Before the Poison

As a long-standing fan of DI Alan Banks, I was not sure I'd take easily to his absence from a Peter Robinson novel, but ‘Before the Poison’ has convinced me that Mr. Robinson does not need the established figure of DI Banks to prove his worth as a writer of gripping fiction. I was intrigued from the outset; Robinson uses the familiar setting of a brooding, wintry Yorkshire - a landscape which he has always painted extremely vividly - and has peopled it with believable, often likeable, characters. Earlier on in the book we are treated to some wonderfully spine-tingling moments, brought about by Chris Lowe's ‘visions’ when he is alone in the house, but we are never thrust into the realms of pure fantasy. Chris is sensitive, but we are never led to believe he is ‘flaky’ or impressionable.
Grace Fox's narrative is, for me, the most engrossing element of the book, developing her character whilst making no direct reference to the crime for which she was hanged. I also found it surprising as I had never before heard Robinson speak so convincingly with a woman’s voice.
Simon Slater does an admirable job of portraying a range of characters: male, female, transatlantic and Yorkshire born-and-bred but his young, mellifluous voice made it difficult for me to visualise a 60-year-old man. For some reason I kept imagining a character resembling Rupert Penry-Jones. An older voice would have made it easier to put a face to Chris Lowe’s character.
This aside, I was completely absorbed in the story. I loved the many layers of the developing plot, the red herrings – oh yes, I was totally convinced I’d ‘got it’ on at least two occasions! – the drawing together of all the threads and now, 24 hours after listening to the closing sentences, I can still feel the reverberations of Grace’s traumatic war-time experiences and the late-night stirrings in the rooms of Kilnsgate House. Peter Robinson has excelled himself with this one. Absolutely brilliant.

I loved this book. I chose it as a bit if a wildcard, having never read anything from the author previously. I was gripped from the start. I particularly liked it was set in North Yorkshire, an area I know well.

This book went off in a completely different direction than I expected, however I found it moving and fascinating at the same time.

I listen to audiobooks in my car and on more than one occasion I had to drive around the book because I wanted to hear more. A real gem which I didn't want to end.

Having read all this author's "Inspector Banks" books, this stand alone story is generally excellent. It is rather "old fashioned" and at times the storyline "rambles" As an audiobook the fact that different narrators relate the story is very relaxing and bring the narrative alive!. readers/listeners who are conversant with Robinson's previous books should ignore the insp Banks format and appreciate this book.

I love all the Banks novels and have waited eagerly for the relaease of each one. I have also enjoyed Robinson's short story compilations.This novel shows he is not a one trick pony. All I can say is I enjoyed it so much I changed my days to give me extra listening time. Thank you Peter keep it up.

I bought this because I knew the area around Richmond and I liked the fact that it was not a detective novel in the usual sense. I liked the descriptions they painted a good picture for the storyline. The characters were real and believable both in the current and historical settings - it does come as a shock that the main character is 60 - the narrator seems so much younger.....but nothing is spoilt by this. All in all an excellent effort that entertained and provoked many thoughts on the issues of war, particularly in the far east.

Peter Robinson is definitely back on form after the disappointing and quite frankly appalling Bad Boy. I have loved the rest of the Inspector Banks novels so wasn't sure what to expect from this stand alone. However, it was absolutely gripping and shows that Robinson can write a fantastic story. All the characters are convincing and you feel as if you are right there in a Yorkshire winter. The narrator does a brilliant job although I do agree with other reviewers that his youthful voice is not quite right for the 60 something year old Chris!

This was an unexpected, gripping and at times heartbreaking listen. The recording was first rate, the readers presented the characters excellently.

I was not disappointed by this book, and found it a real 'page turner', keeping me awake when listening at night! I really enjoyed the structure of the book with the different voices turn taking. I have recommended this to friends and would to anyone else who wants something other than a straight forward 'detective' story. I did not find the voice of Chris too youthful, but refreshing that his voice was not unnecessarily 'elderly.'

Have every books peter has written,all great ,brilliant.but BEFORE THE POISON is the best.the story the twists didnt want the book to finish.the way the story went from pasted to present was so natural.

My first foray into the world of Peter Robinson and thought that this was quite unique in the manner the story unfolded. I agree with another listener; as I also found the reading was a little slow and on occasions unnecessarily drawn out (Helped me drop of to sleep and had to keep rewinding!). The female voices were not brilliant, but did not detract from the enjoyment. The character of Dr Fox was portrayed so dourly and Grace so differently; it feels somewhat unbelievable, that they were a married couple, as there was no sense of connection between them within the story. This is a well thought out tale, with lots of twists and turns and as can be seen from some of the reviews – was enjoyed by many. However, I never really connected with the main character and for reasons which I can not put my finger on - for me the elusive X factor was missing.