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fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
Playing God…
When Dalziel looks out of his window at the house opposite, he sees two men, one woman and a gun. He rushes over but by the time he gets there the woman is dead and the two men are adamant that she shot herself despite their attempts to prevent her. Dalziel doesn’t believe it – he saw the gun in the hand of one of the men. However when Pascoe arrives he’s less convinced – Dalziel has been drinking and how reliable is his evidence? Meantime, preparations are underway for a community performance of The York Mystery Plays, and the artistic director Eileen Chung thinks that Dalziel will be perfect to play the part of God. For the Devil, she wants to cast local builder Philip Swain – the widower of the dead woman and the man Dalziel claims was holding the gun…
For me, this is one of the very best in this great series not so much because of the murder plot, but because of the two side plots. Eileen Chung is a wonderful character, like Andy himself larger than life, glowing with self-confidence, and able to manipulate those around her to do as she wants. She is the focus of the lustful thoughts of most of the men she meets, and knows it, but women are also drawn to her by her kindness. Those in trouble especially seem to find a kind of strength simply from being in her company. Andy and she are like the two greatest gladiators in the arena, battling for supremacy, and it’s not at all clear who will win. Andy agrees to play God but Chung is going to discover that God has his own ideas about how his role should be performed!
The other side plot concerns anonymous letters Dalziel is receiving, probably from a woman, who tells him she plans to kill herself. She doesn’t want him to do anything about it – in fact she’s relying on him not to. She simply feels she wants to tell someone of her intention, and has picked on him as a kind of confessor because she believes his brashness means he won’t feel any responsibility when she dies. And Andy is indeed brash and believes that people are responsible for their own actions. But he passes the letters on to Pascoe, and Pascoe cares, perhaps too much. So while he is investigating the death of Gail Swain, Pascoe is also keeping an eye out for any woman who seems as if she may be at the end of her tether.
The three major characters are all given great parts in this ensemble piece – Dalziel, Pascoe and Wieldy, who by this point has become as essential to the series as the other two. Ellie, after her last outing when she really had taken her feminist stridency too far, to the point where it was endangering her relationship with Peter, has dialled back a bit for this one, becoming again the feisty but good-natured Ellie of old. But there are also lots of very well-drawn secondary characters in this one – Chung, of course, but also dried-up but still lustful Canon Horncastle, whose permission Chung needs to use the Cathedral grounds for her play, and his downtrodden wife, whom Chung quietly sets out to rescue. Philip Swain is one of Hill’s ambiguous possible villains/possible victims, and his secretary, Shirley Appleyard, defies her stolid appearance by having a razor-sharp mind, a tongue to match, and a predilection for discussing classic literature with Peter.
This one also has one of the most memorable climaxes of the whole series. The first time I read it I was shocked to my socks, and still find it intensely affecting even after multiple re-reads. I’m not sure that Hill wholly convinces me psychologically, but dramatically and literarily it’s superb. Is that intriguing enough for you to want to read it? I hope so! Although these books do all work better if you’ve read some of the earlier ones and become emotionally attached to the regulars, most of them work very well as standalones too, and this one does, I think. Hill is at the height of his powers by this point of the series, able to juggle humour, drama, pathos and tragedy seamlessly to give a full-colour panoramic view of his characters and the society they inhabit. As always, highly recommended!
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When Dalziel looks out of his window at the house opposite, he sees two men, one woman and a gun. He rushes over but by the time he gets there the woman is dead and the two men are adamant that she shot herself despite their attempts to prevent her. Dalziel doesn’t believe it – he saw the gun in the hand of one of the men. However when Pascoe arrives he’s less convinced – Dalziel has been drinking and how reliable is his evidence? Meantime, preparations are underway for a community performance of The York Mystery Plays, and the artistic director Eileen Chung thinks that Dalziel will be perfect to play the part of God. For the Devil, she wants to cast local builder Philip Swain – the widower of the dead woman and the man Dalziel claims was holding the gun…
For me, this is one of the very best in this great series not so much because of the murder plot, but because of the two side plots. Eileen Chung is a wonderful character, like Andy himself larger than life, glowing with self-confidence, and able to manipulate those around her to do as she wants. She is the focus of the lustful thoughts of most of the men she meets, and knows it, but women are also drawn to her by her kindness. Those in trouble especially seem to find a kind of strength simply from being in her company. Andy and she are like the two greatest gladiators in the arena, battling for supremacy, and it’s not at all clear who will win. Andy agrees to play God but Chung is going to discover that God has his own ideas about how his role should be performed!
The other side plot concerns anonymous letters Dalziel is receiving, probably from a woman, who tells him she plans to kill herself. She doesn’t want him to do anything about it – in fact she’s relying on him not to. She simply feels she wants to tell someone of her intention, and has picked on him as a kind of confessor because she believes his brashness means he won’t feel any responsibility when she dies. And Andy is indeed brash and believes that people are responsible for their own actions. But he passes the letters on to Pascoe, and Pascoe cares, perhaps too much. So while he is investigating the death of Gail Swain, Pascoe is also keeping an eye out for any woman who seems as if she may be at the end of her tether.
The three major characters are all given great parts in this ensemble piece – Dalziel, Pascoe and Wieldy, who by this point has become as essential to the series as the other two. Ellie, after her last outing when she really had taken her feminist stridency too far, to the point where it was endangering her relationship with Peter, has dialled back a bit for this one, becoming again the feisty but good-natured Ellie of old. But there are also lots of very well-drawn secondary characters in this one – Chung, of course, but also dried-up but still lustful Canon Horncastle, whose permission Chung needs to use the Cathedral grounds for her play, and his downtrodden wife, whom Chung quietly sets out to rescue. Philip Swain is one of Hill’s ambiguous possible villains/possible victims, and his secretary, Shirley Appleyard, defies her stolid appearance by having a razor-sharp mind, a tongue to match, and a predilection for discussing classic literature with Peter.
This one also has one of the most memorable climaxes of the whole series. The first time I read it I was shocked to my socks, and still find it intensely affecting even after multiple re-reads. I’m not sure that Hill wholly convinces me psychologically, but dramatically and literarily it’s superb. Is that intriguing enough for you to want to read it? I hope so! Although these books do all work better if you’ve read some of the earlier ones and become emotionally attached to the regulars, most of them work very well as standalones too, and this one does, I think. Hill is at the height of his powers by this point of the series, able to juggle humour, drama, pathos and tragedy seamlessly to give a full-colour panoramic view of his characters and the society they inhabit. As always, highly recommended!
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
cleheny's review against another edition
3.0
This is my first Dalziel and Pascoe mystery. Hill's a very good writer; he creates three-dimensional supporting characters and his detective team complement each other.
The principle mystery is whether Dalziel is correct to suspect a husband of murdering his wife, when both the husband and the lover claim she shot herself as they tried to wrestle the gun from her. This story might have been universally accepted if a drunk Dalziel had not been a (partial) witness. The mystery is clever, but weakened by an explanation that is, in my opinion, over-reliant on several coincidences. Still, the suspect--Swain--is a convincing creation, and, towards the end of the book, but before the key to the mystery is fully revealed, Dalziel gives a persuasive explanation of how someone like him might have pulled off the crime.
There is a secondary plot, involving anonymous letters to Dalziel from a woman who claims to be suicidal. Is she writing to him because she wants a disinterested listener who will hear her but not get in her way? Because she wants someone to stop her? Because she wants to taunt the man who is chosen to play God in a festival presentation of the Mystery Plays? Dalziel doesn't really care, so it falls to his partner, Pascoe, to take the lead here. Hill does a good job creating several potential suspects, and I (incorrectly) thought I had identified Pascoe's "Dark Lady." The reveal of that mystery makes for a powerful conclusion, but I didn't buy it.
This is probably not the best introduction to this series and these characters. Pascoe and Dalziel aren't on the same page for the vast majority of the book, and, therefore, one doesn't get a picture of a functioning partnership so much as a bullying superior and intelligent subordinate who has learned to live and work with the dynamic. Still, Hill's writing is quite effective. He paints scenes well without being overly detailed or carried away with his own descriptive powers. His characters are vividly drawn, and they make sense (except, as noted above, the "Dark Lady").
The book is dated in the manner that it describes one supporting character. A multi-racial (English and Malayan) theatre director is frequently described in terms of classic Asian beauty tropes (she is--bar none--the most sexually attractive woman in the book; the kind of woman for whom the act of breathing is enough to attract men). Her character is distinctive and doesn't track with all Asian-woman stereotypes (such as being demure or quiet), but there's liberal use of "Oriental" as an adjective. Because this is my first Hill novel, I don't know if his use of these terms was a subtle, but deliberate, way to get the reader thinking about her status in a fictional Yorkshire town or just a product of a 1990 publication.
To new readers of Dalziel and Pascoe, I'd suggest starting with another book in the series (though you'll need to check with fans to know where to start). Even though it's a bit hard to feel the lead characters' connection, it's still a good story, well written.
The principle mystery is whether Dalziel is correct to suspect a husband of murdering his wife, when both the husband and the lover claim she shot herself as they tried to wrestle the gun from her. This story might have been universally accepted if a drunk Dalziel had not been a (partial) witness. The mystery is clever, but weakened by an explanation that is, in my opinion, over-reliant on several coincidences. Still, the suspect--Swain--is a convincing creation, and, towards the end of the book, but before the key to the mystery is fully revealed, Dalziel gives a persuasive explanation of how someone like him might have pulled off the crime.
There is a secondary plot, involving anonymous letters to Dalziel from a woman who claims to be suicidal. Is she writing to him because she wants a disinterested listener who will hear her but not get in her way? Because she wants someone to stop her? Because she wants to taunt the man who is chosen to play God in a festival presentation of the Mystery Plays? Dalziel doesn't really care, so it falls to his partner, Pascoe, to take the lead here. Hill does a good job creating several potential suspects, and I (incorrectly) thought I had identified Pascoe's "Dark Lady." The reveal of that mystery makes for a powerful conclusion, but I didn't buy it.
This is probably not the best introduction to this series and these characters. Pascoe and Dalziel aren't on the same page for the vast majority of the book, and, therefore, one doesn't get a picture of a functioning partnership so much as a bullying superior and intelligent subordinate who has learned to live and work with the dynamic. Still, Hill's writing is quite effective. He paints scenes well without being overly detailed or carried away with his own descriptive powers. His characters are vividly drawn, and they make sense (except, as noted above, the "Dark Lady").
The book is dated in the manner that it describes one supporting character. A multi-racial (English and Malayan) theatre director is frequently described in terms of classic Asian beauty tropes (she is--bar none--the most sexually attractive woman in the book; the kind of woman for whom the act of breathing is enough to attract men). Her character is distinctive and doesn't track with all Asian-woman stereotypes (such as being demure or quiet), but there's liberal use of "Oriental" as an adjective. Because this is my first Hill novel, I don't know if his use of these terms was a subtle, but deliberate, way to get the reader thinking about her status in a fictional Yorkshire town or just a product of a 1990 publication.
To new readers of Dalziel and Pascoe, I'd suggest starting with another book in the series (though you'll need to check with fans to know where to start). Even though it's a bit hard to feel the lead characters' connection, it's still a good story, well written.
nocto's review against another edition
I really like the way Hill plays around with the structure of the Dalziel and Pascoe novels and the quality of the plots rarely drops below excellent as far as I'm concerned. I'm surprised that this is the book that Hill won the Gold Dagger for though as I thought the plot was a tiny bit ropey in parts and not as watertight as in previous books.
ericwelch's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoy the audiobooks of the Dalziel and Pasco series that are read by Brian Glover. Great accent, although it's occasionally hard to decipher, but the voices are great.
Dalziel witnesses the murder of a woman. Problem is that his story doesn't match those of others present in the room. As one would expect, his badgering and harassment soon reveals a host of nefarious activities.There's a side plot, the outcome of which I found a bit bizarre and unsatisfying. A woman has written to Dalziel that she intends to commit suicide and there i an underlying challenge for him to find her. He dismisses, it and it remains for Pasco, at the very end of the book to discover the woman's identity. In the meantime, Dalziel has been cast as God (!) in a local play.
Several readers have complained the book is not one of Hill's best and that the book drags. The beauty of the series is in the language, ribaldry, and the characters and their interactions.
Dalziel witnesses the murder of a woman. Problem is that his story doesn't match those of others present in the room. As one would expect, his badgering and harassment soon reveals a host of nefarious activities.There's a side plot, the outcome of which I found a bit bizarre and unsatisfying. A woman has written to Dalziel that she intends to commit suicide and there i an underlying challenge for him to find her. He dismisses, it and it remains for Pasco, at the very end of the book to discover the woman's identity. In the meantime, Dalziel has been cast as God (!) in a local play.
Several readers have complained the book is not one of Hill's best and that the book drags. The beauty of the series is in the language, ribaldry, and the characters and their interactions.
mandyla's review
4.0
I loved the way that the second mystery snuck up on me in this one - though its outcome was very sad.
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