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Amazon.co.uk Review
Readers await each new Dalziel and Pascoe novel from Reginald Hill with great anticipation and fans will be pleased to find that Arms and the Women is absolutely vintage stuff: pungently witty dialogue coupled with Hill's highly intelligent plotting. And after the massive success of On Beulah Height, Hill took a risk by introducing an innovation--the new novel is written in the book-within-a-book format. Dalziel and Pascoe, however, are true to form. The former as blunt and bawdy as ever, while the university-educated Pascoe with his troubling conscience makes the perfect contrast.
Ellie, a former campaigner for the hard left, is writing a book--the very book that readers have access to. So when Ellie's life is threatened, her friends assume it has to do with her marriage to a cop. But Ellie isn't so sure and enlists the help of the doughty duo, soon finding the death threats lead to packs of Irish Republicans, Colombian drug-dealers and bogus council officers. Interestingly enough, Ellie's problems are shared with a motley assortment of other women: her middle-class friend Daphne, a vivacious South American money-launderer and a pushy female copper. Is the target her husband Peter? Needless to say, the narrative has enough twists and turns to baffle the most astute reader, and each fresh revelation is both dramatic and unexpected.
Even without the pyrotechnics of plot, Dalziel remains a highly entertaining, and Hill enthusiasts will feel that they are getting their money's worth. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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 fertility of Hill’s imagination, the range of his power, the sheer quality of his literary style never cease to delight’ Val McDermid, Sunday Express
‘He is probably the best living male crime writer in the English-speaking world’ Andrew Taylor, Independent
‘Reginald Hill’s novels are really dances to the music of time, his heroes and villains interconnecting, their stories entwining’ Ian Rankin, Scotland on Sunday
‘An increasingly lyrical and always humorous writer, he is first and foremost an instinctive and complete novelist who is blessed with a spontaneous storytelling gift’ Francis Fyfield, Mail On Sunday
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I very much enjoyed the book despite agreeing with some of the specific accusations that other reviewers level at it.
Specifically, there are three faults:
(a) the plot is far-fetched,
(b) there's too much Ellie Pascoe, surely the most irritating coffee-table socialist ever created,
(c) there's the usual tendency towards overwrought writing, arcane vocabulary and general pretentiousness. This has always been the case with Reginald Hill's books, but has become exaggerated with time. Arms and Women is a later period novel.
So why have i given it 4 stars? Well, it's just a really good read! Once you sign up to the story's fantastical premise, you never really look back. I hardly put the book down once i'd begun.
And really, if overwritten prose is a turn-off for you, then you shouldn't be reading Reginald Hill in the first place should you? Try Tess Gerritsen instead. No, this is for those who enjoy rich fare, at least now and again.
Specifically, there are three faults:
(a) the plot is far-fetched,
(b) there's too much Ellie Pascoe, surely the most irritating coffee-table socialist ever created,
(c) there's the usual tendency towards overwrought writing, arcane vocabulary and general pretentiousness. This has always been the case with Reginald Hill's books, but has become exaggerated with time. Arms and Women is a later period novel.
So why have i given it 4 stars? Well, it's just a really good read! Once you sign up to the story's fantastical premise, you never really look back. I hardly put the book down once i'd begun.
And really, if overwritten prose is a turn-off for you, then you shouldn't be reading Reginald Hill in the first place should you? Try Tess Gerritsen instead. No, this is for those who enjoy rich fare, at least now and again.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
On Beulah Height is the Dalziel and Pascoe novel where it all finally comes together. The characterisation is true and insightful, the story complex without being too clever for it's own good (an occasional fault of Hill's) and the atmosphere both subtle and powerful. The sense of melancholy is beutifully maintained, keeping just the right side of parody as the story about missing children unfolds and plot line after plot line become entangled. The juggling of the personal stories of the main characters and the ever moving plotline is well done, with the interwining of the two never seeming contrived or forced. Most importantly of all, the fact that Dalziel and Pascoe are investigating the disappearance of children in the present and in history is never forgotten, and the progress of this investigation is kept in view and of primary importance.
Quite simply the best Dalziel and Pascoe book in the sequence. Moving, exciting and intelligent.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was outraged to hear reviews of this book describing that it is 'balderdash'. The character of Ellie Pascoe is a very interesting a deep one, which easily satisfys throghout the whole novel, along with Hill's other ensemble of entertaining characters come together to make this book a joy to read, even if the plot is far fetched. But then, what does that matter!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Reginald Hill on a feminist tear
Once in a while in his Pascoe and Dalziel series, author Reginald Hill takes off in several creative directions at once. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Blue in Washington
Utter rubbish
I've just finished reading this, about 5 minutes ago. I DID actually get to (almost) the end of it, but couldn't abide any more of such pretentious nonsense after the ludicrous... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2009 by John Nevill
Lay down your arms
How much violence is excusable by the habit of comment on another's misfortune? The characters in "Arms and the women" spend much time in killing and maiming. Read more
Published on 15 May 2008 by N. O. Hewlett
Pure escapism - loved it
I am a hugh fan of Reginald Hill's novels and love the variety he brings to each story. This is certainly true in Arms and the Women with a wide range of characters and stories... Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2006 by Storm
Arms and the Women
Following "On Beulah Height", which must be one of the best Dalziel and Pascoe novels, Reginald Hill had a hard task to equal it. Unfortunately he failed. Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2006 by G. Burgess
hmmm...
i borrowed this book from my local library and i am quite glad i didnt buy it as it is not one that i would like to read again. Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2004 by Kate
Oh dear
I have followed the 'dynamic duo' of Pascoe and Dalziel with pleasure for more than twenty years. However, I became increasingly irritated as I read this one. Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2001 by Mr. P. Skeldon
Not enough meat, too much ham
I agree totally with "Disappointed in Saudi Arabia. Reginald Hill is (was?) probably my favorite police procedural writer, at least where is D&P books are concerned, but I... Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2001 by Sari Gilbert
excellent- not for your typical whodunnit reader maybe!
A fun and fascinating book, with plenty of classical/literary references. Obviously not particularly appealing to the more straight-forward who/how-dunnit fans, however I believe... Read more
Published on 19 July 2001
Just as well this isn't a first novel
If this had been a first novel it would have received nothing but rejections from any publisher. It is self-indulgently over-long, unevenly written and very boring. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2001
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