'A writer at the very height of his powers' - Ian Rankin

Playing With Fire is the fourteenth novel in Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks series, following on from The Summer That Never Was.

In the early hours of a cold January morning, two narrowboats catch fire on a dead-end stretch of the Eastvale canal. When signs of accelerant are found at the scene, DCI Banks and DI Annie Cabbot are summoned. But by the time they arrive, only the smouldering wreckage is left, and human remains have been found on both boats.

The evidence points towards a deliberate attack. But who was the intended victim? Was it Tina, the sixteen-year-old who had been living a drug-fuelled existence with her boyfriend? Or was it Tom, the mysterious, lonely artist?

As Banks makes his enquiries, it appears that a number of people are acting suspiciously: the interfering 'lock-keeper', Tina's cold-hearted stepfather, the wily local art dealer, even Tina's boyfriend . . .

Then the arsonist strikes again, and Banks's powers of investigation are tested to the limit . . .

The Inspector Banks books became the major British ITV crime drama DCI Banks. Continue the series with Strange Affair.

Playing With Fire is Peter Robinson's fourteenth novel in the Inspector Banks series, which inspired the major British ITV drama DCI Banks.

About the Author

Peter Robinson is author of twenty-four books in the Number One Bestselling DCI Banks series as well as two collections of short stories and three standalone novels, including the Number One bestseller Before The Poison. Peter's critically acclaimed crime novels have won numerous awards in Britain, the United States, Canada and Europe, and are published in translation all over the world.

Peter's DCI Banks was a major ITV1 drama by Left Bank productions. Stephen Tompkinson (Wild at Heart, Ballykissangel) plays Inspector Banks, and Andrea Lowe (The Bill, Murphy's Law) plays DI Annie Cabbot.

Peter's standalone novel Before the Poison won the IMBA's 2013 Dilys Award as well as the 2012 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel by the Crime Writers of Canada. This was Peter's sixth Arthur Ellis award.

Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and lived between Richmond and Canada. He died in October 2022.

Reviews
The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are the best series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong. -- The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are the best series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong. -- Stephen King
Near, perhaps even at the top of, the British crime writers' league * The Times *
An award-winning writer with ideas that are imaginative and plots that are refreshingly cliche-free * Time Out *
Robinson also has a way of undercutting the genre's familiarity. With a deceptively unspectacular language, he sets about the process of unsettling the reader. * Independent *
A writer at the very height of his powers -- Ian Rankin



Book Information
ISBN 9781509859986
Author Peter Robinson
Format Paperback
Page Count 480
Imprint Pan Books
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 344g
Dimensions(mm) 197mm * 130mm * 28mm