Various members of the squad try to placate the woman who is not having much of it. She finally agrees to talk to Annie. The woman, Juliet Doyle, explains to her that she has found a loaded gun in her daughter’s closet. She, her husband and the daughter, Erin, have decided that she should consult with Banks while her husband and daughter remain at home. The family has known Banks for a long time. In fact Erin is a childhood friend of Banks’ daughter Tracy. Mrs. Doyle hints that she had hoped Banks “would take care of the problem.”

Annie knows, as she suspect Mrs. Doyle does also, that having a loaded firearm in one’s possession (presumably unregistered) is illegal under British law. Proper procedure would require that the Armed Response Team go to the residence and collect the weapon. Much as she appreciates Mrs. Doyle’s concern that her daughter be branded as a criminal, protocol dictates that a team is sent to the home. The action predictably does not go smoothly.

Mr. Doyle ends up in the hospital and Erin, while not put in jail, is questioned and not permitted to return home. Erin Doyle and Tracy Banks have remained friends and are actually sharing a flat with another girl named Rose. When the police get to the flat Rose is alone with little to tell the police other than several days ago Erin and her boyfriend had an argument and Tracy, who has reinvented herself as Francesca, is somehow involved. Tracy had left the flat upon hearing the TV news that a Erin’s parents’ home had been searched and something (presumably a gun) had  seized.

This entry is an interesting addition to the Alan Banks series by Peter Robinson. Banks is on holiday as the tale begins so Annie Cabbot gets more specific attention. While readers don’t necessarily learn much more about what makes Annie tick, they do learn how she reacts on her own, apart from Banks. She doesn’t necessarily show the best judgment, especially when confronted with a situation involving a man who is probably armed, and is definitely on drugs. In this instance author Robinson has either been stringing his audience along with how accomplished Annie is at her job, or he hasn’t given sufficient reason for her decidedly rash move in an emergency situation.

As is true of all the books in the series, Bad Boy is peppered with references to music. Even lacking an appearance by Banks’ son who is a rock musician, one is treated to music ranging from classical to the latest hits on the music scene. For those less musically inclined it is easy to skip the references, but you might miss a little bit of the personality of each character which comes to light through their musical taste.

In the first third of the book Banks is on holiday in various cities in the U.S. He is reflecting a lot about decisions he has made in his life and, in truth, displaying all the characteristics of teenage angst except he doesn’t meet the age requirement. I’m not sure I need or want this much about the inspector’s inner thoughts. He’s a sort of hero to me and all this information makes me think him a weaker man. He may be but I’d rather not know about it.

There are many references to proper police procedure and how evidence is handled throughout the book. While not essential to the plot, these descriptions add depth and understanding of the details of the job. I have to agree with the staff at Eastvale however that there are way too many acronyms to make report reading without a glossary possible. The delicate interplay between the police and the media becomes clear in this novel as well.

While not the strongest in the series, this addition does allow a closer look at Annie Cabbot and  Banks’ relationship with his daughter. While Banks learns from Tracy that he has done many things wrong, he also learns that he has done probably a larger percentage of things right which have resulted in Tracy being a competent caring, and upright individual, of which every parent would be proud,

--Andy Plonka