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Traitor's Blood
British Intelligence ensures that before Antonio Lemuel Ernest Sebastian Stanhope-Swift, a terminally ill criminal mastermind, can see his daughter, he must first assassinate a well-known murderer, traitor, and defector--his father
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
About the author
Reginald Hill
159 books518 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 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 16, 2026
FAST PACED!
Written by Reginald Hill and copyrighted in 1993 by his estate even after his death, this novel was not published by Mysterious Press until 2019. Set primarily in Rome and other parts of Italy, but also in Venezuela and in the U.K., this is a story about the Cold War and the former Soviet Union. Readers need to remember that the KGB was an active espionage agency during the time of the setting of this story.
Lemuel Swift is a Viscount of England, as is his father. Lem is: Lemuel Ernest Sebastian Stanhope-Swift, 6th Viscount Bessacarr. His father William (Billy) is the 5th Viscount. Both of them are, however, fugitives from justice. Billy was accused of murdering his wife after an affair with his Korean secretary, Kim, who he later marries in Russia, where he has received asylum from the Soviet government. Lem had founded the largest charity in the U.K., but then absconded to Venezuela with the organization’s money, where he lives a life of luxury on the island of Margarita. Lem hates his father for what he has done, and he has vowed to kill him.
Lem’s doctor gives him bad news. He has stomach cancer and only has a few months to live. Lem has a daughter named Angelica (Angie), who he desperately wants to see before he dies. He arranges a false identity before traveling to London on his way to see Angie. Unfortunately, he is arrested by the police, and then by MI6 as soon as he arrives. The two-person MI6 team consists of a Brit that Lem calls the “Brigadier,” or just “Brig.” His partner is a tough red-haired Irish woman named Reilly. These two characters figure prominently in the remainder of the story.
Brig and Reilly determine that Lem’s father is in Rome, and they charge Lem with the responsibility of killing his own father, which Lem agrees to do so that he might be able to visit his daughter, who lives there. They all travel to Italy, where an attempt to kidnap and kill Lem is made by a terrorist group. MI6 is ever alert, however, and Lem is saved from the terrorists. More murders take place in Italy, and it is not clear just exactly who the real bad guys are.
The action is non-stop, but still believable. Reginald Hill is an excellent author. He wrote the outstanding Dalziel & Pascoe” series of detective novels that later became an excellent TV series with really good acting and direction. There are very few editing errors, and no loose ends are left dangling at the end of the story. Even though this story is set at a considerable time in the past, I will still recommend it to lovers of good fiction. This one is a winner. You should read it. I award all five of the available five stars for this novel.
Written by Reginald Hill and copyrighted in 1993 by his estate even after his death, this novel was not published by Mysterious Press until 2019. Set primarily in Rome and other parts of Italy, but also in Venezuela and in the U.K., this is a story about the Cold War and the former Soviet Union. Readers need to remember that the KGB was an active espionage agency during the time of the setting of this story.
Lemuel Swift is a Viscount of England, as is his father. Lem is: Lemuel Ernest Sebastian Stanhope-Swift, 6th Viscount Bessacarr. His father William (Billy) is the 5th Viscount. Both of them are, however, fugitives from justice. Billy was accused of murdering his wife after an affair with his Korean secretary, Kim, who he later marries in Russia, where he has received asylum from the Soviet government. Lem had founded the largest charity in the U.K., but then absconded to Venezuela with the organization’s money, where he lives a life of luxury on the island of Margarita. Lem hates his father for what he has done, and he has vowed to kill him.
Lem’s doctor gives him bad news. He has stomach cancer and only has a few months to live. Lem has a daughter named Angelica (Angie), who he desperately wants to see before he dies. He arranges a false identity before traveling to London on his way to see Angie. Unfortunately, he is arrested by the police, and then by MI6 as soon as he arrives. The two-person MI6 team consists of a Brit that Lem calls the “Brigadier,” or just “Brig.” His partner is a tough red-haired Irish woman named Reilly. These two characters figure prominently in the remainder of the story.
Brig and Reilly determine that Lem’s father is in Rome, and they charge Lem with the responsibility of killing his own father, which Lem agrees to do so that he might be able to visit his daughter, who lives there. They all travel to Italy, where an attempt to kidnap and kill Lem is made by a terrorist group. MI6 is ever alert, however, and Lem is saved from the terrorists. More murders take place in Italy, and it is not clear just exactly who the real bad guys are.
The action is non-stop, but still believable. Reginald Hill is an excellent author. He wrote the outstanding Dalziel & Pascoe” series of detective novels that later became an excellent TV series with really good acting and direction. There are very few editing errors, and no loose ends are left dangling at the end of the story. Even though this story is set at a considerable time in the past, I will still recommend it to lovers of good fiction. This one is a winner. You should read it. I award all five of the available five stars for this novel.
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September 26, 2026Lem Stanhope-Swift, the sixth Viscount Bessacarr, has been living in Venezuela, keeping his distance from the British authorities ever since an embezzlement charge landed him in a spot of bother back home. Over the years he's been enjoying the tropical weather and an abundance of liquor and women. But he's just learned that he has cancer, and desperately wants to see the daughter he long ago abandoned.Landing on his home country's soil under a false identity, he's disappointed to discover that the secret service is there to greet him. They have a proposition: They'll arrange the visit, as long as he first agrees to an assignment to kill another wanted man on the run—the fifth viscount, Lem's own father …
August 7, 2021
Disappointing
Disappointment
Reginald Hill has been my favorite author - but this novel was so full.of violence and bloodshed that it is my least liked book EVER. There are too many characters to keep straight who was doing what to whom. I almost stopped reading it after "Bucko" 's father, now handless, drowned. The ending, finally stress-free, however, did satisfy. I think I may have one more Hill book on my Kindle
But will not start reading it until I've recovered from this one.
Disappointment
Reginald Hill has been my favorite author - but this novel was so full.of violence and bloodshed that it is my least liked book EVER. There are too many characters to keep straight who was doing what to whom. I almost stopped reading it after "Bucko" 's father, now handless, drowned. The ending, finally stress-free, however, did satisfy. I think I may have one more Hill book on my Kindle
But will not start reading it until I've recovered from this one.
January 21, 2020
3.5
A fast read. Not very likable at first, but it did get more and more enjoyable after the first 100 or so pages. And surprisingly, very funny toward the end.
A fast read. Not very likable at first, but it did get more and more enjoyable after the first 100 or so pages. And surprisingly, very funny toward the end.
April 22, 2020
Excellent read!!
You never know who are the good guys and who is trouble, but it will be great fun guessing.
You never know who are the good guys and who is trouble, but it will be great fun guessing.
March 28, 2023
Preposterous plot, and certainly not as literate and thoughtful as others in the Hill canon, but fun nonetheless.
August 29, 2025
Fun!
This was quite fun. A very twisty plot, with good characters. A bad boy protagonist to start off, and never knowing who, really, were the bad guys.
This was quite fun. A very twisty plot, with good characters. A bad boy protagonist to start off, and never knowing who, really, were the bad guys.
July 6, 2026
This was hard to read although it ended well. A true product of it’s time (1983).
February 12, 2017
A good read but not in the Dalziel and Pascoe league at all.
May 4, 2008
A fugitive Brit living in South America has been told that he has only a few months to live. He fakes his death and returns to England to see his daughter. His father is a defector now living in Moscow.
April 7, 2009
One of the fastest moving books from Reginald Hill I've ever read.
Not quite as good as his Daziel and Pascoe series but it's a fun Bondesque journey.
Not quite as good as his Daziel and Pascoe series but it's a fun Bondesque journey.
January 11, 2010
This was not as good as the series Hill does so well. Somewhat like a soap opera in that every body lies all of the time.
Did Not Finish
November 25, 2019couldn't finish it. The characters aren't interesting and the plot... lags.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
March 14, 2018I felt it was simply not worth investing my time.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews