The best-selling Canadian author of the DCI Banks crime series is set to introduce and sign his new novel in Letchworth.

Peter Robinson – whose DCI Banks series is now 30 years old – will be at David’s Bookshop on Friday, July 14, to showcase the 24th instalment Sleeping in the Ground.

The book opens with a shocking mass murder at a wedding in a small Dales church, with a huge manhunt afterwards. The shooter is eventually run to ground, with things taking their inevitable course.

But Banks is plagued with doubts as to what exactly happened outside the church that day, and why.

Struggling with the death of his first serious girlfriend and the return of profiler Jenny Fuller into his life, he feels the need to dig deeper into the murders – and, as he does so, uncovers forensic and psychological puzzles that might just lead him to the answers he’s looking for.

The DCI Banks books have won numerous awards in North America and Europe as well as Britain, with Peter Robinson winning six Arthur Ellis awards from the Crime Writers of Canada.

Several of his DCI Banks books have been adapted for television since 2010, with Stephen Tompkinson in the title role.

Born and educated in Leeds, Peter Robinson emigrated to Canada after completing his first university degree and is based in Toronto.

His standalone novel Before the Poison won the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association’s 2013 Dilys Award, as well as the 2012 Arthur Ellis award for best novel.

Robinson will be at David’s in Eastcheap from 7pm next Friday night.

The following Wednesday, July 19, David’s will welcome another well-known writer in the shape of Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

From 7.30pm, she will introduce and sign her new novel The Music Shop, which follows vinyl salesman Frank and mysterious visitor Ilse on a journey about how to be brave despite the odds.

Joyce’s other works include Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey and numerous plays for BBC Radio 4 – including original pieces and adaptations of all the Brontë novels.

Tickets to each of these events cost £5, deductible from the cost of relevant hardbook book if bought on the evening.

To book tickets, call into the shop or ring 01462 684631.