Peter Robinson, the prolific British Canadian crime novelist and creator of the popular Alan Banks series of books, has died, his publisher confirmed on Friday. The Toronto-based Robinson died on Oct. 4, 2022 after a brief illness at the age of 72.
Born in England on March 17, 1950, Robinson earned an honours bachelor degree in English literature at the University of Leeds. He emigrated to Canada in 1974 and continued his academic studies in Ontario, pursuing an MA in English and creative writing at the University of Windsor — with American author Joyce Carol Oates as his tutor — and then a PhD in English at York University.
Robinson was best known for the long-running Inspector Banks crime fiction series, beginning with his first novel Gallows View in 1987, which won Robinson his first Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award, an award he would go on to win seven times for his novels and short stories.
