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Dalziel & Pascoe #5
A Pinch of Snuff
“Reginald Hill blends civility and madness in a most agreeable way.”— New York
Love, or at least pornography, was for sale at the arty Calliope Kinema Club on posh, proper Wilkinson Square. According to Yorkshire police superintendent Dalziel, it was all legal. Detective Peter Pascoe, however, sat uneasily in the dark. His dentist, who knew real broken teeth and blood when he saw them, insisted that the pretty actress wasn’t playing a part. But the action that would put Pascoe into the picture was homicide. The sudden death of the Calliope’s proprietor soon turned a sleazy sex flick into serious police business. And now Dalziel and Pascoe were looking into the all-too-human desire for pain, pleasure . . . and murder.
“First-rate entertainment.”— The Sunday Times (London)
“Mr. Hill refines his own talent to the highest levels of mystery fiction.”— Dallas Morning News
“Reginald Hill has raised the classical British mystery to new heights.”— The New York Times Book Review
Love, or at least pornography, was for sale at the arty Calliope Kinema Club on posh, proper Wilkinson Square. According to Yorkshire police superintendent Dalziel, it was all legal. Detective Peter Pascoe, however, sat uneasily in the dark. His dentist, who knew real broken teeth and blood when he saw them, insisted that the pretty actress wasn’t playing a part. But the action that would put Pascoe into the picture was homicide. The sudden death of the Calliope’s proprietor soon turned a sleazy sex flick into serious police business. And now Dalziel and Pascoe were looking into the all-too-human desire for pain, pleasure . . . and murder.
“First-rate entertainment.”— The Sunday Times (London)
“Mr. Hill refines his own talent to the highest levels of mystery fiction.”— Dallas Morning News
“Reginald Hill has raised the classical British mystery to new heights.”— The New York Times Book Review
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
389 people are currently reading
484 people want to read
About the author
Reginald Hill
154 books502 followersReginald 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
July 1, 2019
Dark secrets...
There have been complaints from the local residents about the Calliope Club, a private cinema that shows pornographic films, so the local police in the person of Sergeant Wield are already keeping an eye on it. However, everything is perfectly legal and the only disruption the club is causing is to the respectable sensibilities of its neighbours. But Jack Shorter, one of the club members, is worried, and since he happens to be Inspector Peter Pascoe’s dentist, he takes the opportunity to pass on his concerns. He tells Peter that in one scene of a film, in which the naked heroine is being beaten up her equally naked captor, he is convinced that the beating is real and that the woman has been seriously hurt, if not worse. So Peter goes along to see for himself, starting a chain of events that will uncover some dark secrets around the town and lead to murder...
By the time of this fifth Dalziel and Pascoe book, both of the main characters have become much more fully developed, although they will continue to evolve throughout the long-running series. Dalziel is brash, crude and often uncouth, although he’s perfectly capable of presenting different faces when he wishes. He knows everyone who’s anyone around his patch, and is well tuned in to all the gossip and secrets of his fellow townspeople. Pascoe is educated and cultured, more empathetic and often deeply affected by the things he witnesses as part of his job. He is the modern face of policing, although that modernity of 1978 when the book was first published seems very out-dated now, especially in social attitudes. Because this story involves porn, violence towards women and what would now be considered child exploitation at best, or child abuse at worst, those outdated attitudes make for uneasy reading to modern eyes. If you find it difficult to allow for different times, then this may not be the best book in which to meet Dalziel and Pascoe for the first time.
However, if you can look past that, then there’s a strong plot here – tighter and better paced than in some of the earliest books. The storyline is undoubtedly dark, but there’s plenty of room for some humour in the interaction between the two leads. Hill tended to change the main viewpoint from book to book, and here we see the story from Peter’s perspective, which is a kinder and gentler one than Dalziel’s. The starting point of the story – the suggestion of ‘snuff’ movies, where the supposedly fictional on-screen death is actually real – soon veers off to become more domestic in nature, as Jack Shorter is suddenly accused of seducing one of his underage patients. Meantime, the owner of the Calliope Club is attacked and left to die, and Peter must try to find out if there’s a connection to his investigation into the possible snuff movie. With all the concentration on porn, there are some salacious moments and some earthy language but no graphic descriptions of sex, on or off screen.
As the series progressed, the books gradually widened out from the two main detectives to become more ensemble pieces with several recurring characters. That process is beginning in this one, as we get to know Ellie, Peter’s wife, a little better. She’s a feminist and what we would now call a social justice warrior, so there’s always tension between Peter and her over his job, since she sees the police as a reactionary pillar of a patriarchal society. Sergeant Wield is also coming to the fore, although at this early point in the series, he is almost unrecognisable as the complex and appealing character he will later become.
Going back and reading these books in order has made me realise just how much the characters developed and changed over time – a reflection, I suspect, of Hill’s own development as well as of the changes in society during the decades in which he was writing. It’s quite hard to realise it now, but in fact at the time these books were at the forefront of the social changes, with Hill addressing subjects like feminism and homosexuality at a time when they were rare indeed in crime fiction. The way he does it sometimes seems clumsy to us now, with our heightened sensitivity and demand for strict adherence to the rules of liberal political correctness, but the underlying messages are positive ones for those who can see past the blunter style of expression of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Pascoe is already learning to be more sensitive, partly through Ellie’s influence, and later in the series even Andy Dalziel will show he’s not as dinosaurish as he likes to appear.
While there are still a few books to go before Hill hit his peak, this one feels to me like a bit of a turning point, with indications of how the series would later develop, especially in the characterisation. As always, this series is highly recommended! 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
There have been complaints from the local residents about the Calliope Club, a private cinema that shows pornographic films, so the local police in the person of Sergeant Wield are already keeping an eye on it. However, everything is perfectly legal and the only disruption the club is causing is to the respectable sensibilities of its neighbours. But Jack Shorter, one of the club members, is worried, and since he happens to be Inspector Peter Pascoe’s dentist, he takes the opportunity to pass on his concerns. He tells Peter that in one scene of a film, in which the naked heroine is being beaten up her equally naked captor, he is convinced that the beating is real and that the woman has been seriously hurt, if not worse. So Peter goes along to see for himself, starting a chain of events that will uncover some dark secrets around the town and lead to murder...
By the time of this fifth Dalziel and Pascoe book, both of the main characters have become much more fully developed, although they will continue to evolve throughout the long-running series. Dalziel is brash, crude and often uncouth, although he’s perfectly capable of presenting different faces when he wishes. He knows everyone who’s anyone around his patch, and is well tuned in to all the gossip and secrets of his fellow townspeople. Pascoe is educated and cultured, more empathetic and often deeply affected by the things he witnesses as part of his job. He is the modern face of policing, although that modernity of 1978 when the book was first published seems very out-dated now, especially in social attitudes. Because this story involves porn, violence towards women and what would now be considered child exploitation at best, or child abuse at worst, those outdated attitudes make for uneasy reading to modern eyes. If you find it difficult to allow for different times, then this may not be the best book in which to meet Dalziel and Pascoe for the first time.
However, if you can look past that, then there’s a strong plot here – tighter and better paced than in some of the earliest books. The storyline is undoubtedly dark, but there’s plenty of room for some humour in the interaction between the two leads. Hill tended to change the main viewpoint from book to book, and here we see the story from Peter’s perspective, which is a kinder and gentler one than Dalziel’s. The starting point of the story – the suggestion of ‘snuff’ movies, where the supposedly fictional on-screen death is actually real – soon veers off to become more domestic in nature, as Jack Shorter is suddenly accused of seducing one of his underage patients. Meantime, the owner of the Calliope Club is attacked and left to die, and Peter must try to find out if there’s a connection to his investigation into the possible snuff movie. With all the concentration on porn, there are some salacious moments and some earthy language but no graphic descriptions of sex, on or off screen.
As the series progressed, the books gradually widened out from the two main detectives to become more ensemble pieces with several recurring characters. That process is beginning in this one, as we get to know Ellie, Peter’s wife, a little better. She’s a feminist and what we would now call a social justice warrior, so there’s always tension between Peter and her over his job, since she sees the police as a reactionary pillar of a patriarchal society. Sergeant Wield is also coming to the fore, although at this early point in the series, he is almost unrecognisable as the complex and appealing character he will later become.
Going back and reading these books in order has made me realise just how much the characters developed and changed over time – a reflection, I suspect, of Hill’s own development as well as of the changes in society during the decades in which he was writing. It’s quite hard to realise it now, but in fact at the time these books were at the forefront of the social changes, with Hill addressing subjects like feminism and homosexuality at a time when they were rare indeed in crime fiction. The way he does it sometimes seems clumsy to us now, with our heightened sensitivity and demand for strict adherence to the rules of liberal political correctness, but the underlying messages are positive ones for those who can see past the blunter style of expression of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Pascoe is already learning to be more sensitive, partly through Ellie’s influence, and later in the series even Andy Dalziel will show he’s not as dinosaurish as he likes to appear.
While there are still a few books to go before Hill hit his peak, this one feels to me like a bit of a turning point, with indications of how the series would later develop, especially in the characterisation. As always, this series is highly recommended! 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
April 27, 2015
This, the fourth in the Dalziel and Pascoe series was not quite up to snuff compared to the others I have read, mainly due to the overly complicated plot. Still the characterization of the detectives made up for this fault.
August 28, 2022
Distasteful Dalziel
Review of the Grafton Books paperback edition (1987) of the Collins Crime Club hardcover original (1978)
I thought the fifth in the Dalziel (pronounced Dee-Ell) and Pascoe series treated its various distasteful themes of exploitation and violence too lightly. Pascoe is diligent enough in his investigation while it seems as if the odious inspector Dalziel is downplaying what seems like the common sense instincts of the junior detective. In the end Dalziel does come around and the gang of exploiters is arrested in a rather swift and disappointing finish.
I re-read A Pinch of Snuff due to a recent discovery of my old mystery paperbacks from the 1980s in a storage locker cleanout. I was also curious about the precedents for Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb in the Slough House espionage series in the personality of Reginald Hill's Chief Inspector Andy Dalziel, which Herron has acknowledged.
Book haul of the early Dalziel and Pascoe paperbacks, mostly from Grafton Books in the 1980s. Image sourced from Twitter.
Trivia and Link
A Pinch of Snuff was adapted as a separate 3-episode TV mini-series in 1994 before the later and better known TV series of Dalziel and Pascoe (1996-2007). Author Reginald Hill was so disappointed in the adaptation that he did not approve further adaptations with that cast. I could not find an online trailer or posting of the episodes. Information about the miniseries can be found on Wikipedia.
Review of the Grafton Books paperback edition (1987) of the Collins Crime Club hardcover original (1978)
I thought the fifth in the Dalziel (pronounced Dee-Ell) and Pascoe series treated its various distasteful themes of exploitation and violence too lightly. Pascoe is diligent enough in his investigation while it seems as if the odious inspector Dalziel is downplaying what seems like the common sense instincts of the junior detective. In the end Dalziel does come around and the gang of exploiters is arrested in a rather swift and disappointing finish.
I re-read A Pinch of Snuff due to a recent discovery of my old mystery paperbacks from the 1980s in a storage locker cleanout. I was also curious about the precedents for Mick Herron's Jackson Lamb in the Slough House espionage series in the personality of Reginald Hill's Chief Inspector Andy Dalziel, which Herron has acknowledged.
Book haul of the early Dalziel and Pascoe paperbacks, mostly from Grafton Books in the 1980s. Image sourced from Twitter.
Trivia and Link
A Pinch of Snuff was adapted as a separate 3-episode TV mini-series in 1994 before the later and better known TV series of Dalziel and Pascoe (1996-2007). Author Reginald Hill was so disappointed in the adaptation that he did not approve further adaptations with that cast. I could not find an online trailer or posting of the episodes. Information about the miniseries can be found on Wikipedia.
September 23, 2015
I couldn't give this one the usual four stars for this series. Hill deals here with some extremely unpleasant subjects--child abuse, child pornography, and snuff films; and while he doesn't belittle these subjects, his attempts to keep up the usual jokes, the somewhat comic bad guys, and the whimsical irony (see, for example, the title) felt wrong-footed and unfunny to me in context.
December 13, 2011
This is one of my favorite British series that has managed to keep the characters at manageable age by simply ignoring a number of years between some of the first books of the series and later books. I was destined to read this series: After reading one Dalziel & Pascoe, I found myself out of beach reading material. A trip to the local library used book store resulted in a delightful coincidence--there in a pile of books was a British edition that included the first three books in the series. It had been dropped off at the used book shop, as many books are, by a tourist who didn't want to lug the tome back home, in this case England. I have been devouring them every since.
June 19, 2017
Rating: 3.5
Need to be reviewed.
Need to be reviewed.
October 16, 2022
Entertaining and with the unique style of Reginald Hill which makes it worth a read, although I feel this wasn’t one of the best in the series. The storyline was interesting enough but the conclusion was disappointingly lacking in any real drama and just drifted to a tidy conclusion.
Personally I need to give the series a bit of a breather.
Personally I need to give the series a bit of a breather.
June 24, 2019
Written in 1978 and redolent of that era, with Dalziel in irascible mood and the slightly intimidating Sergeant Wield appearing for the first time, this is a story of murder and rape.
December 7, 2016
The story has a complicated plot that just didn't work for me. Based on the pornographic film industry in England, the story had too many characters involved in the production and viewing of pornography to be realistic. In addition, several loose ends are left semi-dangling at the end, and that left me wondering what might have happened had the author chose to tell us. The event that started the story is never fully resolved
July 8, 2009
Oh, dear. So few clinkers in the Dalziel/Pascoe series, but I fear this is one. Read it anyway, if you're into the series as a whole.
September 19, 2013
Police investigate an adult film shown at a private club.
Good writing / story at the beginning but I felt the story / writing drifted towards the end.
Good writing / story at the beginning but I felt the story / writing drifted towards the end.
June 20, 2017
It shows its 1970s origins, this book - smoking, drink driving, police practices, but it's an interesting period piece particularly looking back now with talk of online child pornography, etc. The clash of characters that is Dalziel and Pascoe is as good as ever.
March 21, 2017
I'm reading this series in order, and so far - apart from no. 1 - I really wondered what the fuss was about. Now this one shows some promise, although a little disjointed in places, it was a quick read. The next one will clinch it for me ...
December 12, 2014
“ALL RIGHT. ALL RIGHT! GASPED PASCOE IN HIS AGONY.”
Thus started A PINCH OF SNUFF by the celebrated British Crime author Reginald Hill, the fifth instalment of his crime novels featuring the protagonist duo of Andy “Fat man” Dalziel, his “sidekick” Peter Pascoe, and deftly helped by Sergeant Weild. And, not to forget peter’s feisty wife Ellie. The book starts with Peter’s visit to his dentist when the doctor tells him that in a recent BDSM adult movie viewing, of which the doctor was a part of, there was a suspicion on the part of the doctor, that the actress involved was really beaten and that her teeth flew of her mouth in reality, instead of acting the part. Pascoe burdened with such revelations decides to investigate the matter, albeit on his own, as Fat Man Dalziel takes no interest in the accusations and clearly states that Pascoe is chasing wild goose. Things takes a turn when the man in charge of the movie theatre showing the movie is found murdered and his home ransacked. Pascoe like a true detective follows his hunch and we are presented with a slow yet a twisted work of crime writing.
This is probably one of those very few detective duo series where the main work, or rather the main leg work is done by the sidekick. At times I feel that Pascoe is the main character with Dalziel appearing like a visiting consultant only to provide valuable snippets of input and theories. But never once reading the book there is a feeling that one of the two is the main character and the other being the sidekick. Hill manages to portray in such a way which makes them look both equal a partner, which is not present too often in crime fiction. Right from Holmes and Watson, through Poirot and Hastings to Morse and Lewis. Not many writers can claim such feat, but among those who can, Hill is one of them. And; this is what makes this duo such an interesting pair of crime fighters.
The plot was slow, and it was twisted, with a lot of connection between the events that takes place. This book needs time for reading; any plans of finishing it in two days flat would fall flat. But once one third of the book has gone by, the plot thickens and the pace starts building. And since the book dealt with a subject which seldom gets talked about or gets featured in books as a subject for a plot, the reading experience is made even better.
Thus started A PINCH OF SNUFF by the celebrated British Crime author Reginald Hill, the fifth instalment of his crime novels featuring the protagonist duo of Andy “Fat man” Dalziel, his “sidekick” Peter Pascoe, and deftly helped by Sergeant Weild. And, not to forget peter’s feisty wife Ellie. The book starts with Peter’s visit to his dentist when the doctor tells him that in a recent BDSM adult movie viewing, of which the doctor was a part of, there was a suspicion on the part of the doctor, that the actress involved was really beaten and that her teeth flew of her mouth in reality, instead of acting the part. Pascoe burdened with such revelations decides to investigate the matter, albeit on his own, as Fat Man Dalziel takes no interest in the accusations and clearly states that Pascoe is chasing wild goose. Things takes a turn when the man in charge of the movie theatre showing the movie is found murdered and his home ransacked. Pascoe like a true detective follows his hunch and we are presented with a slow yet a twisted work of crime writing.
This is probably one of those very few detective duo series where the main work, or rather the main leg work is done by the sidekick. At times I feel that Pascoe is the main character with Dalziel appearing like a visiting consultant only to provide valuable snippets of input and theories. But never once reading the book there is a feeling that one of the two is the main character and the other being the sidekick. Hill manages to portray in such a way which makes them look both equal a partner, which is not present too often in crime fiction. Right from Holmes and Watson, through Poirot and Hastings to Morse and Lewis. Not many writers can claim such feat, but among those who can, Hill is one of them. And; this is what makes this duo such an interesting pair of crime fighters.
The plot was slow, and it was twisted, with a lot of connection between the events that takes place. This book needs time for reading; any plans of finishing it in two days flat would fall flat. But once one third of the book has gone by, the plot thickens and the pace starts building. And since the book dealt with a subject which seldom gets talked about or gets featured in books as a subject for a plot, the reading experience is made even better.
August 22, 2016
There’s a new club in town, one that shows “blue movies” to a select clientele. All a bit of harmless fun, really, but when Detective Sergeant Peter Pascoe’s dentist suggests that one such film might have included some real violence to a woman, Pascoe feels obliged to follow through; before he can do too much, however, the dentist is accused of statutory rape, the owner of the club is killed and the club itself is wrecked. Somehow all these threads are linked, and Pascoe has to try to unravel them, without much support from Detective Superintendent Dalziel…. The story here is quite intricate and well constructed, with lots of red herrings and other diversions along the way. It was first published in 1984, though, and it’s quite shocking to modern readers to encounter the way domestic violence was treated in those days: basically a “shrug and forget it” from the police, and the community in general. Sensitive readers might be disconcerted, so only a mild recommendation from me.
July 11, 2021
"Love, or at least pornography, was for sale at the arty Calliope Kinema Club on posh, proper Wilkinson Square. According to Yorkshire police Superintendent Dalziel, it was all legal. Detective Peter Pascoe, however, sat uneasily in the dark. His dentist, who knew real broken teeth and blood when he saw them, insisted that the pretty actress wasn't merely playing a part. But the action that would put Pascoe into the picture was homicide. The sudden death of the Calliope's proprietor soon turned a sleazy sex flick into serious police business. And now Dalziel and Pascoe were looking into the all-too-human desire for pain, pleasure ... and murder."
~~back cover
I hadn't read one of this series in a long time, so had forgotten how much I dislike Dalziel, and how convoluted I find this plots. Although I did have at least part of this one sorted before it was revealed. But I think this will be my last Dalziel & Pascoe book.
~~back cover
I hadn't read one of this series in a long time, so had forgotten how much I dislike Dalziel, and how convoluted I find this plots. Although I did have at least part of this one sorted before it was revealed. But I think this will be my last Dalziel & Pascoe book.
March 15, 2010
A very solidly-plotted police procedural that held my interest, but I don't think it will go down as one of my favorites in the Dalziel and Pascoe series. The subject matter is pretty dark and grim, and the book is largely lacking in the humorous banter or little bits of character interplay that lighten up the atmosphere of the other books even when horrible crimes are being committed. Not a bad book, by any means, but it doesn't have the charm of the best books in this series.
July 29, 2019
Been reading this series backwards to fill in what I missed.
I think this is as far back as I can go. Dalziel and Pascoe both came off, especially in the first half of the book, as caricatures of what they settled into later. Later books are much better.
I think this is as far back as I can go. Dalziel and Pascoe both came off, especially in the first half of the book, as caricatures of what they settled into later. Later books are much better.
November 27, 2014
Definitely enjoying this series, even though the main characters are not the most enlightened of males.
September 13, 2021
There are all kinds of good reasons to visit your dentist. They have skillsets and levels of expertise, and you can learn things from them that can be more than a little valuable. So it was with Detective Inspector Peter Pascoe. He’s the younger much skinnier member of the duo known as Dalziel & Pascoe. It is Peter who processes his job on a more visceral level than his older obese boss. So, when Pascoe’s dentist almost nonchalantly lets drop the fact that a private pornographic cinema operates in the posh and proper Wilson Square, Pascoe’s reaction is different from that of his older boss. Dalziel insists that the place is probably legal and urges his partner to leave it alone. But the dentist expresses his concerns to Pascoe that there may indeed be illegalities happening in the place. Based on his expertise, he believes one of the female porn stars someone savagely beats near the end of one of the films is either dead or nearly so. The dentist insists that he knows broken teeth and facial bones when he sees them, and he’s sure the scene depicts a girl with her face nearly folded in on itself so violent is the facial beating she took.
Dalziel reluctantly agrees to let Pascoe investigate the place but warns him that a live-and-let-live policy is the best approach. That all changes the day someone murders the club’s proprietor.
This is neither fast paced nor is it one of those layered thrillers with unreliable characters everywhere. It is solid British police procedural stuff, and you get a snapshot of policing 1978 style. There’s no DNA to test here, no cell phones or GPS tracking capabilities, and there’s no Internet to track the viewing habits of posh club patrons. Those used to staccato narrations with scenes that change at dizzying rates may find this series a bit slow. But it’s fascinating reading. The contrast between the somewhat more intelligent Pascoe and his bellowing lug of a boss is always there. But the story needs the bellowing lug of a boss because he has connections based on long years of old-fashioned British policing that assist him in finding answers the younger more modern Pascoe can’t get alone. Pascoe’s young wife, Ellie, is a study in the burgeoning women’s movement as it existed in the late ‘70s. She is an influential force that pulls Pascoe inexorably toward a new era of thinking while Andy Dalziel represents the old sometimes-still-reliable way of doing things. I look forward to seeing how these characters change as I move through the series, but I’m in no hurry to get through it. These books are interesting reads, but they aren’t so compelling that you feel driven to grease through them book after book back to back. I’ll definitely continue on with the series; but it will be a few months before I move on to book six.
Incidentally, in the ‘70s, pornographic films that included scenes where the star dies as a result of violence are known as Snuff films, referring presumably to the snuffing out of a life while the camera rolls.
Dalziel reluctantly agrees to let Pascoe investigate the place but warns him that a live-and-let-live policy is the best approach. That all changes the day someone murders the club’s proprietor.
This is neither fast paced nor is it one of those layered thrillers with unreliable characters everywhere. It is solid British police procedural stuff, and you get a snapshot of policing 1978 style. There’s no DNA to test here, no cell phones or GPS tracking capabilities, and there’s no Internet to track the viewing habits of posh club patrons. Those used to staccato narrations with scenes that change at dizzying rates may find this series a bit slow. But it’s fascinating reading. The contrast between the somewhat more intelligent Pascoe and his bellowing lug of a boss is always there. But the story needs the bellowing lug of a boss because he has connections based on long years of old-fashioned British policing that assist him in finding answers the younger more modern Pascoe can’t get alone. Pascoe’s young wife, Ellie, is a study in the burgeoning women’s movement as it existed in the late ‘70s. She is an influential force that pulls Pascoe inexorably toward a new era of thinking while Andy Dalziel represents the old sometimes-still-reliable way of doing things. I look forward to seeing how these characters change as I move through the series, but I’m in no hurry to get through it. These books are interesting reads, but they aren’t so compelling that you feel driven to grease through them book after book back to back. I’ll definitely continue on with the series; but it will be a few months before I move on to book six.
Incidentally, in the ‘70s, pornographic films that included scenes where the star dies as a result of violence are known as Snuff films, referring presumably to the snuffing out of a life while the camera rolls.
March 22, 2024
Before I get into the meat and potatoes of my review, I have to admit that I did not realize that this was part of a series when I bought it and thus I have not read the first 4 installments. Luckily, this author has the good sense to give you enough on the main protagonists to make it feel like you haven't missed anything about them. Perhaps you would better understand Pascoe's relationship with his wife (girlfriend? I forget if he said if they were married or not) or Dalziel's boorish temperament, but I doubt it would be to the extent that it would make a major difference in the story.
Now that being said this whole story is a hot mess and a half. Though well written, the whole thing is a little all over the place. Dalziel seems, almost unperturbed at the alleged affair between the 12 year old Sandra Burkill and Dr. Shorter, but is constantly pressuring Pascoe to give him information on the alleged murder of a local porn movie house owner/operator. It feels as though his priorities are a bit skewed. Additionally, the reader gets the distinct feeling that Dalziel is trying to brush it under the rug and push straight to a conviction because he's buddy buddy with the father of the girl in question. It all comes together in the end with a neat little bow, but it felt as though things that would typically be more pressing were, ultimately, not. I also feel as though there were a lot of red herrings thrown in that really didn't add much to the story and were just there to confuse the readers idea of what happened with these crimes.
In short, it's not bad, but a bit haphazard for my liking. It's just not my cup of tea.
Now that being said this whole story is a hot mess and a half. Though well written, the whole thing is a little all over the place. Dalziel seems, almost unperturbed at the alleged affair between the 12 year old Sandra Burkill and Dr. Shorter, but is constantly pressuring Pascoe to give him information on the alleged murder of a local porn movie house owner/operator. It feels as though his priorities are a bit skewed. Additionally, the reader gets the distinct feeling that Dalziel is trying to brush it under the rug and push straight to a conviction because he's buddy buddy with the father of the girl in question. It all comes together in the end with a neat little bow, but it felt as though things that would typically be more pressing were, ultimately, not. I also feel as though there were a lot of red herrings thrown in that really didn't add much to the story and were just there to confuse the readers idea of what happened with these crimes.
In short, it's not bad, but a bit haphazard for my liking. It's just not my cup of tea.
March 30, 2022
Peter Pascoe hears about a soft porn movie from his dentist, who complains that there was a violent scene in it that looked like a real assault, including broken teeth. When the porn movie house owner turns up dead a couple of days later Dalziel also becomes involved in the investigation. The yarn is an exploration of the porn film industry from top to bottom: film direction and editing, funding, writing, recruiting actors, distribution, village movie houses, village mores, neighborly sharing, a pregnant teen and a smeared reputation. It's the 1970s so the smut is mostly fun, no need to supply heroin to the actresses, and everyone is housed and cared for. Even 'Uncle Maurice', the Hungarian refugee, is very protective of his underage actress. I'm not sure the author realizes how flammable film is. The most memorable character in the plot is the beautiful and enormously fat film producer. She's also very generous and nice. The book is a nice break from the grim reality of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic (1,005,056 dead in the US, but tracking the infection numbers has ended), the ongoing destruction of Ukraine (Turkey is facilitating negotiations to get Russia to stop the shelling), and we got a quarter of inch in the last rain of the season (the snowpack in half of normal so we're expecting rationing). We're supposed to be outraged at the price of gasoline and ignore the melting ice at both poles.
August 5, 2025
For a detective duo, Dalziel and Pascoe don’t spend much time together. Hill tends to alternate them as the main character in each book, and this time it’s Pascoe as the lead in A Pinch of Snuff. Pascoe is fairly strait-laced and vanilla compared to his boss, so it’s perhaps not as fun.
Indeed, despite the fairly dark subject matter of snuff films, illegal porn and child abuse, Dalziel is a big fat dose of comic relief. Hill must have had so much fun with writing Dalziel’s character. Ever the master of words, try this splendid passage for size:
- - -
“You fat bastard,” said Emma Shorter venomously.
“Cheerio, Mrs Shorter”, said Dalziel, his geniality undiminished. He led the two men to an empty table and sat down. After swallowing a gill of beer and belching contentedly, he sank his teeth into the best half of a pork pie and washed it down with the second gill.
“What's she want?” he asked through the resultant sludge.
- - -
Resultant Sludge!
It’s a fairly complex entwining of a couple of interesting threads that are eventually linked. Probably best enjoyed in a quickfire read, as opposed to over a couple of week. A good yarn, but i feel some key characters lacked some development (Blengdale, Parfitt, Deidre Burkill), while others got a healthy dose (Shorter, Arany).
Indeed, despite the fairly dark subject matter of snuff films, illegal porn and child abuse, Dalziel is a big fat dose of comic relief. Hill must have had so much fun with writing Dalziel’s character. Ever the master of words, try this splendid passage for size:
- - -
“You fat bastard,” said Emma Shorter venomously.
“Cheerio, Mrs Shorter”, said Dalziel, his geniality undiminished. He led the two men to an empty table and sat down. After swallowing a gill of beer and belching contentedly, he sank his teeth into the best half of a pork pie and washed it down with the second gill.
“What's she want?” he asked through the resultant sludge.
- - -
Resultant Sludge!
It’s a fairly complex entwining of a couple of interesting threads that are eventually linked. Probably best enjoyed in a quickfire read, as opposed to over a couple of week. A good yarn, but i feel some key characters lacked some development (Blengdale, Parfitt, Deidre Burkill), while others got a healthy dose (Shorter, Arany).
June 9, 2019
The Calliope Kinema Club shows risque movies that no one worries about until Pascoe's dentist tells him he thinks one of the women might have really been killed, raising the possibility of a snuff movie. That very same dentist is accused of rape by an under-age girl who now is pregnant, and her father goes ballistic. Dalziel wants Pascoe to stay away from the case because the father is an old drinking buddy of his, but Pascoe is obsessed with it. Ellie, his wife, needles him as usual, comparing him to a priest "obsessed with sex, when it's sexism you should be after. That's the disease."
The situation escalates when a porn movie maker is killed and eventually reveals that the loose morality is not all being carried out in front of the camera in the porn studio. Dalziel's comments on women in this one are more frequent and more salacious than usual. Maybe it's because he's not been "tamed" by his relationship with Cap Marvel in later books?
The situation escalates when a porn movie maker is killed and eventually reveals that the loose morality is not all being carried out in front of the camera in the porn studio. Dalziel's comments on women in this one are more frequent and more salacious than usual. Maybe it's because he's not been "tamed" by his relationship with Cap Marvel in later books?
March 23, 2022
(Format : Audiobook )
"There'll be no cover-ups here."
When Pascoe's dentist confides in him that he thought a scene in an adult fantasy sex film showing at the local members only club was more than just play acting, Peter decides to look into it despite the scorn coming from Dalziel. A murder further draws him into a determination to find out exactly what is going on. A fine example of Dalziel's sarcastic wit and local knowledge as the big bully lets Peter muddle on. (And Peter has his wife to contend with, too!)
Performed by Colin Buchanan, this is another great read with plenty of humour lurking amidst the crime. However, this book seems mostly about Pascoe's misadventures and the rather unsavoury folks with whom he was dealing and I was less involved than I usually become reading one of Reginald Hill's books, hence the four rather than five stars. Still a fine read, however, and recommended.
"There'll be no cover-ups here."
When Pascoe's dentist confides in him that he thought a scene in an adult fantasy sex film showing at the local members only club was more than just play acting, Peter decides to look into it despite the scorn coming from Dalziel. A murder further draws him into a determination to find out exactly what is going on. A fine example of Dalziel's sarcastic wit and local knowledge as the big bully lets Peter muddle on. (And Peter has his wife to contend with, too!)
Performed by Colin Buchanan, this is another great read with plenty of humour lurking amidst the crime. However, this book seems mostly about Pascoe's misadventures and the rather unsavoury folks with whom he was dealing and I was less involved than I usually become reading one of Reginald Hill's books, hence the four rather than five stars. Still a fine read, however, and recommended.
August 22, 2017
A Pinch of Snuff by Reginald Hill is the 5th book in the Dalziel and Pascoe series on which the TV show was based. Pascoe gets asked to look into a Porn film that may, in fact, be a snuff film and from there the case becomes a tangled web, involving porn, social clubs, an underage girl, an unwanted pregnancy, a rampaging father and a pair of old ladies, who may not be what they seem. Dalziel is not as prominent in this book, as Pascoe is run ragged from one place to the next on his orders, trying to untangle the connections, solve the crimes, and figure out how much is “movie magic” and how much is real. This was not my favorite in the series, but I did find it an interesting snapshot of 1970s attitudes towards women, porn, unwanted pregnancy, etc. I will continue with the series because I do like the characters and their relationship.
September 26, 2022
Intereting characters, convoluted plot and great descriptive writing .
This is not so much a "Who done it" but more a "What did he do". We can work out fairly early on in the book who t villain of the piece actually is, but it is not entirely certain quite what he has done. Clearly there has been an effort at a cover up to hide evidence and put the police off the track. But what it is that the police have been put off the track of is the mystery of the book.
I really liked the way the reader was kept guessing in this way. It was great, I thought I was being clever working out who the villain was, but only gradually began to realise that I did not know what it was that he had done.
The only thing that put me off a 5 star review was that I found some of the red herrings were too obvious.
Never mind. A massively enjoyable book. Buy it and enjoy it.
This is not so much a "Who done it" but more a "What did he do". We can work out fairly early on in the book who t villain of the piece actually is, but it is not entirely certain quite what he has done. Clearly there has been an effort at a cover up to hide evidence and put the police off the track. But what it is that the police have been put off the track of is the mystery of the book.
I really liked the way the reader was kept guessing in this way. It was great, I thought I was being clever working out who the villain was, but only gradually began to realise that I did not know what it was that he had done.
The only thing that put me off a 5 star review was that I found some of the red herrings were too obvious.
Never mind. A massively enjoyable book. Buy it and enjoy it.
August 30, 2023
This novel had an old fashioned feel to it that I couldn't quite get into. The plot was spicy enough but I struggled with the character of Dalziel, who seemed a bit of a caricature of a 1970's detective. Pascoe is the more modern cop, but he isn't given the best lines, or hardly any lines worth remembering. And some of those lines uttered by Dalziel now seem a bit hackneyed and corny, maybe not surprising as the book was written in 1978.
I felt I could have continued on with this mystery if I didn't have much else to read, but as ever that's not the case. This book just felt too dated to me in a way that others from the same era do not. Maybe in another thirty years the Dalziel and Pascoe series will stand quite well in portraying a time and a place and a bit of a British culture too. But for me it just didn't gel quite right and I couldn't quite get into it.
I felt I could have continued on with this mystery if I didn't have much else to read, but as ever that's not the case. This book just felt too dated to me in a way that others from the same era do not. Maybe in another thirty years the Dalziel and Pascoe series will stand quite well in portraying a time and a place and a bit of a British culture too. But for me it just didn't gel quite right and I couldn't quite get into it.
January 23, 2025
All the flair, much of the wit, the agonised Pascoe conscience, the crass and apparently insensitive Dalziel in the background, the general reflectiveness, the vivid portrayal of violent and tragic happenings, the banality of quickly-decayed and seemingly hopeless relationships, social change and urban evolution in the late 20th century North… it’s all there, along with the mystery and the procedure and the chance encounter, etc, but this Pinch is just a bit too glib and seedy, and the world it portrays is pessimistic and shabby. Maybe that’s realistic, and as a Christian I can hardly plead surprise in the face of the ugliness of sin and its effects, but I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as it perhaps deserved.
Was this really how (seemingly ordinary) people got their kicks back in the late 70s before the Internet came along? More disturbingly, how dreadful must online content be today? It genuinely doesn’t bear thinking about.
Was this really how (seemingly ordinary) people got their kicks back in the late 70s before the Internet came along? More disturbingly, how dreadful must online content be today? It genuinely doesn’t bear thinking about.
December 21, 2025
Dalziel & Pascoe #5. Picked up at Bookfest. I've probably read at least one other from this series. Dalziel is a tough boss, and this time he doesn't let hi DI in on certain facts. He's not particularly likeable, but all you can say is he's a highly experienced and somewhat jaded police officer. It's tough to put one over on him. The theme of this book is to do with the porn industry, and in particular "snuff" movies. The person running the film club is not what you would expect, and is a bit unbelievable. The attitudes of his elderly neighbours are definitely not what you would expect.
The plot meanders along with the investigation, from one person of interest to another, and back again. It's readable but maybe just a touch slow at times.
Rating 3.3.
The plot meanders along with the investigation, from one person of interest to another, and back again. It's readable but maybe just a touch slow at times.
Rating 3.3.
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