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rodney1946's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
D and P 11
Reginald Hill. Recalled to Life (1992)
This one is on a par with DeadHeads and Arms and the Women, a complex and remarkably solid mystery novel about class and the difference in America and England (sometimes none). Dalziel goes to New York City and Williamsburg! There is an excellent chapter (send up?) on mystery writing, esp. the Golden Age, and other interludes, or "incidental pleasures" which make this book really fun, despite the darkness permeating it.
balthazarlawson's review against another edition
2.0
With most crime series there is inevitably the book that looks back at an old case and [b:Recalled To Life|77189|Recalled To Life (Dalziel & Pascoe, #13)|Reginald Hill|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320416679s/77189.jpg|74617] is the history case in the Dalziel & Pascoe series. I'm familiar with the series but this is the first I've read. It was OK and that was about it.
The writing was confusing and all over the place, making it difficult to follow the story. One had to go back and read parts to understand what was happening. In the end there were many unanswered questions. So much so as to make it not an enjoyable read. The writer's love of big and obscure words was very distracting and just didn't fit some of the characters. They might have been words used by the author, but I could just not accept some characters using them.
A side note: this book was an ebook, but I did not buy [b:Recalled To Life|77189|Recalled To Life (Dalziel & Pascoe, #13)|Reginald Hill|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320416679s/77189.jpg|74617], I bought [b:Report For Murder|634419|Report For Murder (Lindsay Gordon, #1)|Val McDermid|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328021770s/634419.jpg|1179280] by [a:Val McDermid|5672|Val McDermid|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1241725522p2/5672.jpg]. Even though the cover and ISBN were for [b:Report For Murder|634419|Report For Murder (Lindsay Gordon, #1)|Val McDermid|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328021770s/634419.jpg|1179280] the actual content of the book was [b:Recalled To Life|77189|Recalled To Life (Dalziel & Pascoe, #13)|Reginald Hill|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320416679s/77189.jpg|74617]. So I only read this by accident, it was not my intent.
The writing was confusing and all over the place, making it difficult to follow the story. One had to go back and read parts to understand what was happening. In the end there were many unanswered questions. So much so as to make it not an enjoyable read. The writer's love of big and obscure words was very distracting and just didn't fit some of the characters. They might have been words used by the author, but I could just not accept some characters using them.
A side note: this book was an ebook, but I did not buy [b:Recalled To Life|77189|Recalled To Life (Dalziel & Pascoe, #13)|Reginald Hill|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320416679s/77189.jpg|74617], I bought [b:Report For Murder|634419|Report For Murder (Lindsay Gordon, #1)|Val McDermid|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328021770s/634419.jpg|1179280] by [a:Val McDermid|5672|Val McDermid|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1241725522p2/5672.jpg]. Even though the cover and ISBN were for [b:Report For Murder|634419|Report For Murder (Lindsay Gordon, #1)|Val McDermid|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328021770s/634419.jpg|1179280] the actual content of the book was [b:Recalled To Life|77189|Recalled To Life (Dalziel & Pascoe, #13)|Reginald Hill|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320416679s/77189.jpg|74617]. So I only read this by accident, it was not my intent.
fictionfan's review
4.0
The last Golden Age murder…
Back in 1963 Dalziel was a young detective, working for a man he respected as a mentor and friend, Wally Tallantire. It was Tallantire who solved what has since been called “the last Golden Age murder” – called that, anyway, by the documentary maker who is casting doubt on the investigation and questioning the verdict. A weekend house party at Mickledore Hall had included a government minister, a diplomat with Royal connections, a CIA officer, a variety of spouses and a couple of nannies, and much bed-hopping had gone on. It all ended with the shooting of one of the wives, and Tallantire’s investigation led to the conviction of the owner of the Hall, Ralph Mickledore, and his lover, the American nanny Cissy Kohler. Mickledore, strangely confident that he would be pardoned, found his confidence misplaced and was hanged. Cissy Kohler, whose confession led to the conviction of them both, has spent thirty years in prison, but is now out and is claiming Tallantire forced the confession out of her. In a bid to protect the reputation of his old mentor, now dead, Dalziel starts to look into the case again. At first he is confident the right people were convicted at the time, but gradually he begins to worry that Tallantire may indeed have cut a few corners…
This is quite an odd one in the series, in that it’s a cold case investigation. As is usual in the UK, another force has been tasked with carrying out the review of the handling of the case and Dalziel is told by his boss to keep out of it, but when does Dalziel ever do what his boss tells him? Soon he has dragged Pascoe into his unofficial investigation, reluctantly since Pascoe is in the unenviable position of being the liaison with the official investigators. Pascoe never knew Tallantire, but his loyalty to Dalziel is stronger than he would like to admit so he understands why Dalziel wants Tallantire’s name cleared.
1963 was the time of the Profumo affair in Britain, which involved the downfall of a government minister, John Profumo, when it was revealed that he had been having an affair with a woman, Christine Keeler, who had also been playing around with a Soviet naval officer. One scandal led to another, and there were all kinds of rumours of men in prominent positions being involved with high-class prostitutes provided by an equally high-class pimp, who later killed himself. Hill has used this story freely to build his own version of the scandal among the people visiting Mickledore Hall, but with enough differences to keep it interesting. For instance, he has added at least one murder! One of the things I like about Hill is that when he borrows from life or fiction, he makes it very clear that he’s doing so – it is no coincidence, I’m sure, that Christine Keeler and Cissy Kohler share initials, for instance. The title is also borrowed, from Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, in which an innocent man spends many years in prison for the crime of knowing too much about the sordid secrets of the rich and powerful.
However, Cissy is not an appealing character. Whether guilty or innocent of involvement in the murder for which she was convicted, there is no doubt that one of her young charges died while in her care, either through negligence or deliberate design. And during her imprisonment she killed a prison guard. Dalziel feels these actions vindicate Tallantire’s belief in her guilt. But when he comes to suspect that maybe Tallantire did pressure her into a confession, he realises this would mean that the real guilty party got away with murder, and that’s not an idea that pleases him.
When Dalziel is told in no uncertain terms to take a holiday before he gets suspended, he decides to go to America, where several of the original suspects now are, including Cissy herself. Seeing Dalziel blundering about America in his usual blunt, bull in a china shop way is fun – he is as baffled by some aspects of American culture as the Americans are by him.
The story in this one is very convoluted, and it seems as if everyone has at least one secret, often more. I think it gets too busy at times, and crosses the credibility line more than Hill usually does. However, he’s great at showing how big a part class played in all aspects of British life in the early ‘60s – it still does, of course, but there’s not the same reverence today as there was back then towards the “well-born” rich and powerful. The death of the child makes it darker than a true Golden Age mystery would normally be, and gives a psychological depth and ambiguity to Cissy’s character that might otherwise have been missing. But there’s also enough humour in it to lift the tone and make it as entertaining as most of these books are. Not one of my top favourites, and not one I’d recommend as an entry point for newcomers to the series, but still a rewarding and enjoyable read for existing fans.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Back in 1963 Dalziel was a young detective, working for a man he respected as a mentor and friend, Wally Tallantire. It was Tallantire who solved what has since been called “the last Golden Age murder” – called that, anyway, by the documentary maker who is casting doubt on the investigation and questioning the verdict. A weekend house party at Mickledore Hall had included a government minister, a diplomat with Royal connections, a CIA officer, a variety of spouses and a couple of nannies, and much bed-hopping had gone on. It all ended with the shooting of one of the wives, and Tallantire’s investigation led to the conviction of the owner of the Hall, Ralph Mickledore, and his lover, the American nanny Cissy Kohler. Mickledore, strangely confident that he would be pardoned, found his confidence misplaced and was hanged. Cissy Kohler, whose confession led to the conviction of them both, has spent thirty years in prison, but is now out and is claiming Tallantire forced the confession out of her. In a bid to protect the reputation of his old mentor, now dead, Dalziel starts to look into the case again. At first he is confident the right people were convicted at the time, but gradually he begins to worry that Tallantire may indeed have cut a few corners…
This is quite an odd one in the series, in that it’s a cold case investigation. As is usual in the UK, another force has been tasked with carrying out the review of the handling of the case and Dalziel is told by his boss to keep out of it, but when does Dalziel ever do what his boss tells him? Soon he has dragged Pascoe into his unofficial investigation, reluctantly since Pascoe is in the unenviable position of being the liaison with the official investigators. Pascoe never knew Tallantire, but his loyalty to Dalziel is stronger than he would like to admit so he understands why Dalziel wants Tallantire’s name cleared.
1963 was the time of the Profumo affair in Britain, which involved the downfall of a government minister, John Profumo, when it was revealed that he had been having an affair with a woman, Christine Keeler, who had also been playing around with a Soviet naval officer. One scandal led to another, and there were all kinds of rumours of men in prominent positions being involved with high-class prostitutes provided by an equally high-class pimp, who later killed himself. Hill has used this story freely to build his own version of the scandal among the people visiting Mickledore Hall, but with enough differences to keep it interesting. For instance, he has added at least one murder! One of the things I like about Hill is that when he borrows from life or fiction, he makes it very clear that he’s doing so – it is no coincidence, I’m sure, that Christine Keeler and Cissy Kohler share initials, for instance. The title is also borrowed, from Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, in which an innocent man spends many years in prison for the crime of knowing too much about the sordid secrets of the rich and powerful.
However, Cissy is not an appealing character. Whether guilty or innocent of involvement in the murder for which she was convicted, there is no doubt that one of her young charges died while in her care, either through negligence or deliberate design. And during her imprisonment she killed a prison guard. Dalziel feels these actions vindicate Tallantire’s belief in her guilt. But when he comes to suspect that maybe Tallantire did pressure her into a confession, he realises this would mean that the real guilty party got away with murder, and that’s not an idea that pleases him.
When Dalziel is told in no uncertain terms to take a holiday before he gets suspended, he decides to go to America, where several of the original suspects now are, including Cissy herself. Seeing Dalziel blundering about America in his usual blunt, bull in a china shop way is fun – he is as baffled by some aspects of American culture as the Americans are by him.
The story in this one is very convoluted, and it seems as if everyone has at least one secret, often more. I think it gets too busy at times, and crosses the credibility line more than Hill usually does. However, he’s great at showing how big a part class played in all aspects of British life in the early ‘60s – it still does, of course, but there’s not the same reverence today as there was back then towards the “well-born” rich and powerful. The death of the child makes it darker than a true Golden Age mystery would normally be, and gives a psychological depth and ambiguity to Cissy’s character that might otherwise have been missing. But there’s also enough humour in it to lift the tone and make it as entertaining as most of these books are. Not one of my top favourites, and not one I’d recommend as an entry point for newcomers to the series, but still a rewarding and enjoyable read for existing fans.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
nonna7's review against another edition
4.0
Reginald Hill died in 2012, and even though there are plenty of wonderful authors, I find that I truly miss his Dalziel & Pascoe series. Andy is everyone's favorite curmudgeon. Warren Clarke, the actor who played Andy Dalziel in the British television series, died in 2014. He did a masterful job. I'm hoping to find the series and start at the beginning since it played intermittently on PBS.
This book dates from 1992 and reopens a 1963 case when Andy was still in uniform. A local member of the gentry is hosting a weekend house party that involves, of course, shooting. There are several couples and their children, two nannies and a mysterious single man. When one of the women in the group is found dead, the host and one of the nannies, Cissy, are charged. The case is reopened after an appeal by Cissy's attorney instigated by a relative places doubt on the original investigation that was done by Andy's former and now deceased boss, Tarrantine. Andy involves himself in the investigation in order to prevent Tarrantine's name from being besmirched.
Like every other Reginald Hill book, there is MUCH more to this case than meets the eye. There is so much going on, so many delightful red herrings and more. I've never been disappointed by a Daziel and Pascoe which is why I miss Mr. Hill.
This book dates from 1992 and reopens a 1963 case when Andy was still in uniform. A local member of the gentry is hosting a weekend house party that involves, of course, shooting. There are several couples and their children, two nannies and a mysterious single man. When one of the women in the group is found dead, the host and one of the nannies, Cissy, are charged. The case is reopened after an appeal by Cissy's attorney instigated by a relative places doubt on the original investigation that was done by Andy's former and now deceased boss, Tarrantine. Andy involves himself in the investigation in order to prevent Tarrantine's name from being besmirched.
Like every other Reginald Hill book, there is MUCH more to this case than meets the eye. There is so much going on, so many delightful red herrings and more. I've never been disappointed by a Daziel and Pascoe which is why I miss Mr. Hill.
nocto's review against another edition
Writing up notes on each book in this series is getting a bit pointless and probably pretty tedious for anyone reading. Hill's a master storyteller and surprises me everytime with the inventiveness of not just his plots but of the way he narrates these stories.
I think this book draws a lot on Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities but I'm not qualified to comment on that angle. Pascoe stays in Mid-Yorkshire looking into a 1963 murder case. The surviving murderer has just been released from prison. Dalziel, who was a mere constable in the original case, takes off for New York and investigates the American side of the case. The American angle stops just short of turning into an outright comedy and Pascoe's home end stops just short of turning into a full scale tragedy.
If I had to find a complaint to put to Hill it would be that he likes to tie up every single loose end in his plots and sometimes I feel it might be preferable to leave things dangling a little more. But that's not really much of a complaint since many of the threads are only tied up for the reader and not for the police.
pgchuis's review against another edition
3.0
This started off well, but I soon began to find it confusing: there were too many people at the house party in the 1960s who were all sleeping with each other and some of them were British and some of them were American. Dalziel and Pascoe were their usual selves and the humour was there, but I found it hard to care about any of the other characters.
The solutions to the various mysteries were convoluted and involved Dalziel going to the US and apparently not knowing what a muffin or a pretzel is. I was glad when it was all over, but I'm not sure even now I grasped the whole plot.
The solutions to the various mysteries were convoluted and involved Dalziel going to the US and apparently not knowing what a muffin or a pretzel is. I was glad when it was all over, but I'm not sure even now I grasped the whole plot.
mandyla's review against another edition
4.0
Andy Dalziel off on his own is marvelous - I love how he rides his luck, sure he'll find his footing wherever it may be.
The core mystery of the story in this one is very clever too. It is complicated and even at the end we are still learning how many actors have hidden motives.
Possibly one of the best plots in Dalziel and Pascoe books so far... though I did miss Wield's perspective (of course), and Ellie's absence was felt as well.
The core mystery of the story in this one is very clever too. It is complicated and even at the end we are still learning how many actors have hidden motives.
Possibly one of the best plots in Dalziel and Pascoe books so far... though I did miss Wield's perspective (of course), and Ellie's absence was felt as well.
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