Abattoir Blues (American title: In the Dark Places) is the 22nd novel by Canadian detective fiction writer Peter Robinson in the Inspector Banks series set in Yorkshire.

When talking to a witness, a retired policeman who says Why keep working any longer than you have to DI Annie Cabott thinks of Banks: They'd have to drag him kicking and screaming out of his office soon.

And it is worth over a hundred K. Then the crime is linked to a human bloodstain found in a hangar at a disused wartime aerodrome, and ties into a local criminal ring run by the tractor owner who is an ex-City financier.

Richard "Dirty Dick" Burgess helps Banks out in London as "Operation Hawk" is targeting rural crime.

Then Banks finds an hours-old note from DS Winsome Jackman saying she is off to the isolated High Point Farm and wants backup.