Deadheads

by Various

Patrick Aldermann, an accountant with a company that makes toilets, is passionate about his roses, which he prunes ruthlessly, 'deadheading' any blossoms a minute past their prime so as to make space for the younger blooms. Not much of a gardener, Dalziel views Patrick as a strong contender for the title of Most Boring Man in Yorkshire. Pascoe, though, has noticed that senior executives at the toilet company 'gentlemen, you might say, just a minute past their prime' have an unlucky habit of dying. And when they do, it's all but inevitably Patrick who, like a lucky young bloom, is poised to take their place.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Detective, British Literature

Paperback

Published January 1, 1996

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[Nhi Nguyễn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow wow wow, what a tour de force ha ha ha :)))) I bought this book knowing that this is a retold version of the crime/mystery novel of the same name (I have a soft spot for Oxford Bookworms retold stories, excuse me :D) and the cover really caught my eyes. Beautiful cover plus a crime story, what's not to love?

I must admit the first few chapters didn't go very well for me, though, because the intricate web of characters involved in the story and the connections between them kinda baffled me a little bit (and also because the retold version doesn't leave you with much time and space to get to know the characters very well). But as I read on and on, I just couldn't help but felt invested the story of a murder suspect with lots and lots of red herrings (and many of them weren't as red as you would think). A little bit of hint here, a little bit of hint there, a whole "motherfucker" revelation regarding Patrick's life which caught me off guard, and the story captivated me to the very end.

Throughout this process, you had to decide whether Patrick was guilty of murder or the stars just lined up for him and the people who came in his way just comfortably died of accidents and sickness. Because this is not your typical murder investigation/detective novel. There weren't any bodies hidden or found. The investigation could seem to go this way to suggest something fishy about Patrick, then it could go another way and suggested that he was innocent. And beware the chilling ending, because I believe this is where the nightmare truly began...

[Vero · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐
Lectura simple y agradable. El libro cumplió con lo que ofrecía y fue bastante entretenido. El final no me lo esperaba y, aunque no me disgustó, creo que estaba deseando otra resolución.

[Margaretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

"An English rose garden on a summer's day. A small boy watches with interest as his great-aunt cuts the deadheads off the rosebushes with a sharp knife. What could be more peaceful, more harmless?"

Deadheads was written by Reginald Hill in 1983. It is crime novel which includes two policemen, Dalziel and Pascoe, who appeared in most of his novels and became very popular. It talks about lot of people and their own stories included in one big story. It talks about love, wondering, love affairs...,jealousy, friendship, and lot of other emotions.

Story is exhilarating and it made me think about it. During the whole book i was thinking who can be the villain and where is the truth. The resolution is indeed unforeseen and it made me wonder what will happen after. I hated how the author ended the story because he just revealed the truth and left me with my questions and curiosity.

[Shunsuke Matsui · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oxford Bookworm Library,level6
Time-12/8/2012=110minutes
7words summary-rose connect murder gardens past puzzled information
Discussion Question
1,What is the most important thing for your life？
It is my family! Very important.
2,Do you want to change your character?
No, I would like to be what I am now.


I reccomend you to read it, but vocabulary is a little difficult.

[Namiko · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing I don't like about this book is the ending. It is fine if the murderer is caught or not, but it is not good that how the murderer did murders. I don't care if the people in the story know the truth, but I want to know it. I want to know how they did things like it seems be impossible to do.

[Marie]

I opened this wondering if it was new to me—which yay, I loved the characters way back in high school, but no, I have read it before.

Well, the real it, not the simplified version. Which...I don't get why it needs, but people like to trim, much as the character Patrick does.

[Richard Saso · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8

[Julia Agris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. I would probably read the original series.

Although this is the re-written version, it still has lots of content (like imagery and metaphors) to talk about to my ESL students.

[Salim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many characters for a short story.