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rodney1946's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A Ruling Passion (1973)
Third in the series of Yorkshire detective novels, starring Andrew Dalziel and Peter Pascoe (the latter to the fore in this one). English country murder (three!) with a twist. Very nicely written, smart and interesting. Peter and Ellie are dating (a lot of people don't like her, but I think she is realistic and adds a lot of interest)
Third in the series of Yorkshire detective novels, starring Andrew Dalziel and Peter Pascoe (the latter to the fore in this one). English country murder (three!) with a twist. Very nicely written, smart and interesting. Peter and Ellie are dating (a lot of people don't like her, but I think she is realistic and adds a lot of interest)
laila4343's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
jefftstevens's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
Tragedy at Thornton Lacey...
Peter Pascoe and his girlfriend, Ellie Soper, are off for a weekend break to visit old university friends now living in the village of Thornton Lacey. But when they get there, they are met with tragedy – three of their friends lie dead from shotgun wounds and the fourth, Colin, is missing. Not surprisingly, Colin immediately becomes the chief suspect, but neither Peter nor Ellie can bring themselves to believe he could have done such a horrific thing. Meantime, back in Mid-Yorkshire, Dalziel wants Peter back as soon as possible, since they are in the middle of a major investigation of a string of burglaries that seems to be escalating into violence.
First published in 1973, this is the third book in the Dalziel and Pascoe series, and shows a big leap in the development of some of the characters. Pascoe has changed out of all recognition from the rather commonplace young man of the first book, [b:A Clubbable Woman|671923|A Clubbable Woman (Dalziel & Pascoe, #1)|Reginald Hill|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387652351s/671923.jpg|1601461]. He's now showing the intelligence and sensitivity that make him such an enjoyable character, both in his own right and as a contrast to the brash and arrogant Dalziel. Dalziel still has some way to go in terms of development – he's still not quite the larger than life figure he will become. I can't quite put my finger on what's missing in his character so far, but am looking forward to spotting it as the series progresses. I think it may be his touch of omniscience, or that he hasn't quite fully become the 'big fish in a small pond' of later books.
Ellie, too, has developed a good deal from the last book, [b:An Advancement of Learning|1156954|An Advancement of Learning (Dalziel & Pascoe, #2)|Reginald Hill|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330831477s/1156954.jpg|657959], but is also not yet fully the Ellie of the middle and later ones. With her character, Hill gets away from the, to modern eyes, outdated portrayal of women as little more than sexual temptresses that he gave us in the first book. Ellie is a mixture of strength and softness – a feminist at a time when feminism hadn't quite worked out what it wanted to be when it grew up. Volatile and feisty, politically on the left and therefore deeply ambivalent about Peter's job in that tool of capitalist oppression, the police force, she often gives him a hard time. But deep down she knows he's one of the good guys and agrees, though she might never say it, that his job is one that needs to be done, and is better done by honourable, intelligent men than by thugs like Dalziel (it's the '70s, chaps, so forgive the inbuilt sexism in that sentence – Hill will introduce women police detectives later). In this book, though, she also begins to get to know Dalziel better and starts the slow process of realising that maybe his thuggish exterior hides a more complex and nuanced morality than she's ready to give him credit for.
Pascoe's relationship with Ellie and this trip back to his university days highlights his intellectual side, which in turns allows Hill to start what becomes a feature of later books – references, some subtle, some humorous, to the greats of English literature, especially Jane Austen. The title is from Pope and his poem Eloisa and Abelard plays a minor role in the plot. If you spotted that the name of the village comes from Ms Austen's Mansfield Park, well done! Some of the characters' names are also from Austen, often her juvenilia. If you like these sorts of references, it can be fun trying to spot them, or googling them; but, if the thought makes you go cross-eyed with boredom, I can reassure you that they're completely incidental to enjoying the books. When I first read them, long, long, ago, I was unaware that Hill liked to play these games, never spotted them, and never felt that I was missing anything.
The plot in this one is deeply confusing with too many people playing minor parts and too much coincidence coming into play. I'm finding on this re-read that the plot tends to be the weakest part of each of the books so far. It's always set up interestingly, as with this one in the triple murder scene, but somehow it tends to get a bit over complicated as the book progresses. However, it's the quality of the writing and characterisation that lift even these early books above the average. There is always plenty of humour to offset the darkness of the storylines. Hill gives a believable picture of Ellie and Peter's grief at the deaths of their friends, but without wallowing in it. And their growing relationship is handled beautifully, showing all the compromises that have to be made when two strong characters collide, but also the rewards that come in a partnership of real equals. This one works fine as a standalone, as they nearly all do, but I must say that reading them in order gives extra pleasure in seeing both the characters and Hill's writing style develop as the series progresses. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Peter Pascoe and his girlfriend, Ellie Soper, are off for a weekend break to visit old university friends now living in the village of Thornton Lacey. But when they get there, they are met with tragedy – three of their friends lie dead from shotgun wounds and the fourth, Colin, is missing. Not surprisingly, Colin immediately becomes the chief suspect, but neither Peter nor Ellie can bring themselves to believe he could have done such a horrific thing. Meantime, back in Mid-Yorkshire, Dalziel wants Peter back as soon as possible, since they are in the middle of a major investigation of a string of burglaries that seems to be escalating into violence.
First published in 1973, this is the third book in the Dalziel and Pascoe series, and shows a big leap in the development of some of the characters. Pascoe has changed out of all recognition from the rather commonplace young man of the first book, [b:A Clubbable Woman|671923|A Clubbable Woman (Dalziel & Pascoe, #1)|Reginald Hill|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387652351s/671923.jpg|1601461]. He's now showing the intelligence and sensitivity that make him such an enjoyable character, both in his own right and as a contrast to the brash and arrogant Dalziel. Dalziel still has some way to go in terms of development – he's still not quite the larger than life figure he will become. I can't quite put my finger on what's missing in his character so far, but am looking forward to spotting it as the series progresses. I think it may be his touch of omniscience, or that he hasn't quite fully become the 'big fish in a small pond' of later books.
Ellie, too, has developed a good deal from the last book, [b:An Advancement of Learning|1156954|An Advancement of Learning (Dalziel & Pascoe, #2)|Reginald Hill|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330831477s/1156954.jpg|657959], but is also not yet fully the Ellie of the middle and later ones. With her character, Hill gets away from the, to modern eyes, outdated portrayal of women as little more than sexual temptresses that he gave us in the first book. Ellie is a mixture of strength and softness – a feminist at a time when feminism hadn't quite worked out what it wanted to be when it grew up. Volatile and feisty, politically on the left and therefore deeply ambivalent about Peter's job in that tool of capitalist oppression, the police force, she often gives him a hard time. But deep down she knows he's one of the good guys and agrees, though she might never say it, that his job is one that needs to be done, and is better done by honourable, intelligent men than by thugs like Dalziel (it's the '70s, chaps, so forgive the inbuilt sexism in that sentence – Hill will introduce women police detectives later). In this book, though, she also begins to get to know Dalziel better and starts the slow process of realising that maybe his thuggish exterior hides a more complex and nuanced morality than she's ready to give him credit for.
Pascoe's relationship with Ellie and this trip back to his university days highlights his intellectual side, which in turns allows Hill to start what becomes a feature of later books – references, some subtle, some humorous, to the greats of English literature, especially Jane Austen. The title is from Pope and his poem Eloisa and Abelard plays a minor role in the plot. If you spotted that the name of the village comes from Ms Austen's Mansfield Park, well done! Some of the characters' names are also from Austen, often her juvenilia. If you like these sorts of references, it can be fun trying to spot them, or googling them; but, if the thought makes you go cross-eyed with boredom, I can reassure you that they're completely incidental to enjoying the books. When I first read them, long, long, ago, I was unaware that Hill liked to play these games, never spotted them, and never felt that I was missing anything.
The plot in this one is deeply confusing with too many people playing minor parts and too much coincidence coming into play. I'm finding on this re-read that the plot tends to be the weakest part of each of the books so far. It's always set up interestingly, as with this one in the triple murder scene, but somehow it tends to get a bit over complicated as the book progresses. However, it's the quality of the writing and characterisation that lift even these early books above the average. There is always plenty of humour to offset the darkness of the storylines. Hill gives a believable picture of Ellie and Peter's grief at the deaths of their friends, but without wallowing in it. And their growing relationship is handled beautifully, showing all the compromises that have to be made when two strong characters collide, but also the rewards that come in a partnership of real equals. This one works fine as a standalone, as they nearly all do, but I must say that reading them in order gives extra pleasure in seeing both the characters and Hill's writing style develop as the series progresses. 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
ncrabb's review against another edition
2.0
I’m on the verge of giving up on this series. It gets one more chance in a few months.
In this third installment, Peter Pascoe takes his current main squeeze to a country town a day’s drive from London where they find three horrifically murdered bodies—all three friends of the couple. A fourth person, the host who had invited Pascoe to the cottage, is missing.
Pascoe is concerned local law enforcement will limit their investigation only to his friend who is missing, and he realizes more is in play than meets the eye.
His associate, the fat insufferable Andy Dalziel is involved in the book, too. The interaction between these two is just bizarre and almost incomprehensible. Here’s hoping the series gets better with the next book.
In this third installment, Peter Pascoe takes his current main squeeze to a country town a day’s drive from London where they find three horrifically murdered bodies—all three friends of the couple. A fourth person, the host who had invited Pascoe to the cottage, is missing.
Pascoe is concerned local law enforcement will limit their investigation only to his friend who is missing, and he realizes more is in play than meets the eye.
His associate, the fat insufferable Andy Dalziel is involved in the book, too. The interaction between these two is just bizarre and almost incomprehensible. Here’s hoping the series gets better with the next book.
nonna7's review against another edition
5.0
This is the third in the Dalziel and Pascoe series. I recently discovered that I had forgotten to read the earlier books he has written so I am slowly doing some catchup right now. When I first dipped into the series, Peter Pascoe was married. In this, the third book, Peter Pascoe is a Detective Sargent who is in love with Ellie Soper, a lecturer at a local college. The book opens with them going to a reunion with old college chums early on a Saturday morning. They were supposed to get there Friday evening, but Peter was delayed by a case. However, they are invited for breakfast so they are out bright and early and arrive before 9:00 am. Nobody answers the door. Perhaps they are still sleeping. Unfortunately for Peter and Ellie they are all dead except for Colin who is missing. Peter calls the local police and after they eliminate them from their inquiries he sets about trying to find the killers. Unfortunately, his boss, Andy Dalziel, has other ideas. There is a burglar that needs to be found and he can’t spare Peter who returns dutifully if a bit reluctantly.
True to form this is much more complicated than it seems to be although Colin is the suspect for most of the book. Meanwhile the burglaries continue. I always say this is the best one after I’ve read it, but really there was only one that I didn’t finish because the tone was so completely different from the rest of the books. I don’t remember the name of it. I just remember I tossed it away in disgust! This is a good one, however, and has inspired me to read even more of the old ones.
nocto's review against another edition
onto the next dalziel and pascoe. you can see this series is good but these early books have nothing like the power i saw in on beulah height. this one is a tale of two villages, two plots tangled up together and pascoe can't tell which is which. i like the way that every little detail seems to count; nothing is filler; every subplot has a purpose in the wider plot. i know it's only book three but it's been the most satisfying so far.
i've noticed in putting these web pages together that the early hill books aren't in print in the states as they are here. i suspect their popularity in the uk has been boosted tremendously by the tv series. i've only seen one episode of it but i thought it was pretty well done. anyway, i'm glad these books from the early seventies are still in print for me to enjoy however that came to be.
(this is book 3 in the dalziel and pascoe series)
angrygreycatreads's review
4.0
Ruling Passion is book 3 in the Dalziel and Pascoe series which was made into a TV series. I am reading through these after watching the whole series (and being dumbfounded at how it ended). The books are very entertaining and well written. The mystery is well crafted and even though I remembered the episode I still enjoyed the book. Love the characters of Dalziel and Pascoe both and the interplay between them. A good number of clues and twists and connections between all the suspects. Ellie is more likeable in the books than she was on the TV show, but this is only book 3 so I will have to see what happens. Great police procedural read.
5wamp_creature's review
3.0
the story in all its machinations is OK but Pascoe and Dalziel are terrific.
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