When Peter Robinson first started the Inspector Banks series of police and crime procedurals way back in 1987, he admittedly had little idea of what he was in for when it came to the new character.
Now with 26 books in the series, a television series and more still to come, the multiple award-winning author from North Yorkshire, Britain was one of the featured writers during the first day of the Festival of Words on Thursday at the Moose Jaw Public Library.
Around 20 people took part in the Great Big Book Club featuring the recently released Inspector Banks novel Careless Lover, part of a planned trilogy of novels in the series.
“It was very good, it was a book club group and they’d all read the book, which made my life a little easier,” Robinson said with a laugh after the event, which was moderated by Lori Deets. “They all had good questions and the questions led to interesting conversations so the time went by very quickly. They wanted me to read a little bit from the book, but I was able to do it without introducing all the characters and saying what the scene was, since they’d all read it. So that was nice and added to the conversation.”
The popularity of the series has been a key to its longevity, with his books having regularly hit best-sellers lists and claimed awards for crime and mystery writing. Even though he’s very much aware of how well-read his novels are, taking part in something like the Festival of Words and meeting fans is always a thrill.
“It is very interesting,” he said. “Being a writer is a very isolating task, basically you’re by yourself with the page or the computer and you’re making up and living in an imaginary world. But when you come and find other people have entered into the world and it means something to them, it’s a very nice feeling. There is some validation and the pleasure you get from knowing that something you’ve done is out there and gets to people and has an effect on them.”
Robinson’s next novel in the Banks series, Many Rivers to Cross, comes out this month in the U.K. and this fall in Canada.
For more on Robinson and his novels, check out inspectorbanks.com
