Inspector Banks Investigates: The Hanging Valley, Past Reason Hated, Wednesday's Child

In The Hanging Valley, a faceless, maggot-ridden corpse is found in a tranquil, hidden valley above the village of Swainshead. But Banks wonders if he should look back five years earlier, to an unsolved murder in the same area. Is there a connection between the two? And why are the people of the village annoyingly silent on the subject?

In Past Reason Hated, Banks uncovers the unusual and disturbing past of a victim for whom secrecy was a way of life. It's a suspenseful, shocking and ultimately satisfying tale of family secrets, hidden passions and desperate violence.

And in Wednesday's Child, a small girl is kidnapped, leading Detective Superintendent Gristhorpe to believe there may be a connection with several unsolved cases of child abduction. At the same time, Banks investigates the grisly murder of a local petty thief. Gradually, the leads in the two cases converge, guiding Gristhorpe and Banks to one of the most coolly terrifying villains they—or their readers—will ever meet.