Yorkshire-born writer Peter Robinson tells SIMON RITCHIE why he set his new thriller in the winding streets of Whitby.

HE MAY have lived in Canada for nearly 30 years, but Peter Robinson's thoughts are still with his native Yorkshire. All of his novels, including the popular Inspector Banks series, take place in God's Own County - and he has no intention of setting them anywhere else.

His fans all over the world would not have it any other way. "They like the sense of place and the characters, Inspector Banks in particular," said Peter, 53.

His latest book, Caedmon's Song, doesn't feature his most famous creation. It's a stand-alone thriller, mainly set in Whitby and the surrounding area.

"It was published by Penguin Canada in 1990 and had very limited readership - at that time I was not so well known.

"Now the publishers have decided to re-release it, and that's great as it's been a cult favourite for years, particularly because it's not an Inspector Banks novel."

The novel begins with a savage attack on a young university student, Kirsten, as she walks home after a party. She survives, but only just.

Others are less fortunate. Over the following months her attacker turns into a serial killer, murdering six women in northern England. There are echoes of the Yorkshire Ripper here.

Kirsten has no recollection of her attack, but gradually over the following months, details slowly emerge, until she remembers her assailant's face and voice.

Being an expert on linguistics and dialect, she concludes that the killer comes from the Yorkshire coast, and the Whitby area in particular. The smell of fish in the oily rag which her attacker forced into her mouth also points her in that direction.

Hell bent on revenge, Kirsten (or Martha as she now calls herself) heads to Whitby to track down the man who has destroyed her life. This is when matters really start to hot up, as the hunted becomes the hunter.

"I was getting a bit bored with the usual serial killer book," said Peter. "I wanted to write about someone surviving a serial killer and then taking revenge. I was in Whitby one day and the place and the idea just seemed to fit together.

"At one point I was going to update the book before it was re-released - it's written in a time before such things as DNA testing and mobile phones - but in the end, apart from correcting a few minor errors, I decided to leave it as it was."

Peter, who has just finished a six-week book-signing tour of Australia and New Zealand with his wife, Sheila Halladay, hopes sales of Caedmon's Song will be as strong in England as they are Down Under.

"The reaction in Australia and New Zealand has been very good, and sales are going very well. We are just establishing Banks over there, and people have really taken to it."

Peter was born in Castleford in 1950, and grew up in Leeds, where his family still live.

On leaving West Leeds Boys High School, he gained a BA honours degree in English Literature at Leeds University, before deciding to moved to Canada in the mid 1970s.

"I really had no intention of staying there. I just wanted to see a bit of the world," said Peter.

He took his MA in English and Creative Writing at the University of Windsor, and then started to teach creative writing - "There were not many teaching jobs in England during the Thatcher years."

In 1987 at the age of 34, Peter had his first novel published. Gallows View introduced Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and it was short-listed for a best first novel award in Canada and for the coveted John Creasey Award in the UK.

A Dedicated Man, A Necessary End and The Hanging Garden followed until Peter took "time out" to write Caedmon's Song.

He has now written 13 Inspector Banks novels. His latest, The Summer That Never Was, is out now in paperback. His next Inspector Banks book, Playing With Fire, will be published in January, and he is already working on the one after that.

"Ideally I'd like a couple of years to write a book, or even 18 months, but the publishers tend to push for eight months."

Despite living across the Atlantic, Peter likes to return to Yorkshire when he can, usually once or twice a year. He was last in the region in July for the inaugural Crime Writing Festival held at Harrogate's Majestic Hotel, and he's returning in December to celebrate his father's 80th birthday.

As Judy Garland once said, there's no place like home.

Caedmon's Song is published by Macmillan, priced £15.99.

The Summer That Never Was is published by Pan, priced £6.99

Updated: 09:09 Wednesday, October 01, 2003