- Audio Cassette
- Publisher: ISIS Audio Books; Unabridged edition (May 1 2000)
- ISBN-10: 075310878X
- ISBN-13: 978-0753108789
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Although Yorkshire's Superintendent Andy Dalziel and Inspector Peter Pascoe are strong supporting characters in Hill's 18th entry in this enduring series, the real stars are an evocative array of women.
Deeply shaken by her 9-year-old daughter's close encounter with death in On Beulah Height, Peter's wife Ellie has taken to writing a novel for comfort. It's about the Greeks and the Trojans, but the odd thing is that her Odysseus looks and sounds a lot like Andy Dalziel. (After Aenas accuses him of being one of his sworn enemies, Odysseus replies, "Nay, lord ... I've sworn to nowt about you lot. I've never heard owt about you but good, nor do I wish you any harm, and I'll swear to that here and now, if you like."). Still, her happy days spent writing are soon cut short when she narrowly avoids being kidnapped by a slick couple who show up in a white Mercedes. Then her neighbor, Daphne Aldermann, has her stiff upper lip split when she goes after an intruder outside the Pascoe house and is badly beaten. Other compelling female characters include the tough and glamorous Constable Shirley Novello (who volunteers to guard Ellie despite an instinctive dislike between them), an elderly activist called Feenie Macallum, and a con woman, Kelly Cornelius (who is linked to some IRA gun runners and Colombian drug dealers). Between them, these women work out a beautiful, dangerous revenge on the villains who threaten them.
Once again, Reginald Hill has found a new way to get our attention and prove that--for him--the restraints of the mystery are nonexistent. --Dick Adler --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Few mystery authors know better than the prolific Hill (Singing the Sadness, Forecasts, Aug. 23) how to keep the delicate engine of a high-quality series running. After successfully mining the past for his last two books about Yorkshire coppers Andy Dalziel and Peter Pascoe (The Wood Beyond and On Beulah Height), he now takes an entirely new directionAcentering the series' action on Pascoe's wife, Ellie, and surrounding her with a captivating gallery of mostly female characters. The result is a delightfully quirky, literate, often explosively funny novel that actually extends the genre's range. Ellie PascoeAformer activist and deeply involved teacher, now recovering from the serious medical threat to her nine-year-old daughter, Rosie, that was detailed in On Beulah HeightAis a "pre-published" novelist working on a book about Odysseus (who in Ellie's hands sounds a lot like a Greek version of Fat Andy Dalziel, complete with Yorkshire vernacular). When a slick couple show up in an expensive car, claiming to be from the local education authority and offering to give her a lift to the spot where a bus carrying Rosie has broken down, Ellie almost goes alongAescaping an abduction attempt only because of the deeply implanted suspicions of a cop's wife. Pascoe, Dalziel, the wonderfully resourceful Sgt. Edgar Wield and the extremely sharp Constable Shirley Novello try to link the attempted snatch to some of Pascoe's past cases and enemies, especially to the gorgeous money launderer Kelly Cornelius. Hill soon lets us know better, however, introducing a shadowy figure who calls herself Sybil and a wheelchair-bound intelligence gatherer working for a high-ranking spook. And there's also the Colombian drug bandits and Irish arms-runners who somehow figure into the attack on EllieAand then in the assault on Ellie's marvelously acid, deceptively stiff-upper-lipped neighbor Daphne. Also vital to the plot is Feenie Macallum, the aged but doggedly energetic daughter of a legendary arms merchant, whose crumbling seaside estate provides the locale for the novel's amazing finaleAa rare, perfect blend of danger and hilarity. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
I could have done without Ellie's book,
This review is from: Arms and the Women (Mass Market Paperback)
I always enjoy a Dalziel and Pascoe. As a mystery, this one was good, albeit a little far-fetched. But I found the excerpts from Ellie's book annoying.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Read some other book of the series first...,
This review is from: Arms and the Women (Mass Market Paperback)
If there is something that remains to be written, that is a bad Dalziel-Pascoe book. Those of us who have become fans of Hill's intricate and witty style will not necessarily be disappointed by this latest entry. In my own personal case, however, I doubt that this one will be counted among my favorites. It is true that there is not enough of Dalziel, that most loveable of all fiction detectives (his appearance under the guise of Odysseus, with Pascoe as Aeneas, in Ellie Pascoe's mock novel is not nearly enough), but the real problem, I think, is the plot itself, which is more overwrought than complicated, and not nearly as interesting as one has got to expect from this series. Also, I guess newcomers will be totally bewildered, not only because it is taken for granted that you already know the main characters very well, but also, characters from previous books show up unannounced, and even us followers of the series can't remember all of them (I know at least that I don't). I am only grateful that this was not the first book in the series I've ever read, because I don't think I would have been tempted to follow it, and that would be my loss! To those of you who have never heard of Dalziel and Pascoe, please read first some other book in the series, such as On Beulah Height, Deadheads or Recalled to Life.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Convoluted,
This review is from: Arms and the Women (Mass Market Paperback)
Disjointed, convoluted, erratic--all come as a disappointment to Reginald Hill's fans who read this book thinking they are lapping up another Dalziel/Pascoe story. Perseverance will get the reader to the end of the book, with a "what's new" shrug of the sholders, and a feeling that Hill was impressed with his own cuteness and, as one reviewer says, "erudition". While obviously a side trip from the usual, this story needs to go back to the editor for tuning up. Disappointing!
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