He thought of Mia Carney and how foolish she had been. Had she really learned her lesson? Does anyone, ever? Wouldn’t she be back at the same game again as soon as she recovered her health? He had to admit that he didn’t know the answers, only that he didn’t believe jail would do her a great deal of good. She had almost died, after all, and Randall’s assault had left her with permanent, if not fatal, cardiac damage. And he wished her good luck with Leila.
Then he thought of Adrienne Munro, whom he had never known, who was so desperate for money to get through her studies and save the world from famine that she had prostituted herself. He assumed that he would never really know whether she had deliberately taken that overdose of Mandrax or simply tried to sedate herself enough to be able to handle what lay ahead that night, and drastically miscalculated. It was easy to do, according to Dr. Glendenning, even if you knew something about drugs, which Adrienne didn’t. There were still so many unknowns in the case, and they were likely to remain unknown. The one certainty was that Sarah Chen had been murdered, and Anthony Randall was going down for it. The skin under Sarah’s fingernails had nailed him, along with the minute traces of her blood the CSIs had found in his drains.
Gene Pitney had just started singing “Town Without Pity” when Banks saw the door swing open. Zelda stood there for a moment, framed in the doorway with a serious expression on her face, wearing her long winter coat and fur hat. She scanned the room, and when her eyes lit on Banks, she started walking towards him.
Acknowledgments
As usual, I have plenty of people to thank for helping me get this book ready for the road, starting with my wife, Sheila Halladay, who read the first draft and sent me back to the word-processor with many valuable suggestions. At Hodder & Stoughton, I would like to thank my editor, Carolyn Mays, and her assistant, Madeleine Woodfield, along with the rest of the gang: Jamie Hodder-Williams, Lucy Hale, Kerry Hood and Justine Taylor. At McClelland and Stewart, my thanks go to Kelly Joseph, Erin Kelly, Martha Leonard and Jared Bland, and at William Morrow, to Emily Krump and Julia Elliot. Also thanks to agents Dominick Abel, David Grossman and Rosie and Jessica Buckman. I would also like to thank the overseas editors and translators who have stuck with me over the years. Needless to say, there are many others who contribute, including proofreaders, sales reps, booksellers and librarians, and I would like to thank all those people, too. Last, but far from least, thanks also to you, dear reader.
About the Author
One of the world’s most popular and acclaimed writers, PETER ROBINSON is the bestselling, award-winning author of the Inspector Banks series; he has also written two short-story collections and three stand-alone novels, which combined have sold more than ten million copies around the world. Among his many honors and prizes are the Edgar Award, the CWA (UK) Dagger in the Library Award, and Sweden’s Martin Beck Award.
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Also by Peter Robinson
DCI BANKS SERIES
GALLOWS VIEW
A DEDICATED MAN
A NECESSARY END
THE HANGING VALLEY
PAST REASON HATED
WEDNESDAY’S CHILD
FINAL ACCOUNT
INNOCENT GRAVES
BLOOD AT THE ROOT
IN A DRY SEASON
COLD IS THE GRAVE
AFTERMATH
PLAYING WITH FIRE
STRANGE AFFAIR
PIECE OF MY HEART
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL
ALL THE COLOURS OF DARKNESS
BAD BOY
WATCHING THE DARK
CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION
IN THE DARK PLACES
WHEN THE MUSIC’S OVER
SLEEPING IN THE GROUND
OTHER WORKS
THE FIRST CUT
NO CURE FOR LOVE
BEFORE THE POISON
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
CARELESS LOVE. Copyright © 2019 by Peter Robinson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Published in the U.K. in 2018 by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.
First William Morrow hardcover published 2019.
FIRST U.S. EDITION
Cover photograph © Mathias Janke /plainpicture
Digital Edition FEBRUARY 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-284748-5
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-284752-2
Version 01052019
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