Wednesdays Child (Inspector Banks, #6) by Peter Robinson

Wednesdays Child (Inspector Banks, #6) Reviews

• 
  Paul Weiss

  DCI Banks was “a real copper, a man who had come from the street”.
  
  WEDNESDAY’S CHILD, the sixth instalment in Peter Robinson’s now wildly successful Inspector Banks series, follows a tried and true suspense thriller formula. The novel opens with two distantly separated mystery plot lines that ultimately come together when the protagonist’s brilliant police work solves the crime and brings the villain to heel. It’s predictable and perhaps even a tad trite. Fans of the suspense thriller/murder myster/police procedural genres will know that the joining of the two plot lines is coming before the end of the very first chapter. But the fact is that Robinson’s skill in plot development, character development and scene setting pull it off with a novel that’s compelling, entertaining, diverting and then some.
  
  In the first plot we are told of Brenda Scupham, a likeable bimbo, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and definitely a very reluctant mother, who is persuaded to simply hand her daughter over to two fake social workers knocking on her door claiming they have received reports of child abuse. The second story is a rather atypical murder – a petty criminal who is found gruesomely disemboweled in a tunnel on a long abandoned mine site. In the convergence of the two cases, Peter Robinson and Inspector Banks introduce us to one of the more terrifying villains appearing in the pages of crime literature. Think Hannibal Lector or Aaron Stampler.
  
  Most enjoyable and highly recommended. I’m definitely an Inspector Banks fan.
  
  Paul Weiss
• 
  Bill

  One of the best entries in the Inspector Banks series, so far, sees the detective involved in the search for a kidnapped child.
  Amidst the fiction there are references to real life Moors murderers Ian Brady & Myra Hindley, which adds authenticity to the story. Robinson's plotting & characterisation are as good as ever, but I did find one aspect of the writing a bit distracting. Although the author is English he has lived in Canada for many years & sometimes uses Americanisms (or should that be Canadianisms ?!) such as pants instead of trousers & sneakers instead of trainers. This seems oddly out of place in an English detective story & I do find it quite irritating.
  That aside, the story is very well constructed & builds up to a tense & satisfying conclusion.
• 
  Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice*

  In this, #6 in the Inspector Banks series, a young schoolgirl is abducted from her home by a couple posing as social workers.
  
  If you are seeking fast paced thrills, this is not the story for you. I love Peter Robinson's style - the story meanders along at its own pace, drawing conclusions - both erroneous and correct - concerning suspects and motives, before arriving at the truth.
  
  I am sad that this is the last audio in this series available at my library....but I will keep reading this very satisfying series.
• 
  Lawyer

  Wednesday's Child: Inspector Banks' Discomfort
  
  Mondays child is fair of face,
  Tuesdays child is full of grace,
  Wednesdays child is full of woe,
  Thursdays child has far to go,
  Fridays child is loving and giving,
  Saturdays child works hard for his living,
  And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
  Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.
  
  Little Gemma Scupham is seven, the portrait of a child of woe. Da is long gone, if she ever knew him. Mum is Brenda Scupham, who frankly finds Gemma a child not wanted. Brenda prefers her liquor and her men, being undisturbed by the presence of her daughter, who has come to look upon her mother and the men in her life with a sad, knowing , look that seems to question why do you allow us to live in this manner? At times, it's enough to give a parent the guilts.
  
  So Mum is quite relieved on the particular afternoon the story begins in
  Wednesday's Child, when two well dressed people, a man and a woman, knock on her door identifying themselves as representatives of the Department of Human Services, investgating a report that Gemma may have been abused--that it will be necessary that they keep Gemma overnight for evaluation, and they will return Gemma the next morning.
  
  Of course, Gemma is not returned. We reach the heart of the matter.
  
  Once again,
  Peter Robinson weaves the intricate details of a meticulous police procedural into this novel. And, has become more interesting over the course of the cases of Inspector Alan Banks, we see what the state of his life is over the passage of time, his state of mind at the time he is at work on the current case.
  
  Through the course of the Banks series, I have followed the good Inspector's taste in music. It varies from novel to novel. Inspector Banks has journeyed through Opera, Classic American Blues and Jazz. In this novel we find him in a nostalgic state of mind, listening to music popular in his younger years, a time of relevant innocence and pleasure. Let's say he's in a "Yesterday" frame of mind. You know, "Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away..."
  
  Since Banks' first appearance, time has moved on. His children, daughter Tracy, and son Brian, have grown older. Brian is away at school. Tracy, now sixteen, is establishing her independence. With his children no longer needing his and doting wife's Sandra's close supervision, Sandra has sought more time following her interest in the sponsoring of Art events. To Banks, it seems his domestic life is unraveling a bit. Little time is spent with wife Sandra.
  
  Gemma's mother, Brenda, is a contrasting foil to Banks, who in fact misses the company of his children. Gemma's disappearance greatly disturbs Banks because from experience he knows that abducted children, if not found within twenty-four hours, may never be found. After forty-eight hours, the chance that a child will be found alive is even less a possibility.
  
  The abduction of Gemma Scupham, strikes Banks' supervisor, Chief Inspector Gristhorpe, with even greater force. In his youth, Gristhorpe was a junior constable part of the team investigating the Moor Murders, one of England's most infamous cases dealing with a pair of male and female serial killers who were responsible for a substantial number of child disappearances and murders. The real life pair of killers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley terrorized the Manchester area of England between 1963 and 1965. The actual number of their child victims only increased as they began to confess to additional cases in the mid-1980s.
  
  Unlike previous cases, Gristhorpe who is nearing retirement age, and has been contemplating stepping down for Banks to move up into his position, decides he will be actively involved in the investigation of Gemma's disappearance. The toll of an Inspector or Superintendent's work on his life is beautifullly described as it concerns the aging Gristhorpe.
  
  Gristhorpe reflects on his construction of a stone wall about his home, an activity which he has shared with Alan Banks as they have discussed previous cases.
  
  

  “He had been working at the wall for too long. Why he bothered the Lord only knew. After all, it went nowhere and closed in nothing. His grandfather had been a master waller in the dale, but the skill had not been passed down the generations. He supposed he liked is for the same reason he liked fishing: mindless relaxation. In an age of totalitarian utilitarianism, Gristhorpe thought, a man needs as much purposeless activity as he can find.”

  
  
  How I recognize this. The thoughtless, purposeless activities I engaged in to relieve my stress during my years as a career
  
  To be continued.
  
• 
  Carol

  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 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.
• 
  Ivonne Rovira

  Wednesday’s child is full of woe…. From a children’s nursery rhyme
  
  In this sixth novel in Peter Robinson’s DCI Alan Banks series, the titular Wednesday’s child is Gemma Scupham, a pitiful 7-year-old, long abandoned by her father and woefully neglected by her blowsy, self-centered mother, Brenda Scupham. When a man and a woman passing themselves off as social workers come to the Scruphams’ dirty flat and remove Gemma overnight — or so they say, Brenda, ignorant and automatically deferential to authority — doesn’t object. Indeed, she nevers bothers to call until hours after the duo said they’d return Gemma.
  
  Haunted by his memories of the Moors Murders of 1965, when he was at the scene at Saddleworth Moor as the body of Lesley Anne Downey was unearthed,* Superintendent Gristhorpe takes a much more active role in this investigation. It was wonderful to see him come to the fore, as he and Banks try to find Gemma before it’s too late. Readers will find themselves glued to this riveting novel until the very last few paragraphs — and what could be a better recommendation for a suspenseful police procedural than that? Wednesday’s Child is the best book in this series — and that’s saying something!
  
  * While, of course, Gemma Scupham and the events of Wednesday’s Child are fictional, Gristhorpe frequently refers to the real-life murder victim, the cherubic Lesley Anne, and the murdering couple of Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, who confessed to killing Lesley Ann and four other children from Greater Manchester.
• 
  Nikki Magennis

  Okay, so I maybe should have guessed that given the subject matter this book might contain disturbing material. And I am a squeamish reader, and can't stand graphic violence in a novel.
  
  BUT, I think it's very, very wrong to use details of real crimes in a work of fiction. Especially as the author has done here, going into such vivid and disturbing and harrowing detail of the crimes of Myra Hindley and Ian Brady that I did actually have to physically drop the book.
  
  Of course books can and should and do explore the horrific side of life. But if I pick up a work of genre detective fiction, I do not want to read such carefully described details of real life horror and torture. I am looking for an escapist read, maybe with a shiver of vicarious, imaginary horror, and yes, sure, the crime genre is at least partly morbid and dark. What I can't stomach is authors using what amounts to someone's real pain and suffering to add colour to their book. Awful.
• 
  Thomas Stroemquist

  Starting out, this felt like it was going to be a nice British police procedural in the middle of the bunch. It really sucked me in though and convinced me yet again that for me, the Banks series is among the best of the class.
  
  Great characters in this one and a perfect mix of plot twists and plausibility. Banks and his super, Gristhorpe, run parallel investigations of a grisly murder and the bold but odd abduction of a 7 year old girl and their investigations soon converge.
  
  Very reminiscent of
  Maj Sjöwall/
  Per Wahlöö's "Beck"-series. Very much recommended!
• 
  Stephen Robert Collins

  This one of his very early books but I read this long before anyone had heated of Banks & the only copy I could find was large print one.
  It wasn't one of my favorite ones but it was Full of woo
• 
  Lorraine

  Young Gemma Scupham has been taken from her neglectful home by two social workers. The next day, her mother calls in the police to report her missing, and Chief Inspector Alan Banks begins to search for the seven year old. Two days later, a body is discovered by the old lead mine, but it isn't the girl, it's a 30 year old man who's been slit up his chest and left under a flume. The four person detective team is now split into two searching for the killers, and slowly the evidence begins to show them that the two killings may be connected.
  
  Superintendent Gristhorpe appears is this book, leading the search for the missing girl, while Banks heads up the murder of the man at the mine. Together they travel to Weymouth in Dorset, following the trail of the abductors. Did he go by ferry to France or to the Channel Islands? No, they decide he's gone back to where the investigation started, Eastvale.
  
  
• 
  Charlotte (Buried in Books)

  Not bad.
  
  A young girl is abducted from her mothers house by a couple pretending to be from social services. They promise to bring her back the next day - but they don't. The mother is relieved initially as she doesn't seem to care much for Gemma, she's more interested in her petty criminal boyfriend.
  
  Banks is involved in the investigation, until a body is discovered in a seemingly unrelated ncident. So Gristhorpe takes over the hunt for Gemma.
  
  I found this to be a bit slow in places. Banks seems to suffer from a bit of empty nest syndrome. His son has gone off to college, his daughter is out with her boyfriend and Sandra is too busy working at the gallery - so work is all he has.
  
  The story didn't seem to know why way to go, but then I guess that sums up the nature of the perpetrator of the crimes. To him it's a way of passing the time - a bit of fun and a way to make money. Someone with no conscience, almost proud of what he's done.
• 
  Lori

  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 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.
• 
  AndrewP

  Robinson is back on track with this one and I enjoyed it more than the previous volume. It's a classic British Police Procedural with several crimes that at first appear to be unconnected. But, as with the majority of books of this type, they all tie together in the end. Exactly how they all fitted together kept me guessing up until near the finale.
  
  The usual cast of characters with a quick visit from former squad member Det. Sgt. Hatchley, which brought a smile to my face. My only negative is the very minor technical point in the way Robinson assigns the roles to the detectives. In the real world it would be very unlikely that someone of Det. Superintendent Gristhorpe's rank would be out doing basic leg work. But it makes a more entertaining story this way.
• 
  AngryGreyCat

  Wednesday’s Child by Peter Robinson is the 6th in the Inspector Banks series. In this installment a child has been taken, supposedly by two social workers, who turn out to be fakes. The idea of a male and female working together turns DS Gristhorpe’s mind to Moor Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley and the search for the child turns desperate. Banks works on the missing child case but also has other bodies turning up along the way and has to determine if they are all connected. There is a substantial subplot here concerning Banks relationship with his own children. Very good installment in this series.
• 
  Claire

  I've been reading Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks' novels for some time, so I have some paperbacks. I think he and the other characters - Gristhorpe, Gay, Richmond, etc. are interesting enough characters to have decided to read the novels from the start, and am now trying to read them in order. I download the ones I haven't read onto the Kindle, and read the paperbacks where I have them. I enjoy crime novels and these are good ones. The town of Eastvale is very recogniseable, and Banks and others characters are well drawn and diverse. Peter Robinson is a great novelist in the genre.
• 
  Natalie M

  4.5 ⭐️ Chief Inspector Banks returns for instalment number six in the series. The intricacies and fine details are abundant in this highly intriguing crime novel. As only the British could solve crime, with patience, tenacity and old-fashioned hard work. Captivating, clever and I’ll definitely be reading the next one.
• 
  Monica

  The disappearance of seven year old Gemma Scupham is just the beginning of another well thought out mystery by Peter Robinson. Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his team methodically follow the clues that lead them to figure out exactly what happened to Gemma…with several twists and turns along the way.
  
  Reading a Peter Robinson mystery always makes me feel warm and cozy. There is something about the way this author writes that keeps me very satisfied. Inspector Banks is a huge drawing card for me, but it’s not just this main character that keeps me coming back. Robinson revisits several main characters in each of his books, allowing me to learn a bit more each time about these characters with every read.
  
  This mystery is just as complex as Robinson’s other mysteries. The story branches off in different directions providing little mini stories about each of the people involved in the mystery. I never know which way the story is going to turn or where the solution to the mystery is going to appear. I might have some idea, but I’m never really sure until the last pages of Robinson’s books. My only complaint about reading Peter Robinson is that I fly through the books…I’m done before I’m anywhere ready to turn the last page.
• 
  Larraine

  Seven year old Gemma's incredibly stupid and slatternly mother gives her child to two people who say they are from child protective services and are investigating "abuse" allegations. They promise to return her the next morning. However, she is "busy" and doesn't get around to calling the police until late in the day. Then a body of a young man turns up in an abandoned lead mine. The two don't seem to be related. Peter Robinson is one of the authors who is at the top of my crime-reading list. One article I read said that he is underrated. He truly is. He writes so incredibly well - clearly and with warmth and intelligence. This book is often said to be his finest. It certainly is a fascinating look into what people will do to satisfy their emotional needs. Don't miss this one!
• 
  Benjamin

  Little Gemma is taken from her mother's house by people claiming to be social workers, checking up on reports of child abuse. After that, the story is a solid police procedural, as one would expect from Robinson. What happened to the girl, and why? The search begins. Meanwhile, a body is discovered--a young man brutally killed. Two seemingly unrelated cases so the police divide their forces. I won't give anything away, but the story is tightly plotted and well-told.
• 
  Andrew Mcq

  Disappointing. I read several in the Banks series before, but I found this one disjointed and uneven. The ending was rushed and unsatisfactory, yet there were times the rest dragged unnecessarily. It was almost as if he finished, found it was a little short, and threw in an an extra sentence of unnecessary description in one hundred places.
• 
  Jennifer

  The saga continues....I was very curious to see how this one ended but then it was like the very ending was a cliff hanger- what came next??? A final chapter on closing would have been nice but overall it was a good story.
• 
  ElaineY

  Took an awful long time to get to what I wanted to know - where is Gemma and is she alive. Too tedious at times but I got to Banks better and look forward to the next book.
• 
  Vannessa Anderson

  A mother answers a knock on the door and opens it to a male and a female social workers who tells her they are responding to a report of child abuse and must take 7-year old Gemma in for testing and the mother hands her over to the social workers who told her they will return Gemma on the following morning. When the social workers didn’t return Gemma she calls the police. Though the mother got a good look at the social workers she couldn’t give a helpful description.
  
  To find Gemma is going to take DCI Bans and his team must venture amongst the worse-of-the-worse.
  
  Author Robinson is good at writing his characters as individuals readers can relate to as they are written as people you know or who you might know.
  
  What I appreciated about the story is how it teaches us how we can’t recognize horrible people simply by looking at them.
  
  Wednesday’s Child is a story meant to be read by those who have their heads in the sand. Those who don’t have their heads in the sand already knows about what was written.
  
  James Langton did a good job in telling the story.
  
• 
  Tina Culbertson

  Wednesday’s Child by Peter Robinson is another good read in the Inspector Banks series. These detective procedural books always keep my interest. I have grown to like Alan Banks and am happy there are at least 10 more books in the series for me to follow.
  
  This book focuses on two mysteries, seemingly without connection to one another. Seven-year old Gemma Scupham is abducted when a well-dressed couple pose as social workers, taking her away on the pretense of abuse. Gemma’s mother didn’t take care of her child very well, not physically harming her but neglecting her and so, she surmised this was all legitimate. She allowed the “social workers” to make off with her daughter. Now it’s considered an abduction case, the detectives fearing pornographic ring and poor Gemma.
  
  In the meantime, the body of man is found in an abandoned mine shaft. He was gutted so it’s a murder by someone he knew or trusted to get so close to him. Are both crimes related? Could it be a connection to the child abduction or a recent warehouse heist?
  
  For a change Superintendant Gristhorpe (Banks boss and more of a supporting “cast member” in these mysteries) has a larger role, taking over the investigation of the child abduction. It’s interesting to read some of his back story and see him in action.
  
  Among the many wonderfully descriptive phases in this novel, this one stood out as a favorite of mine:
  
  “Sometimes, thought Banks, the creaking machinery of the law was a welcome prophylactic on his desire to reach out and throttle someone.”
  
  I totally get that. The planet would be a better place eliminating evil people causing heartache. Banks restrains himself from taking them out because he IS an officer of the law and not a vigilante. But like Walter Mitty, sometimes we find our own solutions in our imaginations, never acting on them but…. the thoughts arise all the same.
  
  Food items are mentioned
  
  Wensleydale cheese-and-pickle sandwich
  
  Le Bistro’s Shrimp Provencale and a glass of wine – Le Bistro was one of Eastvale’s newest cafes. Tourism, the dale’s main industry, had increased and many Americans drawn to do the “James Herriott” tour wanted more than fish and chips and warm beer.
  
  Gristhorpe and Banks ate roast beef sandwiches as they compared leads. Getting close to solving the mystery as they exchanged information and ate their lunch was a good place to take my inspiration. Drinks figure prominently the daily activities of our hard working detectives. But I didn’t want an ale or wine for this book. Liquor was the ticket. A drink is always offered by those who are visited by Chief Inspector Alan Banks.
  
  Manhattan Recipe:
  2 ounces rye whiskey
  1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
  2-3 dashes Angostura bitters
  Maraschino cherry for garnish
  
  
  Full review, and a drink is here:
  
  http://novelmeals.wordpress.com/2013/...
• 
  Thomas Bruso

  James Langton is the right narrator for the job. Every character in the book, from Inspector Alan Banks, to DCI Susan Gay, and the long list of minor characters and walk on roles, has their own distinctive voice. And Langton does all of them justice.
  
  A child abduction case that does not turn out well for a lot of people involved, especially the young girl. A man and a woman posing as a pair of social service workers arrive at Brenda's house to take the young girl out of her care. But soon Banks and Gay learn that this is a fraud, pure and simple. And the search of seven-year-old Gemma Scupham is underway. But Banks and Gay come up against a nightmare they will not soon forget.
  
  Although we do not learn much about Alan Banks and his personal background, the case of a seven-year-old girl will keep you riveted in this spellbinding chilling story. Recommended for fans of well-told and written British crime stories. This is the sixth book in the ongoing Inspector Alan Banks novels by underrated author Peter Robinson. Robinson deserves a spot on the NY Times Bestseller List. "Wednesday's Child" is even more engrossing on MP3/CD. A stunning performance by James Langton. I will be seeking out more Alan Banks audiobooks by this narrator.
• 
  Lorraine

  A child has been taken from her home, supposedly by child care professionals, but when she doesn't come home after 24 hours, her mother goes to the police. Inspector Gristhorpe gets involved in this case, and when a report comes in that a body is found at an old lead mill, he and Banks expect the worse. The body, though, is a small man. So Banks gets the job of searching for the killer of the man, while Gristhrope continues the search for the young girl. The ending is very sudden, and I would have liked another chapter to finish it off, but it's a good read.
• 
  Bettie

  
  
  
  Bettie's Books