Brilliant narration

Will have to listen again as I kept getting lost but the humour
Is brilliant. Can never get enough of Dalziel and Pascoe
Audible addict

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A double review for a two-part storyline..

A double review of two books in the Dalziel and Pascoe series that really have to be seen as Parts 1 and 2 of the same story. For some reason Dialogues of the Dead is not available on Audible, but for people listening to the whole series in order, it's a good idea to get hold of a paper or Kindle copy before moving on to Death's Jest-Book.

Dialogues of the Dead (Dalziel and Pascoe 19)

5 stars

When an AA man dies after apparently falling from a bridge, it is assumed to be an accident. Then a young musician crashes his car into a tree and dies, again put down to accident. But at the local library, librarians Dick Dee and Rye Pomona are going through the massive pile of entries to a short story competition in the local paper when they come across anonymous stories that show another side to these deaths, and it appears they must have been written before the deaths were reported in the media. As Dalziel and Pascoe begin to investigate, there’s another death, then another, and it appears obvious the team have a serial killer on their hands. The killer is soon nicknamed the Wordman, since each death is accompanied by another short story. Meantime, new member of the team, “Hat” Bowler, is falling in love…

I had forgotten just how good this one is! It’s a wonderful blend of light and dark, and full of Hill’s trademark love of words and wordplay, which this time he puts at the centre of the story by filling the Wordman’s written “confessions” with literary “clues”, and by involving the librarians – Dick Dee especially loves to play word games. There’s a huge cast – essential, since so many of them will be bumped off and there need to be enough left as suspects. It’s mainly set among the self-styled great and good of the town, and Hill has excelled himself in creating characters who stay just the right side of caricature. Dalziel is on fine form, which means the book is full of humour, but Hill is expert at suddenly changing the mask from comedy to tragedy – the murders are dark enough, but the Wordman’s confessions take us deep into a troubled and damaged mind.

The denouement is tense and thrilling, and the solution shocks. And we’re left with the reader knowing more about what happened than Dalziel and Pascoe. They think that everything has finally been wrapped up, maybe not neatly, but securely. However…

* * * * *

Death’s Jest-Book (Dalziel and Pascoe 20)

4 stars

It’s impossible to see this one as anything other than as Part Two of Dialogues of the Dead. Unlike many of the books in the series, this one does not stand on its own – anyone trying to read it without having read the one before would probably be completely lost, or at the very least feel as if important stuff had been left out. As a result, I’m not giving a little blurb, since almost anything I say about this one could spoil the last one. I’d also say to anyone who’s reading the series in order, make room to read these two one after the other – they’re both intricately plotted and having the details of the first one fresh in your mind helps when reading the second.

Oddly, although it is a sequel of sorts, this one doesn’t work nearly as well as the first, in my opinion. Hill had obviously become fascinated by the character of Franny Roote over the course of the series – a man who appeared in one of the early cases and reappears in several of the later ones, becoming a kind of nemesis for Peter Pascoe. In this one we get screeds of letters he writes to Pascoe which take up probably around a third of the book, and while they’re interesting, often amusing and, of course, well written, they slow the main plot down to a crawl. I’m afraid I never found Franny quite as entertaining as Hill clearly thought he was, although he provides an interesting study in psychology both of himself and of Pascoe’s reaction to him. I’m not sure the psychology is completely convincing, though.

The other aspect that weakens this one is very hard to discuss without spoilers, so forgive my vagueness. As I said above, at the end of Dialogues of the Dead, the reader knows more than the characters. This continues throughout Death's Jest-Book, which is basically the story of Dalziel and the team gradually realising that their knowledge is incomplete and trying to fill the gap. Hat’s love story continues too but, knowing what we know, we more or less know how that will work out. So all through we’re watching the characters learning about things the reader already knows. Of course it’s more complex than that makes it sound, and there’s still all the usual stuff that makes Hill so enjoyable – the writing, the language, the regular characters, secondary plots, moral dilemmas – but the pace is very slow, and plot-wise it doesn’t build the same level of tension. It’s good – just not as good as the first part of this story, and being a sequel of sorts it’s impossible to avoid making that comparison.

* * * * *

In summary, then, together the two books form one massive story – both books individually are chunksters. Dialogues of the Dead is excellent and could be read separately as a standalone, although the reader is likely to feel that there are some loose ends. Death’s Jest-Book is good but with some structural weaknesses, and is very much a sequel or second part. It doesn’t work well as a standalone, and should be read soon after Dialogues of the Dead while the details are fresh.

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2 people found this helpful

Where's Dalziel??

I love Reginald Hill's humour, particularly when he is doing the dialogue for Dalziel. The problem is Dalziel seems to appear less and less these days, great shame, he's the best bit

Not a bad listen, but Pascoe can be a bit of a self absorbed drip. He does get very obsessed and side tracked... I think he should be swapping places the gay motor biking sergeant who is far more interesting, and better at the job.

One the hole it wasn't a bad yarn

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5 people found this helpful

"Fetch the cow."

When Peter Pascoe receives a long letter from an ex com shortly before Christmas, he is both angry and troubled. Then more arrive. This is an intricately woven, lengthy book about relationships, far more than that of just Pascoe and his letter writer, involving families and friendship, lovers and obsession, much of which is founded on an historical book and an unfinished later work by a murder academic. It is a magnificent read, fascinating, sometimes funny, at times breathtakingly sad as the superbly crafted characters become living, acting beings not just protagonists in a book. Plus, running through it all is the mystery..
A very fine addition to the Dalziel and Pascoe series (number 20), excellently performed by Sean Dooley and definitely recommended

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Always a great listen!

Perhaps the ending is a little convenient, but even so, I was fascinated by the unfolding of this tale. Shaun Dooley is different in style to previous readers but good at transmitting the energy of each character.

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Excellent story very well narrated

Love how all the different elements of the tale came together in a convincing plot. Found the narration superb with seamless crossover amongst the characters.

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Great storyline

Reginald Hill does it again. The characters are always brilliant in this story ,like the rest of the series. Very well narrated.

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Great read

I really enjoyed this book - great humour, intricate plotting, convincing characters, unrelenting tension. Hard to put down and sorry to finish! One of Hill’s best. Narration is flawless - characters vividly brought to life.

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Good story ruined by narrator

What did you like best about Death's Jest Book? What did you like least?
As ever Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe are great, although some passages are over long and rambly, made worse by the narrator's rather boring and monotonous voice.
Great if you can't sleep and need something to help you nod off!

What didn’t you like about Shaun Dooley’s performance?
Very boring voice.

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Hill at his best

Complex, twisting, beloved characters woven together through a cracking story. Modern writers would do well to study Hill. And Shaun Dooley was a worthy narrator. A great listen.

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