- Mass Market Paperback: 528 pages
- Publisher: Avon Books; Reprint edition (Oct 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060528095
- ISBN-13: 978-0060528096
- Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 3.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the things that the classic British crime novel does is set us puzzles; in Reginald Hill's new Dalziel and Pascoe novel Dialogues of the Dead they introduce us to a killer who does almost nothing else. A series of seemingly random killings are connected by the accounts of them--accounts awash in puns, literary allusions and deliberate obscurities--which keep turning up at the Mid-Yorkshire County Library. At first, keen young recruit Hat Bowler only takes the letters seriously as a way of chatting up the beautiful Rye Pomona--but it becomes progressively clearer to him and his superiors that whoever is writing them simply knows too much not to be the killer... Hill is at the height of his powers here--comic grotesques like Dalziel, with his habit of deliberately seeming more thuggish and obtuse than anyone could possibly quite be, compete for space with satiric observation of Jax, the bright young TV link who will do anything for her story, and the penny-pinching left-wing councillor who ends up with a chisel in his brain. Anyone who likes Hill's always excellent work will be impressed by this--and anyone who likes word-play and puzzles will be fascinated by it. --Roz Kaveney
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
‘He is probably the best living male crime writer in the English-speaking world’
Andrew Taylor, Independent
‘The finest male English contemporary crime writer. Compassionate, intelligent and entertaining’
Val McDermid, Manchester Evening News
‘He just keeps getting better and better… Hill, a true master, never fails to shock and surprise’
Ian Rankin, Scotland on Sunday
‘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
‘One of Britain’s most consistently excellent crime novelists’
Marcel Berlins, The Times
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
...Hill has taken the puzzle and language to an incredible new level, while keeping the characters we know in character, teasing us with hints, puzzles, red herrings, but no cheating. Several times I wanted to fetch my copy of the OED, and I may just reread it with that set at my elbow. Didn't want to miss a word. The best I've read all year. This book should not be missed by lovers of language, literature, mysteries, and thrillers. I already anticipate greatly the next in the series.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It is only in the last two years that I have become aware of Reginald Hill's "Dalziel & Pascoe" novels. This has turned out to be a bonus for me as I have had the pleasure of being able to read through the whole series in a short space of time. I am one of those readers, who when I find an author whose books I love, finds the wait for the next book interminable. The new Dalziel & Pascoe novel "Dialogues of the Dead" was worth the wait.
Wield, Pascoe & Dalziel are once again at the forefront of this book, in addition we have a fourth main character from CID, E. "Hat" Bowler, who was introduced in "Arms and the Women" when given the task of "baby sitting" Ellie Pascoe. (Hill seems to have a fondness for obscure names beginning with the letter 'E', Edwin, Edgar, Eleanor and now Ethelbert)
The local newspaper is running a short story competition. Entries to the competition are being short listed on behalf of the newspaper by two library employees Dick Dee and Rye Pomona. In amongst the entries are two dialogues whose content shows that the author knows the circumstances of two recent deaths and is claiming responsibility. Rye Pomona makes the connection between the dialogues and the deaths and brings them to the attention of "Hat" Bowler who has been trying to gain the attention of Rye Pomona.
From here we have more deaths and subsequent matching dialogues being received by the people involved in the Heritage, Arts & Library Centre and this is the basis of our 'whodunit'.
As per Reginald Hill's other novels in this series, my enjoyment comes from the continued growth of the characters and the effort and thought expected of the reader in trying to sort out who is responsible for the deaths. Although I must admit to having got to the end of most of these books with a "Well I never...".
"Dialogues of the Dead" in my opinion is on par with to "On Beulah Height", "Bones & Silence", "Child's Play" and "Pictures of Perfection" which I have a soft spot for. I found the previous novel in this series "Arms and the Women" a major disappointment, probably due to my antipathy to Ellie Pascoe who is the only Hill character I cannot warm to. For me at least, I am relieved the the series is back on track with emphasis on Hill's 'trinity' of Dalziel, Pascoe & Wield along with E. Bowler.
I loved this book, my thoughts now turn, to the next in this series and how Reginald Hill is going to juxtapose Bowler and Novello (who is away on sick leave in this book and only makes a brief appearance) in future as I've enjoyed their expanded presence in the recent books.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is by far the most cleverley written episode yet in the lives of Mid Yorkshire's finest detectives.
Reginald Hill's use of the English language creates puzzles and red herrings a plenty. The characters are intricately fused together, each presenting a case for their own inclusion in the ring of suspects. The introduction of the hapless, although by no means hopeless, DC Bowler leaves the reader in no doubt that Reginald Hill is a great master of the written word.
A constant sense of suspense and wonder at the ultimate truth is the reader's own reward. Miss this book at your peril!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Hill, Puzzling but Back on Form
After being disappointed by Arms and The Woman I wasn't sure whether this would be any good. Luckily this is classic Hill, teasing and mentally challenging, threading themes and... Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2007 by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
Superb
I've always been a huge fan of the Dalziel and Pascoe books. Reginald Hill is a superb crime writer who has only got better with time. Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2006 by R. Walker
Contrived, but a brilliant heading
I used to love Reggie Hill 10 or 15 years ago. I read a lot of his stuff when I lived in Australia, and his books were redolent of an England I'd left behind. Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2003 by Neil Truby
Fanscinating and Enthralling
BR>I've listened to a couple of other Dalziel & Pascoe novels and so looked forward to this one eagerly - and I was not dissappointed - it is a super book. Read more
Published on 25 Nov 2003 by Susan Flower
Ingenious crime writing
After leaving the crime novel genre for a while after finding it predictable and tired, I came back to have a look at Reginald Hill's novels after a strong recommendation. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2003
too clever by half
Being a big fan of the TV Dalziel and Pascoe I was interested to try one of the books - however in future I will stick to the telly! Read more
Published on 6 May 2003 by Lendrick
It seemed like a great crime novel...until the last chapter
Reginald Hill has long been one of my favorite crime writers, if not my favorite. But there have been disappointments caused, in my view, by the author's growing tendency to pay... Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2002 by Sari Gilbert
Gimmicky and overlong
Reginald Hill seems to be slipping into gimmickery, with his recent novels pushing Dalziel and Pascoe out of the picture in favour of some trick, such as the dialogues in this... Read more
Published on 7 Jun 2002
A stunningly literate British detective novel
I've never watched an episode of the TV series Dalziel & Pascoe, nor read anything previously written by Mr Hill, so this novel was a first for me. Read more
Published on 12 May 2002 by G. J. Oxley
Best book ever
I have very little to say about this book.
Apart from that it is the best book i have ever read. Definitely my book of the millenium. Read more
Published on 10 April 2002
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