Abattoir Blues

Book excerpt: The twenty second instalment of the grisly bestselling DCI Banks series. Also an award winning TV series starring Stephen Tompkinson. Two missing boys. A stolen bolt gun. One fatal shot. Three ingredients for murder. Misled from the start, DCI Banks and his team are far from enthusiastic when they're called to investigate the theft of a tractor. But this is no trivial case of rural crime. A blood stain is found in an abandoned hangar, two main suspects vanish without a trace, and events take a darkly sinister turn. As each lead does little to unravel the mystery, Banks feels like the case is coming to a dead end. Until a road accident reveals some alarming evidence, which throws the investigation to a frightening new level. Someone is trying to cover their tracks - someone with very deadly intent . . . 'Classic Robinson: labyrinthine plot merged with deft characterisation' - The Observer