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Review
'Few writers in the genre today have Hill's gifts: formidable intelligence, quick humour, compassion and a prose style that blends elegance and grace' Donna Leon, Sunday Times
'The finest male English contemporary crime writer' Val McDermid
'Reginald Hill's novels are really dances to the music of time, his heroes and villains interconnecting, their stories intertwining'
Ian Rankin
'One of Britain's most consistently excellent crime novelists' The Times
'These novels last, like a grand malt whisky – rounded, rich, intoxicating… Here is an author at his formidable best'
Frances Fyfield, Mail on Sunday
'So far out in front that he need not bother looking over his shoulder' Sunday Telegraph
'He is probably the best living male crime writer in the English-speaking world' Andrew Taylor, Independent
'Reginald Hill stands head and shoulders above any other writer of homebred crime fiction' Tom Hiney, Observer
Product Description
Superintendent Dalziel falls for the recently bereaved Mrs Fielding’s ample charms, and has to be rescued from a litter of fresh corpses by Inspector Pascoe.
After seeing Inspector Pascoe off on his honeymoon with a few ill-chosen words, Superintendent Andy Dalziel soon runs into trouble and water on his own solitary holiday. Rescued by a bunch of somewhat cheerful mourners, he accompanies them back to their rundown mansion to dry off.
The owner of Lake House, Bonnie Fielding, seems less troubled by her husband’s tragic death than by the problem of saving the family fortunes. Prompted not only by a professional curiosity but also by a more personal interest in Mrs Fielding’s ample charms, Dalziel stays on.
By the time Pascoe reappears, there have been several more deaths and it looks as if the normally hard-headed Dalziel might have compromised himself beyond redemption…
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Customer Reviews
With Pascoe off on his honeymoon, Dalziel (Dee-Ell) is taking a holiday of his own. Things quickly go awry when his car is swamped in a flooding road. He is rescued by a group of rather happy mourners and taken to a decrepit mansion to dry off. More seems wrong than just the state of the abode; there's a preserved rat in the freezer and the very appealing mistress of the manner twice widowed in suspicious circumstances.
When bodies become a fact of the present, rather than the past, Dalziel isn't leaving until the murderer is found.
It was nice to see Dalziel on his own for most of this book. He is fat, crass, rude, politically incorrect and altogether repulsive. And he's wonderful. He is the type of character you'd rather not know, or even be around, but you can't help like him and would always want him on your side. Aside from Pascoe, who is absent from most of this book, none of the characters are appealing.
In addition to Hill creating a very vivid cast of characters is the writing. Hill is an amazing author. He lovingly created a masterful and complex plot, with plenty of twists and an element of suspense. It was a wonderful version of the "country manor" mystery.
Hill's descriptions and dialogue with delightful sharp humor kept me engaged from first page to last. He truly demonstrated that one can tell a complete, compelling story in 187 pages (in my edition).
I am having a delightful time working my way through this series. I highly recommend Dalziel and Pascoe to all.
AN APRIL SHROUD (Pol. Proc-Dalziel and Pascoe-England-Cont) - VG+
Hill, Reginald - 4th in series
Foul Play Press, 1975, US Hardcopy
As always, the best parts of "An April Shroud" are the highly original characters and witty dialogue that are hallmarks of author Hill (and pretty much unequalled by any other mystery or other genre writer in 20 years). The book's plot is unusually serpentine and the denouement both funny and a bit opaque. In any event, it's a fine piece of writing that any reader will enjoy. Recommended.
The similarity to my kettle? As with the kettle, I'm only writing this to attempt to counter the unfairness of what I consider to be a particularly unperceptive review. There's an entertaining story here and it would be a shame to miss it.
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