 |
|
(Published in North America as DEATH COMES TO THE FAT
MAN)
Harper Collins, February 2007
Reviewed by Sunnie Gill
Detective Inspector Peter Pascoe had started this beautiful summer day
sunbaking in his garden. Then came a phone call from his Commander.
Mid-Yorkshire's most inept police officer, Constable Hector, has reported
a man with a gun at Number 3 Mill Street, a video rental business. Their
superior, Superintendent Andy Dalziel, is in attendance and that's what's
worrying the Commander. The Combined Anti-Terrorist Unit (CAT) has the
building flagged as being of low-level interest. If Hector is right and
there is an armed man inside, the last thing anyone needs is Fat Andy
rampaging about with his bullhorn and famed diplomatic skills.
After a period of time crouched down behind a police car with nothing
happening, Andy Dalziel throws all procedure to the winds and starts
walking towards the building with Pascoe in his wake. There is an
explosion, and the next thing Pascoe knows he's lying on the ground
finding it difficult to move and he can't hear. Nearby is the inert form
of his boss. Only Dalziel's mountainous form between Pascoe and the
explosion has prevented Pascoe's death.
As Dalziel lies in a coma hovering between life and death, Pascoe resolves
to find the perpetrators who have done this to his close friend and
mentor. He finds himself seconded to the CAT unit, a strange mixture of
spooks, spies and police with Chief Superintendent Sandy Glenister in
charge. Glenister is a hearty Scotswoman with a weakness for blue Smarties.
She makes Pascoe welcome, but Pascoe can't decide whether he is genuinely
wanted on this investigation or if he's been put there as window dressing
and to keep him out of the way.
A shadowy group calling itself the Knights Templar emerges, executing men
suspected of terrorist involvement. They seem to have intimate knowledge
of CAT's activities. When the unlucky Constable Hector falls victim to a
hit and run accident, Pascoe becomes convinced that there has to be a
connection between the Knights and the bomb blast that has his friend in a
coma. Suspecting there is a mole within the organisation, Pascoe decides
to conduct his own investigation. He feels he can't trust anyone within
CAT so he turns to the ever-loyal Sergeant Wield for help.
With Dalziel out of action, the focus of this book is almost entirely on
Peter Pascoe, who struggles to imagine life without the Superintendent.
Much to his consternation he finds also himself compensating by adopting
some of Dalziel's abrasive behaviour.
I have to confess that in DEATH OF DALZIEL, I did miss Dalziel's pithy
vulgarity. A comatose Dalziel cannot demolish with one well-chosen
sentence. However, he does have other ways of making his feelings known.
In Dalziel and Pascoe, author Reginald Hill has created one of the oddest
pairings in crime fiction. Dalziel is uncouth and outspoken, Pascoe
educated and urbane. Hill has deservedly earned the reputation of being
one of the finest crime fiction writers of his generation. His recurring
characters are not only fully developed, but they never stand still. Their
lives and relationships are constantly changing. Even relatively minor
characters have their own individual personalities and quirks.
An author such as Hill creates a dilemma for the reader. Do you devour the
book in one sitting or do you read slowly and savour Hill's use of the
English language? The very title of the book creates extra suspense. DEATH
OF DALZIEL. Surely he wouldn't kill off crime's most uncouth and offensive
police officer. Would he? Whether or not this is the last of Andy Dalziel,
I'm not saying. You'll have to read the book to find out. Oh, and don't
give in to temptation and flip to the back to find out. You'll spoil the
ending.
If there was one author I was asked to recommend to a first time crime
fiction reader the hands-down winner would be Reginald Hill. Quite simply,
crime fiction doesn't come any better than this.
March 2007 review originally published at Murder & Mayhem
All cover art used at Reviewer's Choice Reviews is copyrighted by the
respective publisher. All reviews and articles found at Reviewer's Choice
Reviews are the sole property of the contributor and are copyrighted by
the same.
|
