Reginald Hill

Thank You, Mr Hill

Submitted by Karen on

Author Name: 
Reginald Hill

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obit...

Reginald Hill has died and The Telegraph obituary is both a lovely tribute and a reminder of why it is that Mr Hill wrote some of my all time favourite books, how it was that he will always be one of my favourite authors.

Currently Reading - Criminal Tendencies (forwarded by Mark Billingham)

Submitted by Karen on

Book Title: 
Criminal Tendencies
Author Name: 
Mark Billingham
Reginald Hill
Val McDermid
Carla Banks
Stephen Booth
Simon Brett
Maureen Carter
Mary Andrea Clarke
Ann Cleeves
Lesley Cookman
Natasha Cooper
Martin Edwards
Peter Guttridge
Sophie Hannah
Kaye C Hill
Peter James
Peter Lovesey
Adrian Magson

I really like collections of short stories but they are sometimes hard to find.  This is a really great collection with stories by a lot of very well known writers from the UK:

THE ROAR OF THE BUTTERFLIES - Reginald Hill

Author Information
Book Title: 
The Roar of the Butterflies
Author Name: 
Reginald Hill
Author's Home Country: 
United Kingdom
ISBN: 
9780061451980
Series: 
Joe Sixsmith
Categorisation
Category: 
Crime Fiction
Sub Genre: 
Private Detective
Publisher: 
Harper Collins
Year of Publication: 
2008

Book Review: 

The Joe Sixsmith series is much more light-hearted than Mr Hill's other, well known Dalziel and Pascoe series.  Partly because Joe is a gifted amateur Private Investigator and partly because of Joe's own personality.  He takes his responsibilities seriously, but he doesn't take himself all that seriously.  Of course his Aunt Mirabelle and his girlfriend Beryl are always standing by, ready to shoot down any signs of Joe getting ahead of himself.
 
He is somewhat surprised though to find himself confronted by a YFG (Young Fair God).  On a day when the heat is causing him to hallucinate anyway, the vision of Chris Porphyry and his posh car in Joe's office area is a bit of a surprise.  That Chris could have been accused of cheating at golf is just a bit beyond the pale.  And Joe is not the only person who thinks it's just not possible - most of the golf course staff and members seem to agree.  Joe is hired by Chris to prove his innocence, and what Joe finds is some serious nefarious goings on in the great Royal Hoo Club of Luton.
 
A bit of fun, a bit tongue in cheek, the Joe Sixsmith series combines the lone PI with a heart of gold, with an investigation style that owes a lot more to persistence than might; a man content with his lot in life - which is being managed quite nicely by his girlfriend and his aunt.
 

Currently Reading - The Roar of the Butterflies, Reginald Hill

Submitted by Karen on

Book Title: 
The Roar of the Butterflies
Author Name: 
Reginald Hill

I often maintain I'd read a grocery list written by Reginald Hill and I really am not joking.  I've been reading all of the reports about the latest Dalziel and Pascoe - A Cure for All Diseases and whilst I'm looking forward to it immensely I was also aware of a new Joe Sixsmith and I do like that series as well.  Given nobody much is talking about it, I thought I'd pick up The Roar of the Butterflies.

The opening line:

"Joe Sixsmith was adrift in space."

A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES - Reginald Hill

Author Information
Book Title: 
A Cure for All Diseases
Author Name: 
Reginald Hill
Author's Home Country: 
Australia
ISBN: 
9780007252688
Series: 
Dalziel & Pascoe
Categorisation
Category: 
Crime Fiction
Sub Genre: 
Police Procedural
Location: 
United Kingdom
Publisher: 
Harper Collins
Year of Publication: 
2008

To begin with, I have one confession and one warning. Reginald Hill is my absolute favourite author.  I could read his shopping list and rave about it, so I have no pretence here of objectivity.

Now the warning. If you have yet to read Reginald Hill’s DEATH OF DALZIEL (published in the U.S.A. under the title Death Comes for the Fat Man) then stop right now. Don’t read any further, because it is impossible to write a review of A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES without creating a spoiler for Hill’s previous Dalziel and Pascoe novel.

Book Review: 

In the dedication of the book Reginald Hill wrote in part: To Janeites everywhere.  If you’ve read Jane Austen you’ll quickly discover why. If you haven’t (like me) then it will sail over your head and it doesn’t really matter anyway.  I won’t give away the reason for the dedication. It will be an extra layer for Austen fans.

The story is told from the point of view of a number of characters. First and foremost is Dalziel’s  conversations with “Mildred”.  Charlotte’s perspective is told in the form of long, chatty (and poorly spelled) emails to her sister in Africa.  Various members of the investigation team; Pascoe, Wield, Novello and Bowler also get a look-in from their perspectives.

A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES also sees a shift in the dynamics of the relationship between Dalziel and Pascoe.  Pascoe feels he is ready to spread his wings without Dalziel looking over his shoulder.  With Pascoe in charge, Sergeant Wield is seeing a change in him.  He thinks Pascoe is starting to exhibit traits that are decidedly Dalzielesque!

There are some who found the emails a distraction with the poor spelling and grammar.  I didn’t. I enjoyed the quirkiness of them.  A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES is Reginald Hill’s twenty-third Dalziel and Pascoe novel and it is a testimony to his skill as a writer that number twenty-three is as fresh and compelling as all his others. 

DEATH OF DALZIEL - Reginald Hill

Author Information
Book Title: 
Death of Dalziel
Author Name: 
Reginald Hill
Author's Home Country: 
United Kingdom
ISBN: 
9780007194858
Series: 
Dalziel & Pascoe
Categorisation
Category: 
Crime Fiction
Sub Genre: 
Police Procedural
Location: 
United Kingdom
Publisher: 
Harper Collins
Year of Publication: 
2007
Book Review: 

Two mutton pasties, an almond slice and a custard tart are not the normal order that a superior officer would give to a subordinate faced with a possible armed siege. But then, Andy Dalziel's never been one for all that official mucking about and Hector's never been one that anybody really believes. Number 3 Mill Street, an Asian and Arab specialist Video store, is an address flagged for low level interest by the Combined Anti-Terrorism Unit. Inspector Ireland's not convinced that Dalziel is taking this seriously enough. Inevitably he has to ring Peter Pascoe to tell him about this latest grievance with the Fat Man's response but what Peter doesn't expect is that it is Ellie that nudges him from his Bank Holiday hammock musing that Andy may need to be discouraged from starting his own Gulf War.
 
Meanwhile Andy is breaking every single rule in the CAT book. No roadblocks, no observation, no holding off until the CAT group can respond, and Andy hunkered down behind his car on the other side of the street, waving a bullhorn around and inviting the people in the store to order their own pasties. Pascoe thinks he's using heavy handed irony when he suggests “all you need do is stroll over there, check everything's OK, then leave a note for the CAT man on the shop door saying you've got it sorted and would he like a cup of tea back at the Station?” Unfortunately irony is often wasted on Andy and classic insult delivered, he struggles to his feet and confidently steps across the street towards No 3.
 
Mill Street then blows up.
 
Taking the full brunt of the explosion, Dalziel is critically injured, comatose and desperately ill. Pascoe is a little luckier, shielded from the initial blast by the Fat Man himself, he's bruised battered and befuddled, but as the crash cart is called to Andy, torn between grief and anger, acceptance and incomprehension, Peter is determined to find out what happened. Seconded to the CAT Unit as damage control by them (“better on the inside pissing out”), anybody who thinks that one of Dalziel's men can be tamed by token gestures, has obviously underestimated the stretch and tenacity of the Fat Man's influence.
 
The plot gets more and more complex as connections emerge between the explosion, terrorism, the Yorkshire Muslim community, the CAT Unit, young Hector and even Pascoe himself. Wield is there, providing quiet and faithful backup to Pascoe, distressed by Dalziel's fate and worried about Pascoe. Ellie is supporting her husband whilst dealing with her own feelings, worried about the increasing violence as the investigation gets closer to a mysterious group called the Knights Templar. In a luscious touch of irony, the CAT Unit is headed by Sandy Glenister – Scottish, female, forthright, bawdy and unorthodox. She is a woman who truly could have jousted with Dalziel and lived to tell the tale.
 
Part of the joy of DEATH OF DALZIEL is as always, the style. The language is peppered with the obscure and unexpected, alongside the most wonderful broad brush Yorkshire phrasing and terminology that just leaps off the page and draws the reader in – and I suspect, leaves you with a tendency to use “owt” and “yon” in your own conversation for quite a long time after the reading has finished.
 
The humour is also particularly of it's place. Slightly bawdy, edgy and self-deprecating. Only Dalziel, comatose, lying in a hospital bed, and having an out of body experience could joke about his position. Only Wieldy could sit quietly in his backyard, all hell breaking out around him, sneaking a marmoset toast with butter and jam. Surely Hill is one of the few writers who could draw the fabulous Tottie (could she be the Tottie from the Mecca Ballroom?), the classic Yorkshire wife and mother, conversion to Islam or not – she's a Yorkshire-woman first.
 
DEATH OF DALZIEL is going to grab you from that first explosion and keep you reading, wondering and hoping right to the very end.
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