| Publisher | HarperCollins |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 27 October 2022 |
| ISBN-10 | 0008430012 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0008430016 |
| Format | hardcover |
| Pages | 240 |
| Price | £ 16.99 |
Dalziel and Pascoe Hunt the Christmas Killer & Other Stories
by
Eleven intriguing short stories by the late Reginald Hill, with a forward by Val McDermid.
Review
The title story gets this collection of 11 short stories by the late Reginald Hill off to an excellent start as Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel and DCI Peter Pascoe contend with a pair of creepily infuriating twins whilst trying to get to the bottom of the bizarre case of a murdered vicar, nailed to a yew tree in his own churchyard.
Next up is Market Forces, a cautionary tale of a banker who accidentally releases a demon while he’s burying the body of his murdered wife. If this ever happens to you, bear in mind that even the best-looking investments can go down as well as up. Many people dream of committing the perfect murder, but it’s not as easy as it seems, as the founder of The Perfect Murder Club discovers when he realises that maybe he’s simply set his sights too low in the first place.
In The Thaw, not all accidents are as simple as they might seem, and a man returns again and again to a remote Scottish mountainside, dreading what the warmer weather will reveal. Brass Monkeys sees Dalziel and Pascoe in action again when a valuable object is stolen from a local museum. During a stakeout in freezing cold weather Pascoe grapples with his conscience as his boss’s unorthodox attitude brings him dangerously close to crossing a line in his rivalry with the National Crime Agency.
The stakes aren’t quite so high in True Thomas, or so a jaded young copper thinks when he makes a bargain with the defence barrister who’s just cost him an important case. Tell the truth and nothing but the truth for 24 hours and she’ll put herself in his hands. Easy. But playing the role of True Thomas for a day and a night proves harder than expected and the consequences threaten both his marriage and his career.
Castles sees a man who wanted his wife dead get what he wished for but then the uncertainty over whether he really was responsible for her death proves an unexpected burden as the old adage ‘be careful what you wish for’ comes back to haunt him. Fool of Myself brings another old saying to mind – you should always listen to your mother. If William Appleby had done that, he would have been a lot better off. Beachcombing is a popular hobby, but in Boddicombe, success is judged by the number of bodies you find washed up. Only in John Brown’s case, he hasn’t found a single one, but surely everyone’s luck has to change sometime. John Brown’s Body is likely to make anyone think twice about poking around on the beach.
The words Proxime Accessit admirably sum up Dennis Platt’s life. He’s always destined to be the runner-up in life, all too often playing second fiddle to his talented, popular friend, famous actor Tom Trotter who ended up in Hollywood, while Dennis reached retirement as a deputy head in Dunchester. But when Tom finally takes a hand in his own destiny there’s a sharp sting in the tail.
The strange case of a disappearing statue and a midnight raid on the contents of a posh country hotel’s kitchen feature in Where the Snow Lay Dented, which brings the collection full circle to Hill’s best loved creations as Andy Dalziel joins Peter and Ellie Pascoe and their young daughter Rosie for Christmas away from home. Andy Dalziel can’t say that’s really his idea of a good time until he clocks that drinks are included in the price. The Fat Man and unlimited booze – what could possibly go wrong?
This collection, introduced by Hill’s friend and fellow crime writer Val McDermid, showcases Hill’s much-missed talents at their best, mixing pointed observations of human nature smoothly with equally sharp humour to produce an entirely satisfying set of stories, with plenty of delightfully off-the-wall ideas and some laugh out-loud moments.
I adored both the suave demon in Market Forces and the coolly amused female barrister In True Thomas but then I’m a former lawyer, so maybe there’s no surprises there in either case! The latter, with the delightfully humorous chaos that unfolds from such a seemingly simple challenge, was a standout winner for me. I imagine many people would be more than a tad challenged by the need to stick entirely to the truth for 24 hours without being silent the whole time. Give it a go, it might be harder than you think … or maybe you could just lock yourself away with a good book for 24 hours instead. And Reginald Hill does write exceedingly good books!
Next up is Market Forces, a cautionary tale of a banker who accidentally releases a demon while he’s burying the body of his murdered wife. If this ever happens to you, bear in mind that even the best-looking investments can go down as well as up. Many people dream of committing the perfect murder, but it’s not as easy as it seems, as the founder of The Perfect Murder Club discovers when he realises that maybe he’s simply set his sights too low in the first place.
In The Thaw, not all accidents are as simple as they might seem, and a man returns again and again to a remote Scottish mountainside, dreading what the warmer weather will reveal. Brass Monkeys sees Dalziel and Pascoe in action again when a valuable object is stolen from a local museum. During a stakeout in freezing cold weather Pascoe grapples with his conscience as his boss’s unorthodox attitude brings him dangerously close to crossing a line in his rivalry with the National Crime Agency.
The stakes aren’t quite so high in True Thomas, or so a jaded young copper thinks when he makes a bargain with the defence barrister who’s just cost him an important case. Tell the truth and nothing but the truth for 24 hours and she’ll put herself in his hands. Easy. But playing the role of True Thomas for a day and a night proves harder than expected and the consequences threaten both his marriage and his career.
Castles sees a man who wanted his wife dead get what he wished for but then the uncertainty over whether he really was responsible for her death proves an unexpected burden as the old adage ‘be careful what you wish for’ comes back to haunt him. Fool of Myself brings another old saying to mind – you should always listen to your mother. If William Appleby had done that, he would have been a lot better off. Beachcombing is a popular hobby, but in Boddicombe, success is judged by the number of bodies you find washed up. Only in John Brown’s case, he hasn’t found a single one, but surely everyone’s luck has to change sometime. John Brown’s Body is likely to make anyone think twice about poking around on the beach.
The words Proxime Accessit admirably sum up Dennis Platt’s life. He’s always destined to be the runner-up in life, all too often playing second fiddle to his talented, popular friend, famous actor Tom Trotter who ended up in Hollywood, while Dennis reached retirement as a deputy head in Dunchester. But when Tom finally takes a hand in his own destiny there’s a sharp sting in the tail.
The strange case of a disappearing statue and a midnight raid on the contents of a posh country hotel’s kitchen feature in Where the Snow Lay Dented, which brings the collection full circle to Hill’s best loved creations as Andy Dalziel joins Peter and Ellie Pascoe and their young daughter Rosie for Christmas away from home. Andy Dalziel can’t say that’s really his idea of a good time until he clocks that drinks are included in the price. The Fat Man and unlimited booze – what could possibly go wrong?
This collection, introduced by Hill’s friend and fellow crime writer Val McDermid, showcases Hill’s much-missed talents at their best, mixing pointed observations of human nature smoothly with equally sharp humour to produce an entirely satisfying set of stories, with plenty of delightfully off-the-wall ideas and some laugh out-loud moments.
I adored both the suave demon in Market Forces and the coolly amused female barrister In True Thomas but then I’m a former lawyer, so maybe there’s no surprises there in either case! The latter, with the delightfully humorous chaos that unfolds from such a seemingly simple challenge, was a standout winner for me. I imagine many people would be more than a tad challenged by the need to stick entirely to the truth for 24 hours without being silent the whole time. Give it a go, it might be harder than you think … or maybe you could just lock yourself away with a good book for 24 hours instead. And Reginald Hill does write exceedingly good books!
Reviewed 17 December 2022 by Linda Wilson
