A Very Good Hater

by Reginald Hill

Goldsmith and Templewood investigate the background of a man, whom they think may be a Nazi war criminal, and plot his death

Genres: Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Crime

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Reginald Charles Hill was a contemporary English crime writer, and the winner in 1995 of the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement.

After National Service (1955-57) and studying English at St Catherine's College, Oxford University (1957-60) he worked as a teacher for many years, rising to Senior Lecturer at Doncaster College of Education. In 1980 he retired from salaried work in order to devote himself full-time to writing.

Hill is best known for his more than 20 novels featuring the Yorkshire detectives Andrew Dalziel, Peter Pascoe and Edgar Wield. He has also written more than 30 other novels, including five featuring Joe Sixsmith, a black machine operator turned private detective in a fictional Luton. Novels originally published under the pseudonyms of Patrick Ruell, Dick Morland, and Charles Underhill have now appeared under his own name. Hill is also a writer of short stories, and ghost tales.

Reviews

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two former WWII British prisoners of war, Goldsmith and Templeton, get together for their annual reunion 15 years after the war's end. Templeton has suggested that he has seen someone who he believes is the Sturmbannfuhrer who oversaw their imprisonment, Nikolaus Hebbel, a war criminal being sought for his torture and murder of the two men's fellow platoon members.

Unsure of whether it is really the German, Goldsmith and Templeton dive into investigating Neil Housman, a partner in the development firm J.T. Hardy's. There is little that they can do, but they try by following Housman as he goes about his business in London. But Goldsmith finds himself going further and soon, he finds himself in the man's hotel room and before the evening is over, Housman is dead, and no idea if he is indeed Hebbel.

Suddenly Goldsmith finds himself seeking clues to whether he as been a part of the death of an innocent victim or a sadistic war criminal. And its important that he know for his own peace of mind, but also his political career. As he returns home, Goldsmith continues to search for evidence of just who is Housman. But every step he takes could be leading to disaster and his story becomes more twisted and dark as Goldsmith wonders who is friend and who is foe?

This is very different from the usual Dalziel and Pascoe mysteries in that readers must delve into the events and clues uncovered to discover not just who is Housman, but who are Goldsmith and Templeton, as well as the people surrounding the three men.

I found this a riveting story and mixed feelings about these men. I am amazed at pacing of the tale, the twists and misconceptions of motives and personality. The characters are all too real and their actions almost predictable, if disappointing. It is a story that will stick in the psyche for what it says about all of us.

[Nigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an OK story, but it was certainly nothing to write home about. Ex WWII POWs believe they might have seen a former SS camp guard in London. When on confronts in his hotel room a scuffle ensues and the suspect falls to his death. The rest of the book is taken up with some very implausible investigations as they try to discover whether of not he was actually the former guard. There are a couple of unexpected twists (or at the very least surprising information) but these didn't lift the whole thing above average for me.
Not one of Hill's best by any standard.

[Cybercrone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clumsily labyrinthine. They must get better, I'm supposing, as this is a popular series.

[M Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of twists and turns.

[Jan Yarnot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really got into this, but the ending was such a let-down.

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Former soldiers Rodney Templeton and Bill Goldsmith believe they have run across a brutal, sadistic Nazi who committed war crimes against their unit in WWII. Goldsmith is not as convinced as Templeton, but when Goldsmith actually encounters the man, the confrontation ends in death. Now, Goldsmith must try to find out whether he has killed a terrible war criminal or an innocent man, and he must do so in the midst of his own foray into politics as an up-and-coming member of Parliament…. I tried to read “A Very Good Hater” some months ago, but couldn’t get into it; I think I just wasn’t in the right mood at the time, because reading it now was a breeze. Mr. Hill is best known for his Dalziel and Pascoe series, but this stand-alone novel brings his sensibility and humour, as well as his enjoyable plotting and characterizations of the quirky people who inhabit his novels. This book was published in 1974 and has some of the casual misogyny of that time, but by and large it was an entertaining read; recommended.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A long way from Hill's best. In London, the main character is alerted to the possibility that a man he sees on the street might have been an SS guard at the German camp where he was a prisoner during the war. He (more or less accidentally) kills the man without really establishing his identity and then spends the rest of the book trying to find out the truth. There are many complications, and the truth is not quite what you suspect. But the whole process (at least for this reader) seemed pretty much moot, since the man was already dead. But worse (for me) was that there wasn't a single character with whom I enjoyed spending time. Give me Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series any day.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

satisfyingly convoluted but ultimately too sordid