Normally, there would be nothing sinister about a death by drowning and a motorcycle fatality -- had these tragic occurrences not been predicted before the fact in a pair of macabre "Dialogues" submitted to a Yorkshire short story competition. Yet the local police department is slow to act -- until the arrival of a third Dialogue ... and another corpse. A darkness is settling over a terrorized community, brought on by a genius fiend who hides clues to his horrific acts in complex riddles and brilliant wordplay. Now two seasoned CID investigators, Peter Pascoe and "Fat Andy" Dalziel, are racing against a clock whose every tick signals more blood and outrage, caught in the twisted game of a diabolical killer who is turning their jurisdiction into a slaughterhouse.
Dialogues of the Dead
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From Publishers Weekly
Known for complex plotting, deep characterization and sly humor, Hill here adds to his string of brilliant psychological thrillers featuring two of Britain's most well-rounded detectives. Supt. Andy Dalziel (aka the Fat Man) is the ultimate ham on wry. He takes no pains to hide his enormous appetites, but it pleases him to hide his sharp mind behind crude behavior and ribald speech. He pretends to misunderstand the erudite conversation of the various intellectuals who inhabit the story and delights in puncturing their pompous pronouncements. When one expert adviser presents what he calls an "interesting" theory, Dalziel responds, "If you're waiting for a bus and a giraffe walks down the street, that's interesting. But it doesn't get you anywhere." Refined, polite, rock-solid Inspector Peter Pascoe is the perfect foil to his outlandish boss. Between them they've found truth in many a maze, but here both play background roles to rookie constable Bowler, inevitably nicknamed Hat. Hill's fans know his fondness for all sorts of wordplay, but he takes it to new level, for a word game is the crux of the mystery. The killer enters a short story competition with a piece, written in the form of a one-sided dialogue, that describes a murder and dares the police to untangle the clues planted therein. When they fail, another story submission arrives, describing a second murder. Five more people die before Pascoe's flash of insight illuminates the proper path. One final twist at the very end will take readers' breath away. (Jan. 2)Edgar, Diamond Dagger and Gold Dagger.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.From Library Journal
People are dying in Mid-Yorkshire, UK, in what appear to be accidents: one man drowns in a shallow stream, while a young motorcyclist crashes into a tree. While wading through piles of stories that have been submitted for a fiction contest, the county library's reference librarian, Dick Dee, and his assistant, Rye Pomona, come across two stories titled "Dialogues" that give details of those deaths. When they realize that the stories were submitted before accounts of the deaths appeared in the local paper, Dick and Rye consult the area's newest law enforcement agent, handsome young detective Ethelbert "Hat" Bowler, who has been frequenting the library in the hopes of getting to know the beautiful Rye. He and his bosses, the irreverent, cantankerous Andy "Fat Man" Dalziel and the elegant Peter Pascoe, must analyze the cryptic "Dialogues" to find the killer they dub "The Wordman." This latest in Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series is filled with clever wordplay; complex, articulate suspects; and an intricate, suspenseful plot. Recommended for public libraries. Jane la Plante, Minot State Univ. Lib., ND
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Format:Hardcover
Mysteries are mysteries except when written by Hill. His novels are wonderfully written works of fiction that use the murder mystery genre merely as the tread. It is the "getting there" that he masters so well.
It was great to see the characters from his previous book, 'Death's Jest-Book' show up again in this novel - part two of the story... but 'Death's Jest-Book' is the one to own.
Format:Hardcover
This is one of the best mysteries I've read recently, as a mystery and also as masterful piece of fiction writing. Hill is a genious of characterization, and the plot is both clever and unsettling. I could carp about the ending, which will surprise (and may dismay) you, but I have to admit it has really stuck with me and was not an easy, conventional solution.
By P.A.W
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this book for Christmas for my husband as we are both fans of British mysteries. How we missed this author in all our years of reading authors likes Peter Robinson, Ian Rankin and Colin Dexter I have no idea, because Hill is an absolute pleasure. His plots flow smoothly but it is the characters of Dalziel and Pascoe that he has developed over some 30 years of writing that are the real gems. I have to admit after reading this novel I went back to his first "A Clubbable Woman" and read them through by publication date and am really sad that I have now read them all and will have to wait for the next one.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible, powerful crime fiction
Words like unique, creative, compelling, imaginative, althought highly relevant, do not do justice to this masterpiece. Read more
Published on July 10 2003
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rare pleasure
I will not give a summary of the plot or teh characters--otehrs have done it, besides it is hard to do that without giving spoilers. Read more
Published on May 20 2002 by Emilia Palaveeva
4.0 out of 5 stars
5 stars for style, 3 stars for plot
As noted by all reviews of the book, the word play in _Dialogues of the Dead_ is witty and tremendously fun to read. Read more
Published on May 7 2002 by frumiousb
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Hill's best books.
This one takes you on a ride that you won't soon forget. The characters are well developed, especially if you've read his other books and there is a new guy thrown into the mix who... Read more
Published on April 18 2002 by Leland R. Somers
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dialogues
Enjoyed the book and the wonderful word puzzles. And, yes, suspected who 'did it' fairly early on. Read more
Published on April 2 2002 by A. Correia
3.0 out of 5 stars
Without the ending it's one of the best thrillers I've read
With it, you feel very let down. However, as this is the latest Dalziel and Pascoe novel, the next one in the series may make this ending better. Read more
Published on Mar 17 2002 by Richard Laven
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great addition to a great series
The amazing thing about Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe books is that they're all the same (police procedural, recurring characters) and yet all different. Read more
Published on Mar 8 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hill always takes time to write wrongs!
Reginald Hill can be quite clever at times; he is usually quite good at times, and in his latest, he's both. Read more
Published on Mar 5 2002 by Billy J. Hobbs
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too Clever For Its Own Good
Normally I love each of the books in the Dalziel and Pascoe series. They usually have everything you could want in a good mystery - interesting main characters who grow throughout... Read more
Published on Mar 4 2002 by Reedekullervo
4.0 out of 5 stars
Word mavens rejoice
A new Dalziel and Pascoe novel is always a cause for celebration but "Dialogues of the Dead" is a special treat for puzzle and word-game lovers. Read more
Published on Mar 3 2002 by Lynn Harnett
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