Midnight Fugue
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Crime fiction fans are devoted to Reginald Hill’s excellent sequence of Dalziel & Pascoe novels, and there is a burgeoning interest in his equally adroit series featuring the canny private eye Joe Sixsmith (notably The Roar of the Butterflies, one of the most compelling entries in the series). However, for the real Reg Hill aficionado, it’s Fat Andy and his more sophisticated colleague who inspire the real dedication, so the arrival of a new book, Midnight Fugue, is a cause for celebration – particularly as a refutation of the information in the title of Hill’s recent novel, Dalziel is Dead.
Gina Wolfe arrives in north Yorkshire seeking her missing husband, believed dead. Her new fiancé, a policeman in the Met, suggests the caustic copper Andy Dalziel might be of help – and everyone involved discovers that dark events of years ago have a way of causing troubling eruptions in the present.
It's hard to believe, but it’s been nearly four decades since readers first encountered the well-read, sensitive detective Peter Pascoe and his partner, the brash but winning Andy Dalziel, in A Clubbable Woman. Hill has always rung the changes in the series with new wrinkles that take us to startling terra incognita (for example, One Small Step addressed the first murder on the moon in the year 2010). But the key factor in the series’ continuing success (leaving aside the ratings-winning TV adaptations) is Hill’s eagerness to take on key societal issues (always, however, married to reader-grabbing plots) – and that characteristic is abundantly evident in Midnight Fugue, with the two protagonist striking sparks off each other in the usual highly satisfying fashion. --Barry Forshaw
Review
[Reginald Hill] shows no sign of descending from the high quality of his writing ... Beautifully plotted and intriguingly resolved --The Times, 13 June, 2009
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hill in blistering form,
By NickR (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Midnight Fugue (Hardcover)
What a delight to find that Reginald Hill has lost none of his touch. Over a 24-hour timespan, Mr Hill confidently plays us his four-part fugue - "Bit of a tune that chases itself round and round til it vanishes up its own a..hole", as Dalziel puts it - and brings it to a resolution that in hindsight, like all the best music, suddenly makes perfect sense. The scored theme from the "Art of Fugue" at the beginning of each section of the book tells us something about Mr Hill's inspiration, and Bach might well have been proud to be this book's implicit dedicatee.
While Mr Hill exercises his technical skill, he shows he's lost none of his humour: there are awful puns, a Welsh village with the shamelessly Dylanesque name of Llufwwadog, and of course Fat Andy's Rabelaisian bawdiness and gluttony. And Mr Hill continues to prolong the tension which has built up over the last few books between the (not-quite-so-young-these-days) challenger Peter Pascoe and the ageing lion Dalziel - a tension which has not yet broken, and which hints at more books to come. Hurrah! (PS: my wife asks me to say that she's glad there's so little of Ellie in the book; for my part, I'm glad not to see the awful Franny Roote!)
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shorter but Pretty Sweet,
By
This review is from: Midnight Fugue (Hardcover)
After the last few Dalziel and Pascoe outings, this is considerably shorter. The characterization isn't as complex as we have seen during the Franny Roote saga, but Hill brings a new dimension to the relationship between Dalziel and Pascoe. It's time for the balance of power between the two to be addressed, especially since Dalziel's near-death experience, and Hill starts the process here. The plot, while not wholly original, sprints along nicely. The device of confining present day action to a single day keeps you turning the pages. Even though I normally like to savour a Hill book, this length and pace was a perfect early summer read. I'm looking forward to the next stage in this series; will some familiar faces from this book show up again?
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Sunday In Yorkshire,
By H. meiehofer "haroldm" (glasgow, scotland) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Midnight Fugue (Hardcover)
The Dalziel and Pascoe novels are one of the longest running series in the history of crime fiction. Mid-Yorkshire's finest have entertained us for nearly four decades. The latest in the series keeps up the excellent quality which Reginald Hill has produced for all these years.
As ever Midnight Fugue is a great conglomeration of skilful plotting, excellent characterisation and wry humour. All of the usual gang are here supplemented by a collection of intriguing one-off characters. The story keeps the reader guessing and whilst there are red herrings and apparent coincidence none of these seem implausible. The action in this case takes place over just a few hours (shades of "24"?) but there is plenty of it, and the chapters taking different perspectives are skilfully juxtaposed to ramp up the drama. Andy Dalziel remains as ever a force of nature but as with most of the recent books he has become a much more thoughtful creature. The other regular characters, although they play largely only supporting roles here, continue their development in a very natural and convincing manner. The only other police procedural series I know of with similar longevity is Ed McBain's 87th Precinct. It is no small praise to say that Reginald Hill's oeuvre matches McBain's. Reginald Hill has kept us all entertained with the exploits of the mid-Yorkshire force and this latest episode is a very welcome addition to the series. Let's hope there are many more
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