty is in not guzzling all my treats in the one sitting! I can't wait to get to the next time when I think that I deserve a purely for pleasure read!
I shall only say a little about the story: I do not want to spoil it for any new readers of Robinson's oeuvre. This tale concerns the abduction of a child and a particularly brutal murder. The two cases do not appear to be connected but Banks feels that it would be quite a coincidence for two major criminals to be operating in Eastvale at the same time. You'll have to read the book to find out if he is right (and he isn't always - not at first, at least!).
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Inspector Banks is good at his job, but don't expect him to deduce the murderer from a trace of rare grass on the victim's shoe, or to leap at the criminal and down him with a swift karate chop.Through the series of Banks books, the characters, not just Banks, but his wife, his boss, Grisethorpe, and the DC's with whom he works, all develop in a believable way. Details mentioned, en passant in an earlier work are enhanced, as necessary, further into the series and the group of characters all have reality.
I do not want to make these books seem too much like great works of literature, they are not intended so to be. They are cracking pieces of escapism. The thing that I enjoy most in these books is that I am always just half a page ahead of the detective. Robinson knows instinctively, just when to release information to the reader and when to allow his hero to recognise the significance. I never find myself chapters ahead and irritated by Banks' dim-wittedness, or amazed by a thought that hadn't struck me; although, it has been known for me to be lead, skilfully, down a blind alley for a while!
The murders are not too bloodthirstily drawn, or the solutions too far fetched. Naturally, they may not be exactly true to police procedure, but, they are sufficiently so to convince me. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I have each of the other tales in the series. I eke them out as an occasional treat and my only difficulty is in not guzzling all my treats in the one sitting! I can't wait to get to the next time when I think that I deserve a purely for pleasure read!
I shall only say a little about the story: I do not want to spoil it for any new readers of Robinson's oeuvre. This tale concerns the abduction of a child and a particularly brutal murder. The two cases do not appear to be connected but Banks feels that it would be quite a coincidence for two major criminals to be operating in Eastvale at the same time. You'll have to read the book to find out if he is right (and he isn't always - not at first, at least!).
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LibraryThing member Suzannie1
old book but great story , regarding A child abduction and a mother that doesnt really care and criminal underworld involving child trafficking .
LibraryThing member tututhefirst
I've read a few of these over the years, and thoroughly enjoy them. Good police procedurals, believable characters, and on the edge of your seat plots. This one concerns a child who is "borrowed by social workers" (so says the mother) and then not returned. Inspector Banks and team are led a merry
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chase by an especially ugly, nasty, and clever villain to a not predictable (at least by me) ending. I'm going to try to catch up/keep up with this series during the next two years of reading. I just looked and there are 22 of these - maybe I'd better make that 5 years. Show Less
LibraryThing member crazeedi73
Excellent, best one so far
LibraryThing member nbmars
This is the sixth in the Inspector Banks series, set in Yorkshire, England. The story begins with the kidnapping of seven-year-old Gemma Scupham, although no ransom is every demanded. The kidnappers had posed as social workers, who claimed they were investigating rumors of abuse towards the child.
Then, another heinous crime (a grisly murder) is discovered in the same rural area, and the police think the crimes might be related because serious crimes hardly ever happen in that semi-rural district.
Detective Inspector Alan Banks is taken off the kidnapping case, and assigned to the grisly murder. Much of the novel follows Banks’s boss, Detective Superintendent Gristhorpe, as he follows up leads in the kidnapping case. Are the crimes related after all? And what happened to Gemma?
Every part of the book is well written; but the abrupt (cataclysmic?) change of tone at the end seems inconsistent with the rest of the book.
(JAB)
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Then, another heinous crime (a grisly murder) is discovered in the same rural area, and the police think the crimes might be related because serious crimes hardly ever happen in that semi-rural district.
Detective Inspector Alan Banks is taken off the kidnapping case, and assigned to the grisly murder. Much of the novel follows Banks’s boss, Detective Superintendent Gristhorpe, as he follows up leads in the kidnapping case. Are the crimes related after all? And what happened to Gemma?
Every part of the book is well written; but the abrupt (cataclysmic?) change of tone at the end seems inconsistent with the rest of the book.
(JAB)
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LibraryThing member thornton37814
A child is abducted from her home. Her mother doesn't really love her, and her live-in boyfriend is known to the police. The child's clothes are found by a couple near an old mine; however, the body the police discover belongs to a gardener. Because of an old case, Supt. Gristhorpe takes an active
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role in the child's disappearance and assigns the gardener to Inspector Banks. They are fairly certain the two cases are linked, but how and why? This one kept me interested. I especially enjoyed Gristhorpe's involvement in the case. The other team members (Richmond, Susan, and Hatchley) make appearances, but their roles are far less than normal. It's a good solid installment in the series, even if the subject matter is not all that pleasant. I listened to the audio version narrated by James Langton who does an excellent job with this series. Show Less
LibraryThing member DrLed
Synopsis: When a well-dressed couple, claiming to be social workers, appear at Brenda Scupham's door, saying they must take her seven-year-old daughter, Gemma, into care after allegations of abuse, Brenda is confused and intimidated enough to hand the child over. But when the couple, Mr. Brown and
Review: As a sign of the times, the hero smokes incessantly - this is really annoying because it adds nothing to the story. I was surprised at the ending - also a sign of the times in which the book was written.
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Miss Peterson, fail to bring Gemma home, Brenda realizes she has made a terrible mistake. As the days go by, Detective Chief Inspector Banks begins to lose hope of finding Gemma alive. Then a rambler finds a body in the ruins of an old lead mine, and the two cases begin to converge in a terrifying way, leading Banks to a showdown with one of the most chillingly evil criminals he has ever come up against.Review: As a sign of the times, the hero smokes incessantly - this is really annoying because it adds nothing to the story. I was surprised at the ending - also a sign of the times in which the book was written.
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LibraryThing member hardlyhardy
Published in 1992, “Wednesday's Child” came relatively early in Peter Robinson's terrific series of Inspector Banks novels, a series still going strong.
As usual Banks and his team of investigators have two major crimes — perhaps related, perhaps not — to deal with at the same time. (How the
At this point early in the series, Alan Banks is still just the No. 2 man among Eastvale investigators. In charge, though nearing retirement, is Detective Superintendent Gristhorpe, who for personal reasons decides to take charge of the kidnapping case, leaving the murder to Banks. Readers follow both investigations step by step, waiting to see if the two paths connect.
Except for the abundance of evil in Eastvale, these books suggest realism throughout: believable characters, believable crimes, believable detective work and finally a believable outcome. Unusual for the series, “Wednesday's Child” includes both a chase and a shootout, yet even these seem real.
This novel will satisfy all those Robinson fans who, like me, get to it late.
As usual Banks and his team of investigators have two major crimes — perhaps related, perhaps not — to deal with at the same time. (How the
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English village of Eastvale can have so many major crimes is a mystery itself, on a par with the many murders that occur in Jane Marple's quaint village of St. Mary Mead.) A young couple pose as social workers and take away a woman's seven-year-old daughter, Gemma, supposedly because of suspected child abuse. Then the body of a man knifed to death is found.At this point early in the series, Alan Banks is still just the No. 2 man among Eastvale investigators. In charge, though nearing retirement, is Detective Superintendent Gristhorpe, who for personal reasons decides to take charge of the kidnapping case, leaving the murder to Banks. Readers follow both investigations step by step, waiting to see if the two paths connect.
Except for the abundance of evil in Eastvale, these books suggest realism throughout: believable characters, believable crimes, believable detective work and finally a believable outcome. Unusual for the series, “Wednesday's Child” includes both a chase and a shootout, yet even these seem real.
This novel will satisfy all those Robinson fans who, like me, get to it late.
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LibraryThing member SamSattler
Wednesday’s Child (1992) is the sixth of Peter Robinson’s twenty-seven Inspector Banks novels. Even though I have already read the latest three novels in the series, it was not until I decided to start reading the Banks series from the beginning, and got into book number five (Past Reason
Wednesday’s Child picks up much from where the previous novel ended. Alan Banks, now forty years old, is still happy with his decision to have left London for the slower pace of life he and his family enjoy in northern England. His home life, however, is not what he wishes it were now that his son has begun university studies half way across the country and his daughter much prefers the company of her teenaged friends to that of her parents. And now, Banks’s wife seems to blame his impatience for much of the friction between them and their daughter. It doesn’t help, of course, that Banks often works the kind of hours that cause him and his wife to live almost separate lives for weeks at a time.
But first and foremost, Alan Banks is a cop who tends to take crimes committed on his home turf personally — especially those crimes that victimize children. When seven-year-old Gemma Scupham is taken from her home by fake social care workers, Banks knows that if he doesn’t find the little girl quickly, he will almost certainly never find her alive. He also knows that Gemma is not being held for ransom because the girl’s mother, who depends on government payments for support, is incapable of paying any ransom at all to get her daughter back. So now, considering what is likely happening to the little girl, it is all hands on deck. Even Detective Superintendent Gristhorpe, more administrator than field investigator these days, is back in the field.
After a body is discovered by sheer chance inside a remote, abandoned mine, Banks is removed from the kidnapping case so that he can handle the murder investigation. But then something strange happens. Some of the same names, and leads, begin to appear in both investigations — and if the little girl has any chance of survival, Banks and Gristhorpe know that it will take their combined efforts to save her. The race is on.
Bottom Line: The Inspector Banks series is not one I might still be reading if I had first begun reading the books in the order in which they were published. I am grateful that I started the series from the wrong end, after Banks had become more of a fleshed-out character than he is in the early books. Take this as the word of encouragement it is meant to be: the Alan Banks character should not be given up on too soon because like me, in the end, you just might start calling Alan Banks one of your favorite fictional detectives of them all.
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Hated), that I finally began to much warm up to Banks and his crew. Robinson, to that point, seemed content to write very good, straightforward police procedurals more than the kind of crime book that most appeals to me: those in which the main and supporting characters are so fully developed that I can begin predicting their reactions to whatever situation they confront in each new novel. Simply put, that’s when it all becomes real to me.Wednesday’s Child picks up much from where the previous novel ended. Alan Banks, now forty years old, is still happy with his decision to have left London for the slower pace of life he and his family enjoy in northern England. His home life, however, is not what he wishes it were now that his son has begun university studies half way across the country and his daughter much prefers the company of her teenaged friends to that of her parents. And now, Banks’s wife seems to blame his impatience for much of the friction between them and their daughter. It doesn’t help, of course, that Banks often works the kind of hours that cause him and his wife to live almost separate lives for weeks at a time.
But first and foremost, Alan Banks is a cop who tends to take crimes committed on his home turf personally — especially those crimes that victimize children. When seven-year-old Gemma Scupham is taken from her home by fake social care workers, Banks knows that if he doesn’t find the little girl quickly, he will almost certainly never find her alive. He also knows that Gemma is not being held for ransom because the girl’s mother, who depends on government payments for support, is incapable of paying any ransom at all to get her daughter back. So now, considering what is likely happening to the little girl, it is all hands on deck. Even Detective Superintendent Gristhorpe, more administrator than field investigator these days, is back in the field.
After a body is discovered by sheer chance inside a remote, abandoned mine, Banks is removed from the kidnapping case so that he can handle the murder investigation. But then something strange happens. Some of the same names, and leads, begin to appear in both investigations — and if the little girl has any chance of survival, Banks and Gristhorpe know that it will take their combined efforts to save her. The race is on.
Bottom Line: The Inspector Banks series is not one I might still be reading if I had first begun reading the books in the order in which they were published. I am grateful that I started the series from the wrong end, after Banks had become more of a fleshed-out character than he is in the early books. Take this as the word of encouragement it is meant to be: the Alan Banks character should not be given up on too soon because like me, in the end, you just might start calling Alan Banks one of your favorite fictional detectives of them all.
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LibraryThing member Carol420
A young woman has had her 7-year-old daughter taken into custody by a pair of social workers, only to realize later that they have actually abducted the little girl. Some mother we are dealing with here. Seems that this glowing example of motherhood had never really warmed up to the child to begin
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with, so it was no surprise that she is reluctant to report the crime to the police. Eventually Inspector Alan Banks is called to investigate. Then an unrelated crime, a vicious murder, gets his intention. The question becomes are they unrelated? This is one of my long-time favorite series, partly for the well-drawn characters, partly for the complex plots, and of course for the setting in the Yorkshire Dales of Great Britain. Wednesday’s Child (the name derives from the rhyme, said child being “full of woe”) contains all those qualities, plus some interesting insights into Inspector Banks and his superior officer, Superintendent Gristhorpe. It isn't particularly necessary to have read the previous novels in the series to enjoy this one...but each one is a special treat. Show Less
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
I'm a Wednesday's child but I don't think I exemplify the "Wednesday's child is full of woe" aphorism. I am generally a pretty optimistic, glass half full kind of person. However, the Wednesday's child of this story, Gemma Scupham, really did have a life full of woe.
DI Alan Banks and DC Susan Gay
We got a better feel for DI Banks relationship with his wife in this book and also with his kids. His son is living away from home now, in his first year of college. His daughter is more interested in boys and clothes and makeup than before. Banks and his wife are facing the prospect of an empty nest. I know from reading later books in this series that they separate and his wife returns to London. Did they find they didn't have much in common once the children were gone?
DI Alan Banks and DC Susan Gay
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interviewed Gemma's mother, Brenda, in her home after she reported Gemma missing. She told them that two well-dressed people, a man and a woman, had come to the home the previous day and said they were social workers investigating allegations of abuse. They told Brenda they would have to take Gemma away overnight and would return the next day with her. When they didn't show up she called the police. Banks superior officer, DS Gristhorpe, decided to beome personally involved in this case. He had been a member of the force when the Moors Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, kidnapped and killed a number of young girls and he has been haunted by them ever since. When a body is discovered in an abandoned mine works by some tourists who saw only a hand under a pile of stones the police fear that it is Gemma. However, it was an adult male who had been stabbed. Gristhorpe decides Banks should head up this investigation while he concentrates on the search for Gemma. Of course, there is a connection between the two cases and dogged police work uncovers the link and that sets them on the path to solving both crimes. Jenny Fuller, a psychologist working at a nearby university, also provides some useful background on psychopaths. The ending took me by surprise. We got a better feel for DI Banks relationship with his wife in this book and also with his kids. His son is living away from home now, in his first year of college. His daughter is more interested in boys and clothes and makeup than before. Banks and his wife are facing the prospect of an empty nest. I know from reading later books in this series that they separate and his wife returns to London. Did they find they didn't have much in common once the children were gone?
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Subjects
Awards
Edgar Award (Nominee — Novel — 1995)
Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence (Shortlist — Novel — 1993)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1992
Physical description
333 p.; 25 cm
ISBN
0684196441 / 9780684196442