A review by falconerreader
An Advancement of Learning by Reginald Hill

3.0

I'm trying to go back and re-read my favorite detective series from the start. This is actually book 2, but that's okay, I can't imagine Peter without Ellie. Forty years ago, Hill was a good writer, but nowhere near his current greatness. It drags at points, minor characters seem one dimensional, but the most telling point is Dalziel. In later books he seems like a minor god, some prehistoric deity. In this book he seems human, a fat guy with a failed marriage who likes to tease his right-hand man about his education. Ironically, this makes him a less believable character. He is "the old fat wiseass in the detective novel" instead of Dalziel, larger than life, but very full of it. (life, that is...)