DCI Banks author Peter Robinson dies aged 72

Crime writer Peter Robinson, best known for the DCI Banks novels, has died at the age of 72.

The Leeds-born author passed away on 4 October after a brief illness, his publisher said.

Robinson became famous for his novels, set in Yorkshire, featuring Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks.

First published 35 years ago, the series has sold 8.75 million copies and was famously brought to television on ITV, with Stephen Tompkinson starring as Banks.

Robinson's editor, Carolyn Mays, said: "Peter was a combination of all the best bits of his detective Alan Banks – thoughtful and passionate about justice, he had fine taste and a totally down to earth view of the world.

"His humour was wry and very dry."

Robinson studied English Literature at the University of Leeds before emigrating to Toronto in Canada with his wife, Sheila Halladay.

Despite leaving Yorkshire, his writing continued to focus on the natural beauty of the Dales alongside the poverty and crime in the fictional town of Eastvale.

Ms Mays added: "He was a Yorkshireman to the core; much that he did was done without fanfare, like the scholarship he created at the University of Leeds, where he himself took his first degree, to sponsor students through an English Literature and Creative Writing course."

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