Beyond the Bone

by Reginald Hill

A stolen skeleton leads to a web of “Those who treasure quirky characters, lively dialogue, and ingenious plots will be delighted” (Booklist).   In England, a skeleton from Roman times goes missing from the site of an archaeological dig—as does the man overseeing the project. In Baghdad, a diplomat dies suddenly. And in California, a scientist commits suicide.   These three events are in fact linked—and one tough, determined woman may be about to unravel a shocking conspiracy that lies behind them all, in this lively mystery by “one of Britain’s most consistently excellent crime novelists” (The Times, London).   “The captivating cast includes an obnoxious student of archaeology, a fraudulent town official, a vaguely clairvoyant eccentric, a couple of mysterious brothers, and various other folks who aren’t quite what they seem to be.” —Booklist   “Reginald Hill delivers literate, complex, and immensely satisfying thrillers.” —Orlando Sentinel

Genres: Mystery, Crime, British Literature, Fiction

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 22, 1975

About the author

Reginald 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.

Reviews

[Richard Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Reginald Hill caught my attention and my interest with just the name of his heroine Zeugma, when, in the first sentence of Chapter number 2 of the book, he uses a zeugma to describe the March day in which she finds a skeleton. The British witticisms throughout the book are also a tribute to the author's keen sense of humor when writing about the murders in descriptions of finely tuned prose. The story begins with the finding of the skeleton, but soon begins to revolve around a fresh murder and the disappearance of Zeugma's mentor and guardian, Leo Pasquino. Into the complicated picture come Lakenheath, a real estate broker, the mysterious Egyptian family, the Upas, and a strange man who goes by the single word moniker of Crow. Crow dashes across the moors accompanied by his dog Twinkle and lives in a rebuilt stoneage hovel out on the undeveloped land of the county known as the waste. Readers may find that they get halfway through the first half of the book questioning whether there is actually a complex mystery story here, or whether we are just dealing with a series of unrelated incidents. In the latter half of the book, the plot begins to gel and Zeugma has to fall back on her training from Whitethorn girl's school in order to stay alive and solve the final mystery. Definitely not what I expected and the book is certainly entertaining and well worth the read.

[Lobstergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the manner of a speaker's vocal tics making a presentation hard to listen to, I was unable to follow Ruell's exceedingly convoluted and strange plot (including nude Satanic rituals between siblings) because I was so distracted by his obsession with his protagonist's weight. Zeugma, a 20-something archaeologist-in-training, is referred to as fat nearly every time she appears, which is dozens. The feisty fatty is antagonist to Lakenheath, a government official trying to lure business development to remote Cumbria. Over time Zeugma begins to soften to him, and when the two have been hog-tied by their mutual enemies, she jokes that "when we get out of this, the statutory romantic ending requires that we discover we've loved each other all along, fall passionately into each other's arms, and get married."

Lakenheath takes issue. "Believe me, I've nothing against short fat girls. I just happen to prefer long, slim girls who look elegant at Ascot and who can cross their legs twice and still have enough left over to fit into a pair of button-up boots. Pale girls too. I like pale girls, anaemic, consumptive, corpse-like girls with dark blue shadows beneath their eyes, and cheek-bones so prominent they can put your eyes out.....You wouldn't consider a diet, I suppose?"

[Ed Dodson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rating should really be a 3 minus
S or a 2 plus. I like Reginald Hill and have read several of his Dalziel and Pascoe police procedural novels, and thought that was what this book was. Instead it was a poorly plotted and spottily charactered story with unbelievable twists, turns, and a heavy dose of the deus ex machina. I almost ditched it after the first chapter, but did hold my interest through to the end.

[Michael Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The late author is best known for his long-running series of police procedurals featuring the quirky and cranky Detective Superintendent Dalziel of Yorkshire, but he also produced a number of standalone mysteries and thrillers, some under pseudonyms. This is one of those, published in the UK in 1975 as Urn Burial, as by “Patrick Ruell,” but this is its first appearance in the U.S.

The setting of the story is Cumbria, right up on the Scottish border, where the Lake District is located. It’s a land of windy, mostly barren moors and not much industry, and one of the two main characters is Sam Lakenheath, whose job is to try to change that by roping in corporations to build factories there. And he’s not having any success at it. The other key figure is Zeugma Gray, the young assistant to a world-class but rather eccentric archaeologist, Prof. Pasquino. (She’s also his ward, though she’s now in her mid-twenties.) She despises Lakenheath for his callous attitude toward the wilderness where she’s been excavating a Roman military burial site. And the focus of the plot is an old fever hospital cum research center out in the boonies recently abandoned by the military. It was constructed a long way from everything partly for security and partly because they were developed highly explosive rocket fuel there, so it doesn’t hold much appeal for expanding companies, but Lakenheath is trying his best. (Sort of.) Zegma’s dig is near the research center, and the two of them keep bumping into other. Zeugma is short, plump, self-protectively aggressive, and tries to live by the precepts of the private girls’ school where she was educated.

When odd things happen nearby, Zeugma charges in to investigate, and she soon finds herself caught up in a series of mysteries involving the disappearance of the professor, the magnetic personality of a young motorcyclist, Lakenheath’s missing hippie cousin, and the American with a shotgun who appears to have two identities. The story is rather confusing at first, but the pace slowly picks up and things begin to come clear, until the last few chapters are non-stop cinematic action at a breakneck pace.

A signature ingredient of any of Hill’s novels, by the way, is the presence in the cast of characters of one or two truly bizarre creations, and this one is no exception. One of the denizens of the moors is Crow, a part-time hermit of indeterminate age who seems to have certain mystical qualities. He also has a large, protective, rather scary dog, and the two of them can be seen racing each other over the moors for many miles at a time. To be honest, Crow isn’t really vital to the story, and his nature and origins are never really explained, but he definitely livens things up. This isn't one of Hill’s best books by a long short, but it’s not bad and it’s worth a read.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zeugma Gray is an archeologist working on a dig her mentor and fellow archeologist, Leo Pasquino has identified in Cumbria. After the skeleton she uncovers goes missing, and Pasquino has disappeared from his hotel room she starts making complaints. Her main character flaw is a quick temper so she is surprised to find an ally in Sam Lakenheath who is trying to entice industrial development on the moors. She vehemently opposes development. Lakenheath hasn't had any luck getting interest from manufacturers taking over the old nuclear plant outside of town so he made up a CEO, Dyss, and a company expressing interest. His boss Sayer tells him Dyss wants a tour. Lakenheath sprained his ankle so he has to get Zeugma to drive him up to a hill where he can spy on Sayer and Dyss. Things really go sideways after that and the nuclear plant is ground zero. Abused cars, Cumbrian shaman, wealthy Arab diplomat family, disappeared hippie squatters. Ripping yarn you have no idea where it's headed. Perfect to take my mind off the new and virulent Omicron variant of Covid-19 after the 800,000 dead milestone passed.

[Everett Egginton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Three seemingly unconnected events that were, or so I was promised (in the Foreward), to come together at the "dramatic climax" of the novel never did so for me. The climax was indeed dramatic, but alas, at least for me, the aforementioned unconnected events remained unconnected after I had finished the book. This is my first Reginald Hill novel, and it won't be my last despite my disappointment. Frankly, I have heard too many good things, and read many positive reviews, of Hill's novels that I am quite certain my reading of "Beyond the Bone" was far less focussed and attentive than it needed to be. The somewhat hackneyed phrase "my bad" I believe is appropriate RE my reading and understanding of this novel.

[Jim Willse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hill at his silliest. The theory is that he would take a break between Dalziel and Pascoe books and clean out the pipes with something inconsequential and dopey. He’s entitled, but for a first time reader of Hill, this will be quite a disappointment.

[NRVOUTDOORSMAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit weird...

But vintage Reginald Hill. Zeugma Gray is very nearly as repellent as Andy Dalziel but funny nonetheless. Good dialogue but an insane plot.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very early (1975) Reg Hill. The characters are always great, but the plot on this one is a bit of a mess. Well worth reading but not his best work.

[Jann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and intriguing. The characters were well-drawn and piqued my interest. The plot itself had me completely involved right to the last.

[Alex M · Rating 4 out of 5]

the characters were funny and entertaining, the story was good. definitely a hidden gem.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Headstrong young woman, who is described frequently as being plump, works on archeological digs with her guardian, becomes involved with several interesting characters, some of whom have nefarious agendas. A dash of politics, missing hippies, functionaries who turn out to have deeper motivations, an attractive set of exotic siblings who practice satanic sex rituals, kidnapping, a few murders, a mysterious local and his dog Twinkle.

Readable, not this author's best effort.

[Lila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Motivation? Who cares? This is a romp as young archeologist Zeugam finds nothing is as it first appears and her schooling gives her some advantages but also poor social class assumptions. Browne's Urn Burial is featured as chapter headings following what appears to be a trend among mystery writers. See for example Kerry Greenwood's similarly titled book.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

So not his best--dated(how many "fat girl" jokes can you fit in one book?)--and yet, of course, readable.

[Windy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best work. Convoluted plot and grating humour. So pleased he improved after this because he was one of my favourite authors.

[Brian Carney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely terrible.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful!