Children of the Revolution

When a disgraced former academic turns up dead on abandoned railway tracks with a suspicious sum of cash, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks finds himself drawn into a web of secrets stretching back decades. The victim's fall from grace began with a sexual misconduct scandal, but his murder reveals connections to radical political movements from the turbulent 1970s. As Banks investigates, he encounters resistance from unexpected quarters and discovers that the killer's motives may be rooted in revolutionary idealism gone wrong, where past betrayals demand present-day justice.

Simon Prebble delivers another masterful performance in this twenty-first Inspector Banks mystery, capturing both the Yorkshire detective's methodical persistence and the complex emotions of characters haunted by their activist past. His nuanced portrayal brings depth to the shifting timelines, seamlessly transitioning between the gritty present-day investigation and flashbacks to university campuses alive with political fervor. Prebble's measured pacing allows listeners to absorb the intricate plot developments while maintaining the tension that drives this multilayered crime story forward, making the substantial runtime feel engaging rather than daunting.