Peter has written an article for the Telegraph sharing his thoughts about the first Inspector Banks TV drama, Aftermath, due to air on Monday 27 September on ITV. He discusses his thoughts about the TV show, the process of getting it made, and even lets out the secret that he has a small walk-on role in the show. See if you can spot Peter when you watch!

Peter has just found out that he has won this year’s Harbourfront Festival prize, “based on the merits of his own published work and the time he has invested in nurturing the next generation of literary talent.” This prize is given by the International Festival of Authors.

Robinson was selected by a jury comprising John van Driel, vice-president of programming operations at Classical 96.3 FM, National Post reporter Mark Medley, and IFOA director Geoffrey E. Taylor. Previous winners include Wayson Choy, Helen Humphreys, Paul Quarrington, and Jane Urquhart. The prize will be presented on Oct. 30, the closing night of the IFOA.

See just below for Peter’s events at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto.

Peter will be making a number of appearances at the International Festival of Authors in his home town of Toronto. There are four events scheduled. Here’s where you can meet Peter and get your books signed:

Saturday, October 23, 2010, 8:00pm
Brigantine Room, 235 Queens Quay West
Reading

Saturday, October 30, 2010, 3:00pm
Brigantine Room, 235 Queens Quay West
Round Table: The Rap Sheet – Mystery writers talk about the scary stuff

Sunday, October 31, 2010, 1:00pm
Books & Company, Picton
Reading and round table

Friday, November 5, 2010, 7:30pm
Art Gallery of Windsor
Reading

The first episode of the two-part drama based on Peter Robinson’s novel Aftermath is due to air on ITV in the UK on September 27 at 9:00 pm. ITV has issued a press release with a brief summary and a full cast list.

At the same time, an interview with Stephen Tompkinson has been published, where the actor discusses his work on the series as Inspector Alan Banks.

New Zealand TV One program Good Morning had a recent interview with Peter, where he talks about the genesis of his Inspector Banks books, how he keeps the series going, and how he works with the character of Alan Banks.

There’s also an interesting article about Peter Robinson and Peter James on the New Zealand Herald web site. Learn about two Peters who write crime novels.

Peter’s happy to report that Bad Boy, the latest Inspector Banks novel, has made the New York Times extended best seller list just after publication.

As Peter is in Australia and New Zealand on his book tour, a long article in the Sydney Sun-Herald talks about the new book, the Inspector Banks series, and how Peter works. Find out more about how Peter started writing crime novels, and the difficulties has surmounted since the early days.

The latest Inspector Banks novel, Bad Boy, is out now in the UK, on will be released on August 24 in the US, and on September 14 in Canada.

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks faces his most challenging, personal, and terrifying case yet when his own daughter crosses paths with a psychopath, in Peter Robinson’s superb Bad Boy. Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island, calls the novels of Peter Robinson, “chilling, evocative, deeply nuanced works of art.” Stephen King calls them, “the best series now on the market.” If you have not yet discovered this New York Times bestselling crime fiction master and his exceptional detective, now is definitely the time.

A distraught woman arrives at the Eastvale police station desperate to speak to Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. But since Banks is away on holiday, his partner, Annie Cabbot, steps in. The woman tells Annie that she’s found a loaded gun hidden in the bedroom of her daughter, Erin—a punishable offense under English law. When an armed response team breaks into the house to retrieve the weapon, the seemingly straightforward procedure quickly spirals out of control.

But trouble is only beginning for Annie, the Eastvale force, and Banks, and this time, the fallout may finally do the iconoclastic inspector in. For it turns out that Erin’s best friend and roommate is none other than Tracy Banks, the DCI’s daughter, who was last seen racing off to warn the owner of the gun, a very bad boy indeed.

Thrust into a complicated and dangerous case intertwining the personal and the professional as never before, Annie and Banks—a bit of a bad boy himself—must risk everything to outsmart a smooth and devious psychopath. Both Annie and Banks understand that it’s not just his career hanging in the balance, it’s also his daughter’s life.

Learn more about the book on this page, see dates and location’s for Peter’s book tour, and check out the book’s playlist here. Also, make sure to check out this video teaser for the book and this TV spot that’s set to air in the UK.

Peter will be touring very soon in the UK and Canada to promote his new book Bad Boy. Here are some tentative tour dates. We’ll be posting more as we get confirmation of other dates.

Monday, August 2, 6.30pm. No Alibis, 83 Botanic Avenue, Belfast, Norther Ireland.
Wednesday, August 4, 7.30pm. Chorleywood Memorial Hall (with Sophie Hannah), Chorleywood, North London, UK.
Thursday, August 5, 1.00pm. Ely Library, Ely, UK.
Thursday, August 5, 7.00pm. Central Library, John Clare Theatre, Peterborough, UK.
Friday, August 6, 1.00pm. Heffers, Cambridge, UK.
Friday, August 6, 7.00pm Wigston Library, Wigston, Leicestershire (near Leicester), UK.
Saturday, August 7, 12.30pm. Waterstones, High Street, Birmingham, UK.
Saturday, August 7, 7.30pm. Biddulph Literary Society, The Victoria Centre, Station Road, Biddulph, nr. Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
Monday, August 9, 12.30pm. Waterstones, Wakefield, UK.
Monday, August 9, 7.00pm. Waterstones, 1/5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham, UK.
Tuesday, August 10, 12.30pm. Waterstones, 28 High Ousegate, York, UK.
Tuesday, August 10, 7.00pm. Scarborough Library Concert Hall, Scarborough, UK.
Wednesday, August 11, 12.30pm. Darlington Library, Darlington, UK.
Wednesday, August 11, 6.30 – 7.45. Newcastle Library, Newcastle, UK.
Thursday, August 12, 1 – 2.00pm. Waterstones, Northallerton, UK.
Thursday, August 12, TBA. Byron Godfrey, Garforth Bookshop, 15 Main St, Garforth, Leeds, UK.

From August 15 to September 12 Peter will be in Australia and New Zealand. More dates to follow soon.

Tuesday, August 17, 2.00pm. Live Radio Interview, 5AA Radio Adelaide.
Tuesday. August 17, 5.30pm. Talk and signing at Dymocks, 234 Collins St, Melbourne. VIC, Australia.
Wednesday, August 18, 10.45am. Live Radio Interview. Conversations with Richard Fidler. ABC Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Wednesday, August 18, 12.00pm. Signing at Dymocks, 177 Albert St, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Thursday, August 19. 1.00pm Talk and signing at Stanton Library, 200 Miller Street, North Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Friday, August 20, 3.00pm. Live Radio Interview. 666 ABC Drive, Canberra.

Then, later in September, Peter will be in Canada.

September 19, TBA. Eden Mills Literary Festival (with Linwood Barclay and Giles Blunt), Eden Mills, Ontario, Canada.
September 23, TBA. Kingston Festival (with Louise Penny), Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
September 26, 11.40am to 12.00pm. Reading and signing at Word on the Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
October 12 to 17, TBA. Calgary WordFest, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
October 19, TBA. Different Drummer Reading Series, Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
October 21 to 30, TBA. International Festival of Authors, Harbourfront, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
October 31, TBA. International Festival of Authors Ontario, Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Two of the very best writers working in the suspense genre today are Peter Robinson and Tess Gerritsen. Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks series welcomes its 19th book with the upcoming Bad Boy. And Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli & Isles series just saw the publication of Ice Cold, the 8th entry. These two authors, both at the height of their craft, share a well-deserved reputation for their skill at characterization and setting within their stories. They also have just both seen their books turned into television series. But as much as they have in common as suspense novelists, they have as many differences as well. Below, they answer questions about their work, their characters and the state of suspense novels today.

Q: Tess, you have just published your eighth Rizzoli & Isles novel. And Peter, your 19th Inspector Banks! Do you feel like you’re still discovering new things about your main characters? How do you keep the characters so fresh for readers and fresh for yourselves?

Tess: Because I never plan anything out ahead of time, I’m always in the process of learning about my characters. Without a biographical sketch to guide me, I discover things about my heroines as the stories unfold. Only in Body Double did I discover that Maura’s mother was a serial killer. Only in The Mephisto Club did I find out Jane’s dad is involved in some hanky-panky with a bimbo. And that’s what keeps the stories fun to write because I never know who is going to come into their lives and who is going to cause complications.

Peter: I think I keep Banks fresh by discovering new things about him, or by giving him new problems to solve, both in his job and in his personal life. In Bad Boy, he’s travelling in the American Southwest, taking a much-needed break after the events of All the Colors of Darkness. It is a landscape he has never encountered before, and he learns from it. He also learns to put his problems in perspective and heal himself in the process. Of course, there a new and more serious problems waiting when he gets home, but that’s another matter.
Continue reading “Interview with Peter Robinson and Tess Gerritsen” →