Lee Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "reginald-hill"

Dalziel and Pascoe Hunt the Christmas Killer & Other Stories by Reginald Hill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A sublime collection of crime fiction from a master storyteller.

A killer targets clergymen each Sunday of Advent…
A husband determines how best to dispose of his wife’s body…
With murder in mind, a man seeks perpetrators of the perfect murder…
A man awaits the thaw while battling his own guilt…
The search for a stolen ornamental statue…
A detective enters a pact to tell nothing but the truth for twenty-four hours…
A man reminisces following his ex-wife’s funeral…
A letter reveals what lies beneath tragedy…
A competitive hunt for corpses in a sleepy seaside town…
A man strives to finally be free from his friend’s shadow…
A mysterious theft one Boxing Day morning…

‘Dalziel and Pascoe Hunt the Christmas Killer & Other Stories’ is a collection of eleven short stories by Reginald Hill, all previously published in newspapers or anthologies and collected together for the first time; both a Christmas gift for fans of crime fiction and a tribute to Hill, complete with a foreword by Val McDermid. Featuring three cases for Dalziel and Pascoe, plus another story featuring Dalziel in a pivotal role, and seven standalone stories, the collection is bursting with crimes, mysteries and philosophical pondering galore, along with a hefty dose of dark, dry humour and delicious twists in the tales.

Making such a selection with great difficulty, my personal favourites were:
‘Dalziel and Pascoe Hunt the Christmas Killer’, for its serial killer thriller and religious themes;
‘The Thaw’, for its psychological depth and devious twist;
‘Fool of Myself’, for its confessional style and finely orchestrated twist;
‘John Brown’s Body’, for its classic crime set-up and atmospheric setting.

This is a fantastic collection of stories, all cleverly written, simultaneously concise and rich in detail, each of the highest quality. Reginald Hill was a master of the genre and his legacy lives on – this book a showcase of his skill with both the police procedural and psychological thriller; the stories perfectly paced, laced with witty dialogue and touches of satire. The characters are conjured vividly to life, perhaps none more so than Andy Dalziel, at his most colourful, obstinate and brilliant in his appearances. There is a deep sense of nostalgia amongst the pages; Hill’s work feels instantly classic even on experiencing a story for the first time, every one thoroughly entertaining while never losing its murky shadows.

Perfect for Christmas reading and for revisiting all year round, ‘Dalziel and Pascoe Hunt the Christmas Killer’ deserves a place on every crime lover’s bookshelf.



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