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Dalziel & Pascoe #11
Bones And Silence
Winner of the Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year...'Reginald Hill is on stunning form...the climax is devastating' Marcel Berlins, The Times When Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel witnesses a bizarre murder across the street from his own back garden, he is quite sure he knows who the culprit is. After all, he's seen him with his own eyes. But what exactly does he see? And is he mistaken? Peter Pascoe certainly thinks so. To make matters worse, he's being pestered by an anonymous letter-writer who is planning suicide and has chosen to confide in Dalziel. The local Mystery Plays should provide a welcome distraction as Dalziel's been cast as God. Unfortunately, the other lead is a local builder who also happens to be the chief suspect in some recent disappearances that might actually be murders...
528 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
470 people are currently reading
1047 people want to read
About the author
Reginald Hill
154 books503 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 129 reviews
July 15, 2017
I really enjoy the audiobooks of the Dalziel and Pasco series that are read by Brian Glover. Great accent, although it's occasionally hard to decipher, but the voices are great.
Dalziel witnesses the murder of a woman. Problem is that his story doesn't match those of others present in the room. As one would expect, his badgering and harassment soon reveals a host of nefarious activities.There's a side plot, the outcome of which I found a bit bizarre and unsatisfying. A woman has written to Dalziel that she intends to commit suicide and there i an underlying challenge for him to find her. He dismisses, it and it remains for Pasco, at the very end of the book to discover the woman's identity. In the meantime, Dalziel has been cast as God (!) in a local play.
Several readers have complained the book is not one of Hill's best and that the book drags. The beauty of the series is in the language, ribaldry, and the characters and their interactions.
Dalziel witnesses the murder of a woman. Problem is that his story doesn't match those of others present in the room. As one would expect, his badgering and harassment soon reveals a host of nefarious activities.There's a side plot, the outcome of which I found a bit bizarre and unsatisfying. A woman has written to Dalziel that she intends to commit suicide and there i an underlying challenge for him to find her. He dismisses, it and it remains for Pasco, at the very end of the book to discover the woman's identity. In the meantime, Dalziel has been cast as God (!) in a local play.
Several readers have complained the book is not one of Hill's best and that the book drags. The beauty of the series is in the language, ribaldry, and the characters and their interactions.
September 24, 2022
Accidents, Suicides or Murders?
Review of the Grafton Books paperback edition (1991) of the Collins Crime Club hardcover original (1990)
Yorkshire CID Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel (pronounced "dee-ELL") and assistants Detective Inspector Peter Pascoe and Detective Sergeant Wield are caught up in an elaborate series of apparent accidents, suicides and disappearances which are either an extended series of coincidences or the result of masterful nefarious planning.
Dalziel himself is an indirect witness to one of the "suicides," but the two other surviving witnesses provide statements which contradict not only him but each other. Someone is lying or could the corpulent Superintendent actually be wrong? Even the normally loyal Pascoe and Wield begin to have their doubts. But then the bodies continue to pile up and an evasive character seems to be the manipulator behind the scenes. How will they find any evidence to prove it?
Dalziel as usual is in fine form ranting and raging against the inefficiency of others:
The side-plots involve the staging of a cycle of Mystery Plays as organized and directed by the controversial local theatre personality Eileen Chung who plans to rope Dalziel himself into the production in the role of God with the aid of her friend Ellie Pascoe and her somewhat unwilling husband. And there is a series of anonymous notes appearing on the Superintendent's desk which promise yet another suicide, unless the secret identity of Dalziel's 'Dark Lady' can be unveiled in time. The climactic scene is a completely unexpected shocker.
This was again one of the best of the Dalziel & Pascoe series that I've read in my current 2022 re-read mini-binge (I don't own all of them) due to the extensive characterizations that author Hill develops throughout and the constant entertainment of Dalziel's outrageous statements and sometime off the wall deductions.
Cover image of the original Collins Crime Club hardcover edition (1990). Image sourced from Wikipedia.
I re-read Bones and Silence 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
Bones and Silence was adapted for television in 1998 as Episode 3 of Series 3 of the long running TV series of Dalziel and Pascoe (1996-2007). The entire episode is posted on YouTube here, but it is formatted in a way that makes it hard to watch.
Review of the Grafton Books paperback edition (1991) of the Collins Crime Club hardcover original (1990)
We are only lightly covered with buttoned cloth; and beneath these pavements are shells, bones and silence. - excerpt from Virginia Woolf's The Waves used as part of the epigraph for Bones and Silence.
Yorkshire CID Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel (pronounced "dee-ELL") and assistants Detective Inspector Peter Pascoe and Detective Sergeant Wield are caught up in an elaborate series of apparent accidents, suicides and disappearances which are either an extended series of coincidences or the result of masterful nefarious planning.
Dalziel himself is an indirect witness to one of the "suicides," but the two other surviving witnesses provide statements which contradict not only him but each other. Someone is lying or could the corpulent Superintendent actually be wrong? Even the normally loyal Pascoe and Wield begin to have their doubts. But then the bodies continue to pile up and an evasive character seems to be the manipulator behind the scenes. How will they find any evidence to prove it?
Dalziel as usual is in fine form ranting and raging against the inefficiency of others:
'Because it's worth it to me,' grunted Dalziel. 'One, I'll break my own promises, not wait till someone give me permission. And two, I want to know. He might be a useless specimen but he's from my patch, and he went south to work, not to die, it that's what happened to him. I wouldn't put it past them cockneys. 'Here' a dead 'un, not one of ours, another bloody northener, when's the next load of rubbish going out to the tip?' It's time they knew they've got me to answer to!'
This was the nearest thing to a radical political statement Pascoe had ever heard from the Superintendent. It wasn't going to usher in the Socialist Millennium, but shouted loud enough, it might cause a little unease in Thatcherland.
The side-plots involve the staging of a cycle of Mystery Plays as organized and directed by the controversial local theatre personality Eileen Chung who plans to rope Dalziel himself into the production in the role of God with the aid of her friend Ellie Pascoe and her somewhat unwilling husband. And there is a series of anonymous notes appearing on the Superintendent's desk which promise yet another suicide, unless the secret identity of Dalziel's 'Dark Lady' can be unveiled in time. The climactic scene is a completely unexpected shocker.
This was again one of the best of the Dalziel & Pascoe series that I've read in my current 2022 re-read mini-binge (I don't own all of them) due to the extensive characterizations that author Hill develops throughout and the constant entertainment of Dalziel's outrageous statements and sometime off the wall deductions.
Cover image of the original Collins Crime Club hardcover edition (1990). Image sourced from Wikipedia.
I re-read Bones and Silence 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
Bones and Silence was adapted for television in 1998 as Episode 3 of Series 3 of the long running TV series of Dalziel and Pascoe (1996-2007). The entire episode is posted on YouTube here, but it is formatted in a way that makes it hard to watch.
September 6, 2021
Playing God…
When Dalziel looks out of his window at the house opposite, he sees two men, one woman and a gun. He rushes over but by the time he gets there the woman is dead and the two men are adamant that she shot herself despite their attempts to prevent her. Dalziel doesn’t believe it – he saw the gun in the hand of one of the men. However when Pascoe arrives he’s less convinced – Dalziel has been drinking and how reliable is his evidence? Meantime, preparations are underway for a community performance of The York Mystery Plays, and the artistic director Eileen Chung thinks that Dalziel will be perfect to play the part of God. For the Devil, she wants to cast local builder Philip Swain – the widower of the dead woman and the man Dalziel claims was holding the gun…
For me, this is one of the very best in this great series not so much because of the murder plot, but because of the two side plots. Eileen Chung is a wonderful character, like Andy himself larger than life, glowing with self-confidence, and able to manipulate those around her to do as she wants. She is the focus of the lustful thoughts of most of the men she meets, and knows it, but women are also drawn to her by her kindness. Those in trouble especially seem to find a kind of strength simply from being in her company. Andy and she are like the two greatest gladiators in the arena, battling for supremacy, and it’s not at all clear who will win. Andy agrees to play God but Chung is going to discover that God has his own ideas about how his role should be performed!
The other side plot concerns anonymous letters Dalziel is receiving, probably from a woman, who tells him she plans to kill herself. She doesn’t want him to do anything about it – in fact she’s relying on him not to. She simply feels she wants to tell someone of her intention, and has picked on him as a kind of confessor because she believes his brashness means he won’t feel any responsibility when she dies. And Andy is indeed brash and believes that people are responsible for their own actions. But he passes the letters on to Pascoe, and Pascoe cares, perhaps too much. So while he is investigating the death of Gail Swain, Pascoe is also keeping an eye out for any woman who seems as if she may be at the end of her tether.
The three major characters are all given great parts in this ensemble piece – Dalziel, Pascoe and Wieldy, who by this point has become as essential to the series as the other two. Ellie, after her last outing when she really had taken her feminist stridency too far, to the point where it was endangering her relationship with Peter, has dialled back a bit for this one, becoming again the feisty but good-natured Ellie of old. But there are also lots of very well-drawn secondary characters in this one – Chung, of course, but also dried-up but still lustful Canon Horncastle, whose permission Chung needs to use the Cathedral grounds for her play, and his downtrodden wife, whom Chung quietly sets out to rescue. Philip Swain is one of Hill’s ambiguous possible villains/possible victims, and his secretary, Shirley Appleyard, defies her stolid appearance by having a razor-sharp mind, a tongue to match, and a predilection for discussing classic literature with Peter.
This one also has one of the most memorable climaxes of the whole series. The first time I read it I was shocked to my socks, and still find it intensely affecting even after multiple re-reads. I’m not sure that Hill wholly convinces me psychologically, but dramatically and literarily it’s superb. Is that intriguing enough for you to want to read it? I hope so! Although these books do all work better if you’ve read some of the earlier ones and become emotionally attached to the regulars, most of them work very well as standalones too, and this one does, I think. Hill is at the height of his powers by this point of the series, able to juggle humour, drama, pathos and tragedy seamlessly to give a full-colour panoramic view of his characters and the society they inhabit. As always, highly recommended!
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When Dalziel looks out of his window at the house opposite, he sees two men, one woman and a gun. He rushes over but by the time he gets there the woman is dead and the two men are adamant that she shot herself despite their attempts to prevent her. Dalziel doesn’t believe it – he saw the gun in the hand of one of the men. However when Pascoe arrives he’s less convinced – Dalziel has been drinking and how reliable is his evidence? Meantime, preparations are underway for a community performance of The York Mystery Plays, and the artistic director Eileen Chung thinks that Dalziel will be perfect to play the part of God. For the Devil, she wants to cast local builder Philip Swain – the widower of the dead woman and the man Dalziel claims was holding the gun…
For me, this is one of the very best in this great series not so much because of the murder plot, but because of the two side plots. Eileen Chung is a wonderful character, like Andy himself larger than life, glowing with self-confidence, and able to manipulate those around her to do as she wants. She is the focus of the lustful thoughts of most of the men she meets, and knows it, but women are also drawn to her by her kindness. Those in trouble especially seem to find a kind of strength simply from being in her company. Andy and she are like the two greatest gladiators in the arena, battling for supremacy, and it’s not at all clear who will win. Andy agrees to play God but Chung is going to discover that God has his own ideas about how his role should be performed!
The other side plot concerns anonymous letters Dalziel is receiving, probably from a woman, who tells him she plans to kill herself. She doesn’t want him to do anything about it – in fact she’s relying on him not to. She simply feels she wants to tell someone of her intention, and has picked on him as a kind of confessor because she believes his brashness means he won’t feel any responsibility when she dies. And Andy is indeed brash and believes that people are responsible for their own actions. But he passes the letters on to Pascoe, and Pascoe cares, perhaps too much. So while he is investigating the death of Gail Swain, Pascoe is also keeping an eye out for any woman who seems as if she may be at the end of her tether.
The three major characters are all given great parts in this ensemble piece – Dalziel, Pascoe and Wieldy, who by this point has become as essential to the series as the other two. Ellie, after her last outing when she really had taken her feminist stridency too far, to the point where it was endangering her relationship with Peter, has dialled back a bit for this one, becoming again the feisty but good-natured Ellie of old. But there are also lots of very well-drawn secondary characters in this one – Chung, of course, but also dried-up but still lustful Canon Horncastle, whose permission Chung needs to use the Cathedral grounds for her play, and his downtrodden wife, whom Chung quietly sets out to rescue. Philip Swain is one of Hill’s ambiguous possible villains/possible victims, and his secretary, Shirley Appleyard, defies her stolid appearance by having a razor-sharp mind, a tongue to match, and a predilection for discussing classic literature with Peter.
This one also has one of the most memorable climaxes of the whole series. The first time I read it I was shocked to my socks, and still find it intensely affecting even after multiple re-reads. I’m not sure that Hill wholly convinces me psychologically, but dramatically and literarily it’s superb. Is that intriguing enough for you to want to read it? I hope so! Although these books do all work better if you’ve read some of the earlier ones and become emotionally attached to the regulars, most of them work very well as standalones too, and this one does, I think. Hill is at the height of his powers by this point of the series, able to juggle humour, drama, pathos and tragedy seamlessly to give a full-colour panoramic view of his characters and the society they inhabit. As always, highly recommended!
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
December 24, 2017
Classic Dalziel & Pascoe, and a Golden Dagger-winning one into the bargain. It is, unsurprisingly, Hill at the peak of his powers, weaving a beautifully-crafted story around some suspicious deaths, a reconstruction of a medieval pageant and an anonymous letter-writer threatening suicide. As always with Hill, the writing is a delight, with nods and references to all manner of diverse sources _ more than any modern-day crime writer, his works are not so much written as crafted. Beautiful stuff.
July 21, 2017
I simply adore this series, it takes a true writer to pen an entire collection where each book has a different feel and yet stays absolutely committed to the chief protagonists: Dalziel. Pascoe, Wield and Ellie whilst coming up with different types of scenarios as a stage for them to play on.
The stage in Bones and Silence is a literal one with the talented, determined and beautiful Eileen Cheung putting on a community medieval play The Mystery which is planned for the May Bank Holiday weekend. Her aim is to cast Dalziel to play God, riding atop a truck through the town – sheer brilliance!
Of course it isn’t all play-acting as the book opens with Dalziel witnessing something, but what did he really see through his window? The end result is a woman is dead and Dalziel is convinced that he saw two men, a woman and a revolver. In the time it takes for Dalziel to sprint to the house, the woman is dead and her lover and her husband both insist that she shot herself. Dalziel doesn’t believe a word of it!
Meanwhile Petr Pascoe who is still recovering from serious injuries inflicted during the previous book takes a more circumspect view and is somewhat less than convinced of Dalziel’s certainty.
Of course one potential murder and a play is not enough for Reginald Hill so we have some sub-plots to involve ourselves in, including some cryptic letters written anonymously to Dalziel which Pascoe investigates. All of this gives the reader many opportunities to witness the acerbic wit of Dalziel, the more introspective Pascoe and I’m glad to say Wield gets a decent part to play in this book. And of course inbetween the police action Eileen Cheung is cracking her whip with rehearsals and cutting through Dalziel’s expected reticence to knuckling down to put on a play that the entire community of Yorkshiremen and women can enjoy.
Ellie is a little less bolshie in this book following a serious lack of judgement that put others in danger in the previous episode but fortunately this being book eleven, I know she gets her spark back later on in the series. One of the great delights of this book is that although Reginald Hill has created some wonderful characters he allows different aspects of their nature to ebb and flow. We think of Dalziel as being charmless and dogmatic but at times he is capable of great empathy which turns him from a caricature into a fully rounded man, each of the other main protagonists are given the same treatment. This top-notch characterisation along with the, just the right side of genius in solving the crime in Bones and Silence, just served to underline what an absolute treat these books are.
If you haven’t read this book, and personally I think each book can be read as a standalone although to fully appreciate the depth they definitely work better once you’ve read more than one, have a hanky ready for the ending – I will say no more.
The stage in Bones and Silence is a literal one with the talented, determined and beautiful Eileen Cheung putting on a community medieval play The Mystery which is planned for the May Bank Holiday weekend. Her aim is to cast Dalziel to play God, riding atop a truck through the town – sheer brilliance!
Of course it isn’t all play-acting as the book opens with Dalziel witnessing something, but what did he really see through his window? The end result is a woman is dead and Dalziel is convinced that he saw two men, a woman and a revolver. In the time it takes for Dalziel to sprint to the house, the woman is dead and her lover and her husband both insist that she shot herself. Dalziel doesn’t believe a word of it!
Meanwhile Petr Pascoe who is still recovering from serious injuries inflicted during the previous book takes a more circumspect view and is somewhat less than convinced of Dalziel’s certainty.
Of course one potential murder and a play is not enough for Reginald Hill so we have some sub-plots to involve ourselves in, including some cryptic letters written anonymously to Dalziel which Pascoe investigates. All of this gives the reader many opportunities to witness the acerbic wit of Dalziel, the more introspective Pascoe and I’m glad to say Wield gets a decent part to play in this book. And of course inbetween the police action Eileen Cheung is cracking her whip with rehearsals and cutting through Dalziel’s expected reticence to knuckling down to put on a play that the entire community of Yorkshiremen and women can enjoy.
Ellie is a little less bolshie in this book following a serious lack of judgement that put others in danger in the previous episode but fortunately this being book eleven, I know she gets her spark back later on in the series. One of the great delights of this book is that although Reginald Hill has created some wonderful characters he allows different aspects of their nature to ebb and flow. We think of Dalziel as being charmless and dogmatic but at times he is capable of great empathy which turns him from a caricature into a fully rounded man, each of the other main protagonists are given the same treatment. This top-notch characterisation along with the, just the right side of genius in solving the crime in Bones and Silence, just served to underline what an absolute treat these books are.
If you haven’t read this book, and personally I think each book can be read as a standalone although to fully appreciate the depth they definitely work better once you’ve read more than one, have a hanky ready for the ending – I will say no more.
July 1, 2020
Maybe even 4.5*... I liked the way the main plot was interwoven with the secondary mystery of the 'Dark Lady'. I was certain that I had spotted who the Dark Lady was but in the end was shown to be wrong (though my guess wasn't a bad one).
I loved the writing in this book and may end up reading this whole series. The one major obstacle to my deciding to do that is that I find Dalziel so very unappealing. It isn't just his vulgarity but also his rotten behaviour to his colleagues and sometimes questionable methods. I have watched the TV adaptation and Dalziel is even worse in the book! However, the team of crass DSI Dalziel, college-educated DI Peter Pascoe & gay DS Wield makes for an interesting cross-section.
One small detail - I was surprised by how tall Eileen Chung was (75 inches = 6'3"), especially as her mother was Malaysian and Asian women averaged a height of ~5' even into the 1990s. It was mentioned a few times during the book and each time I was startled.
I loved the writing in this book and may end up reading this whole series. The one major obstacle to my deciding to do that is that I find Dalziel so very unappealing. It isn't just his vulgarity but also his rotten behaviour to his colleagues and sometimes questionable methods. I have watched the TV adaptation and Dalziel is even worse in the book! However, the team of crass DSI Dalziel, college-educated DI Peter Pascoe & gay DS Wield makes for an interesting cross-section.
One small detail - I was surprised by how tall Eileen Chung was (75 inches = 6'3"), especially as her mother was Malaysian and Asian women averaged a height of ~5' even into the 1990s. It was mentioned a few times during the book and each time I was startled.
February 28, 2017
Dammit, Reg, you just wasted one of the more interesting recurring characters in your series. My head was spinning from the changes of direction in whodunnit&why, but the result of the letters Dalziel was getting, and from whom, absolutely shocked me. Character development just keeps getting deeper & wider - I love this series.
August 15, 2012
I'm sad to say this is the first Dalziel and Pascoe mystery that I didn't love. The main mystery was okay (the twists were good though it was a little annoying that only Dalziel was sufficiently suspicious of Swain) but the subplot was where I felt totally let down. It was just too unbelievable. I mean, I get that depression and suicidal intent can come as a surprise to friends and family, but
December 27, 2017
‘Bones and Silence’ by Reginald Hill is a thoroughly engrossing work that involves his famous police characters, Dalziel and Pascoe. These two individuals, as with all the other characters in this work, are well drawn. Hill’s ability to create nuanced characters along with his excellent use of English and his ability as a researcher, make for a rich work. The writer is a man of ideas and has a way more than average ability to weave a dense tapestry of intrigue.
Anyone not coming from a background of English culture, especially those without a knowledge of of the medieval mystery plays and their contribution to the lives of Christian worshippers through the Ages, and the plays’ seminal input into the enactment of biblical scenes as a form of teaching and worship, might find themselves somewhat lost when it comes to some of the novel’s settings and references. I advice those keen to read the novel to spend time in at least brief research of the Miracle and Mystery plays.
As mentioned earlier, the writers’ language skills are excellent. His ability to conjure place, mood and emotion are excellent. The work does suffer somewhat from being overly verbose. A careful pruning of the novel to about eighty percent of its length would have made for a tighter read. Having said this, the novel does come highly recommended.
Anyone not coming from a background of English culture, especially those without a knowledge of of the medieval mystery plays and their contribution to the lives of Christian worshippers through the Ages, and the plays’ seminal input into the enactment of biblical scenes as a form of teaching and worship, might find themselves somewhat lost when it comes to some of the novel’s settings and references. I advice those keen to read the novel to spend time in at least brief research of the Miracle and Mystery plays.
As mentioned earlier, the writers’ language skills are excellent. His ability to conjure place, mood and emotion are excellent. The work does suffer somewhat from being overly verbose. A careful pruning of the novel to about eighty percent of its length would have made for a tighter read. Having said this, the novel does come highly recommended.
August 19, 2025
Yorkshire Police Superintendent Andy Dalziel sees a murder take place through the kitchen window in the house behind his. He races over to the house to discover that a woman named Gail Swain is dead and her husband, Philip Swain and her lover, Greg Waterson are by her side. They both attest that Gail suffered from depression. They maintain that it was a tragic suicide and that she shot herself in spite of their best efforts to stop her. Andy, though, is certain that it is a murder. Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe questions his boss's account as Andy was drunk at the time. The coroner declares the case to be suicide. Meanwhile, amidst the turmoil of the case, he receives anonymous cryptic letters from an unknown woman, threatening to take her own life. Andy assigns the task of identifying the mysterious letter writer to Pascoe. Dalziel has been cast as God in a local drama called The Mystery Plays which is scheduled for the weekend of May Bank Holiday. Ironically, Philip Swain will portray the devil. The primary plot is interesting, but it moves slowly. The narrative is weighed down by the excessive number of secondary subplots that run alongside the main storyline. Nevertheless, the writing shines through and is first-rate. IMPERFECT EXECUTION.
July 31, 2017
I had forgotten how seriously entertaining this series is.
The intelligent writing juxtaposed against Dalziel's outrageousness is worth reading the book for before you even include the curiosities of the current case.
In this episode Dalziel witnesses a murder through his back window immediately after throwing up in a bucket in his kitchen. He nabs the perpetrator and brings him in, but the builder (who is incidentally doing work at the station) manages to wriggle out of charges with the aid of a canny lawyer. Did the DS see what he thought he saw?
Peter Pascoe doubts his boss. Amusingly, Pascoe, who has always held opposing values to the big man, is starting to exhibit shades of Dalziel's characteristic.
Add to the mix the community involvement in the Mystery Plays and the stage is set for unremitting mayhem with many twists and turns along the way.
The tension builds to a brilliant, unforgettable ending.
The intelligent writing juxtaposed against Dalziel's outrageousness is worth reading the book for before you even include the curiosities of the current case.
In this episode Dalziel witnesses a murder through his back window immediately after throwing up in a bucket in his kitchen. He nabs the perpetrator and brings him in, but the builder (who is incidentally doing work at the station) manages to wriggle out of charges with the aid of a canny lawyer. Did the DS see what he thought he saw?
Peter Pascoe doubts his boss. Amusingly, Pascoe, who has always held opposing values to the big man, is starting to exhibit shades of Dalziel's characteristic.
Add to the mix the community involvement in the Mystery Plays and the stage is set for unremitting mayhem with many twists and turns along the way.
The tension builds to a brilliant, unforgettable ending.
April 2, 2022
An engaging, sometimes humorous crime fiction novel. Mid Yorkshire detectives Andy Dalziel and Peter Pascoe are investigating a number of lines of enquiry. Dalziel believes he witnessed a murder but his team think it was a suicide. Dalziel is also receiving anonymous letters from a woman who threatens to kill herself. A police officer is mugged. Dalziel is to play God in a revival of the Yorkshire Medieval Mystery plays.
Dalziel and Pascoe and very different personalities. Dalziel reflects old Yorkshire, being solid, stubborn, blunt and practical. Pascoe is college educated, has a reserved sensitivity, representing a modern version of police in the community and having a more liberal stance than Dalziel.
I particularly enjoyed the the second half of the novel where the action really picks up!
This book won the 1990 Gold Dagger Award and is the 11th book in the Dalziel and Pascoe series.
Dalziel and Pascoe and very different personalities. Dalziel reflects old Yorkshire, being solid, stubborn, blunt and practical. Pascoe is college educated, has a reserved sensitivity, representing a modern version of police in the community and having a more liberal stance than Dalziel.
I particularly enjoyed the the second half of the novel where the action really picks up!
This book won the 1990 Gold Dagger Award and is the 11th book in the Dalziel and Pascoe series.
February 3, 2016
First time reading a book in this series. Quite impressed. Erudite literary style and wit combined with a dark, character-driven police procedural. The setting is a staging of the York "mystery plays", a medieval genre of religious drama. The religious symbolism adds depth to the story, as characters unwittingly act out in real life the roles they are assigned by the play's charismatic director, the dazzling Ms. Chung. I liked that the author depicted a plus-size woman as sexually alluring, though I did find the Orientalist, exoticizing descriptions of Chung to be a bit much. Dalziel's politically incorrect jokes also made me wince after awhile. On the positive side, it was refreshing to find a non-stereotypical gay cop on the force, especially in a novel from 1990, when queer characters were usually invisible or negatively depicted in mainstream genre fiction.
September 27, 2014
Another good book in the Dalziel and Pascoe series. This wasn't the best one I've read as the plot seemed to take a long time to get going and I felt it could have been edited a bit better. Having said that there were good classic one liners that made me chuckle and as ever the characters in the novel are fascinating and life like.
The basic plot is that Dalziel after a heavy night of drinking witnesses a young women being shot and there are 2 possible suspects in the room. This incident is a big part of other events which gradually come to light.
If you like Dalziel and Pascoe then read this but be warned this is a slow burner. I certainly enjoyed it and was rapidly turning pages by the end!
The basic plot is that Dalziel after a heavy night of drinking witnesses a young women being shot and there are 2 possible suspects in the room. This incident is a big part of other events which gradually come to light.
If you like Dalziel and Pascoe then read this but be warned this is a slow burner. I certainly enjoyed it and was rapidly turning pages by the end!
August 28, 2013
Solid entry in the series, however nothing special. Dalziel runs into a room where a suicide/murder has occurred and complications (more murders) set in. There's also a letter writer sending suicide threats/'stop me' notes to the Fat Man and this aspect of the novel could have been better as it felt tacked-on to get the word count up to me.
All-in-all worth your time if like this series, skip-able if you are not reading them all.
All-in-all worth your time if like this series, skip-able if you are not reading them all.
July 25, 2007
Dalziel is asked to play God; he does not think it's a stetch. Dalziel, Pascoe and Wield are the pinnacle of British police fiction.
March 25, 2008
Another fabulous Pascoe/Dalziel. Love the idea of Dalziel playing God!!
August 3, 2009
The characters in this book are very well drawn. Conversations and narrative complex. I would like to read more of this author.
April 28, 2012
Another tremendous novel featuring Pascoe and Dalziel; as ever when reading Reginald Hill's work there is tremendous social comment subtly woven into a cracking tale.
March 18, 2018
I loved the way that the second mystery snuck up on me in this one - though its outcome was very sad.
September 25, 2018
This is a very well written book. The story is fine and the characters are outstanding. It's just typical of contemporary novels to be waaaaaay over written. Certainly the case here. A series of novels could have been assembled from this one. As I finished the book it was obvious how a good editor could have cut out large parts of this book and created an even better written and a really great story. Instead this is a long way to go to get to the end. Basically, about 150 pages of the middle could be skipped and the novel would read as well with more satisfaction.
It is fun to read all the quirky this and thats of the characters and setting. It's just not needed. The writing is so good, it is worth the hundreds of pages for that. The ending was a bit obvious to me from early on, which made this book even harder to get through. Hill could have swung a few more curves.
I won't mark down my rating of the book due to length, since it is being done by everyone. Though, I would recommend Edmund Crispin to read for a keen mystery before Hill.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 7 out of 10.
It is fun to read all the quirky this and thats of the characters and setting. It's just not needed. The writing is so good, it is worth the hundreds of pages for that. The ending was a bit obvious to me from early on, which made this book even harder to get through. Hill could have swung a few more curves.
I won't mark down my rating of the book due to length, since it is being done by everyone. Though, I would recommend Edmund Crispin to read for a keen mystery before Hill.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 7 out of 10.
October 28, 2009
While I enjoyed the first of the Dalziel and Pascoe mysteries, A Clubbable Woman, I thought this one was better. Hill has fleshed out the personalities of his two lead sleuths. I found myself not particularly liking Dalziel in the first book - his unreconstructed blokishness was just a bit much. In Bones and Silence, Dalziel is still the same crude, hard-drinking policeman who's not above a little bending the rules to catch a guilty man, but he has a sympathetic side. Pascoe has been fleshed out as well.
Hill has also really brought his unnamed Northern town setting to life. I have very little experience of Northern English towns, so I can't really speak to the accuracy of it, but the place is crammed with the kind of odd details and quirky minor characters that certainly suggest verisimilitude.
There are two major mysteries to be solved in Bones and Silence. First, Andy Dalziel looks out of his kitchen window one night to see a man and a woman struggling with a gun in an adjacent house. A shot is fired, and he arrives to find the woman dead, and her husband holding the gun. Dalziel thinks it's murder, but the husband claims that his wife was attempting to kill herself, and that the gun went off as he tried to take it from her. It looks like a verdict of suicide is going to prevail, unless Dalziel and Pascoe can unearth more evidence.
The second plot involves a series of letters sent to Dalziel by an anonymous writer who says she's decided to kill herself at a specified date in the future. Pascoe sets out to find out who she is before it's too late.
There's a side plot involving the efforts of a local community theater director to put on a staging of medieval mystery plays, with local people playing all the parts. Hilarity ensues when she casts Dalziel as God, and his murder suspect as Satan.
The resolution of the murder plot for me falls just on the right side of the line between "satisfyingly improbable" and "totally outlandish". Somewhat more skeptical readers might have a problem. I wasn't completely happy with the resolution of the suicide letter plot - it's plausible, but perhaps I just didn't want that particular character to be so deeply unhappy.
Definitely worth a look if you want a literate, twisty, mystery with lots of local color.
Hill has also really brought his unnamed Northern town setting to life. I have very little experience of Northern English towns, so I can't really speak to the accuracy of it, but the place is crammed with the kind of odd details and quirky minor characters that certainly suggest verisimilitude.
There are two major mysteries to be solved in Bones and Silence. First, Andy Dalziel looks out of his kitchen window one night to see a man and a woman struggling with a gun in an adjacent house. A shot is fired, and he arrives to find the woman dead, and her husband holding the gun. Dalziel thinks it's murder, but the husband claims that his wife was attempting to kill herself, and that the gun went off as he tried to take it from her. It looks like a verdict of suicide is going to prevail, unless Dalziel and Pascoe can unearth more evidence.
The second plot involves a series of letters sent to Dalziel by an anonymous writer who says she's decided to kill herself at a specified date in the future. Pascoe sets out to find out who she is before it's too late.
There's a side plot involving the efforts of a local community theater director to put on a staging of medieval mystery plays, with local people playing all the parts. Hilarity ensues when she casts Dalziel as God, and his murder suspect as Satan.
The resolution of the murder plot for me falls just on the right side of the line between "satisfyingly improbable" and "totally outlandish". Somewhat more skeptical readers might have a problem. I wasn't completely happy with the resolution of the suicide letter plot - it's plausible, but perhaps I just didn't want that particular character to be so deeply unhappy.
Definitely worth a look if you want a literate, twisty, mystery with lots of local color.
January 30, 2009
"Bones and Silence" is one of the many Dalziel/Pascoe mysteries by Reginald Hill that I have read although the first I have discussed on goodreads. It is typical of the series--the two main characters are police officers in mid-Yorkshire. Andy Dalziel is the fat, pugnacious and extremely effective senior officer--he is steadily promoted in the course of the series while Peter Pascoe is his more educated, less impulsive but still effective alter ego who is always a couple of pay grades junior to Daziel. The crime is, of course, murder. In this case Dalziel has witnessed either a cold blooded murder or a suicide that has almost been averted. The victim is an unstable women and the two men with her when she died, shot in the head at very close range, are her husband and the man with whom she is currently committing adultery, something she is very good at. There are good reasons to assume she killed herself and other reasons, perhaps not quite as convincing, that her husband killed her. When the arrest and interrogation of her husband leads only to a claim of police harrassment by the husband's very able lawyer and the man who has been cuckolding disappears, the case is stalled and the inquest will probably bring a finding of death by suicide.
While Hill is an accomplished mystery writer he is even better as a social observer and commentator on the human foibles of his protagonists and those around them. The story is told in a modified third person point of view sometimes told through the eyes and actions although not the words of Pascoe and other times from a "fly on the wall" viewpoint.
Hill is a master of his genre, a delightfully droll writer who enjoys wordplay and unexpected references classic or popular literature. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys well written mysteries, particulary ones set in England and especially fans of the two current queens, P. D. James and Ruth Rendell (long may both of them reign). Like both of them Hill excells in social and class commentary and takes a jaundiced, occasionally hopeful view of society during the turn of the 20th century.
While Hill is an accomplished mystery writer he is even better as a social observer and commentator on the human foibles of his protagonists and those around them. The story is told in a modified third person point of view sometimes told through the eyes and actions although not the words of Pascoe and other times from a "fly on the wall" viewpoint.
Hill is a master of his genre, a delightfully droll writer who enjoys wordplay and unexpected references classic or popular literature. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys well written mysteries, particulary ones set in England and especially fans of the two current queens, P. D. James and Ruth Rendell (long may both of them reign). Like both of them Hill excells in social and class commentary and takes a jaundiced, occasionally hopeful view of society during the turn of the 20th century.
May 23, 2008
If your chief superintendent witnesses what he believes to be a murder, but his account differs greatly from those of the "murderers", whom do you believe? Such is Pascoe's dilemma in this story. Dalziel witnesses a disturbance in the house behind his, runs to investigate, and sees what initially looks to be a suicide. The unstable and reckless Gail Swain has had her face blown off with a shotgun, while her husband and her lover fought to try to save her. Or did they? Dalziel is convinced that Gail's husband, Philip, murdered her, and sticks to that story even when both Philip's and the lover's accounts are radically different. Pascoe can't just take his super's word, but Dalziel is not a man who takes kindly to being told he's wrong.
Meanwhile, Dalziel is the lucky recipient of several anonymous letters from a woman (at least they think it's a woman) who is intent on killing herself. Dalziel cannot be bothered to take an interest in the case, though, leaving Pascoe to try to figure out who the writer is and if he/she can be saved.
As with a lot of Hill's work, this book is tied together with a work of literature. In this case, it is the Mediaeval Mysteries, quotes from which open each Part, and which runs through the story itself as a production put on by director Eileen Chung. Dalziel himself has been asked to play God (which could be considered typecasting, which has essentially been stated in many reviews of this book).
This book was brilliant. Hill is an excellent writer whose command of language I envy greatly. He has a good ear for dialogue as well, but his dialect-speaking characters don't become incomprehensible. The story is gripping, and the finale packs quite a punch. Highly recommended.
Meanwhile, Dalziel is the lucky recipient of several anonymous letters from a woman (at least they think it's a woman) who is intent on killing herself. Dalziel cannot be bothered to take an interest in the case, though, leaving Pascoe to try to figure out who the writer is and if he/she can be saved.
As with a lot of Hill's work, this book is tied together with a work of literature. In this case, it is the Mediaeval Mysteries, quotes from which open each Part, and which runs through the story itself as a production put on by director Eileen Chung. Dalziel himself has been asked to play God (which could be considered typecasting, which has essentially been stated in many reviews of this book).
This book was brilliant. Hill is an excellent writer whose command of language I envy greatly. He has a good ear for dialogue as well, but his dialect-speaking characters don't become incomprehensible. The story is gripping, and the finale packs quite a punch. Highly recommended.
April 10, 2022
Superintendent Andy Dalziel finds himself abusing a simple pail after a night of heavy drinking when he suddenly looks up from the matter of hand and sees a naked woman hanging out a window of a house behind his own. When she disappears from the window, he hears something and whatever it was, the policeman's instincts go into high gear.
The obnoxious, grossly overweight and drunk Dalziel charges into his neighbor's yard, through the door and sees a death. But is it what he believes?
Running through this book is that big question — was it murder or accident?
At the same time, Dalziel's long suffering fellow officer and partner Pete Pascoe is roped into helping get Dalziel to play, what else but God in the mysteries, a popular medieval play based on biblical stories. And the director Eileen Chung works her magic and the inspector does agree.
And thirdly, Dalziel also begins to receive anonymous notes from "the Dark Lady," who tells him that she has decided to kill herself. It falls to Pascoe to try to figure out who, whether it is real and why.
Reginald Hill has his work cut out for him with this story. It's strong, powerful and Dalziel is at his usual in this tale. But for once, I'm put out by Hill's main character. He's almost too obnoxious, too darn stubborn and sure of himself, and I found myself wishing for a main character more in line with Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache or Martha Grimes' Richard Jury.
Dalziel is convinced it was murder without more than his drunken witness to what happened. It's for others to look at the apparent evidence and try to see the reality. That's what makes the mystery exciting and interesting. This time, I didn't think the big man served well. Instead, Dalziel comes out looking like the loser.
The obnoxious, grossly overweight and drunk Dalziel charges into his neighbor's yard, through the door and sees a death. But is it what he believes?
Running through this book is that big question — was it murder or accident?
At the same time, Dalziel's long suffering fellow officer and partner Pete Pascoe is roped into helping get Dalziel to play, what else but God in the mysteries, a popular medieval play based on biblical stories. And the director Eileen Chung works her magic and the inspector does agree.
And thirdly, Dalziel also begins to receive anonymous notes from "the Dark Lady," who tells him that she has decided to kill herself. It falls to Pascoe to try to figure out who, whether it is real and why.
Reginald Hill has his work cut out for him with this story. It's strong, powerful and Dalziel is at his usual in this tale. But for once, I'm put out by Hill's main character. He's almost too obnoxious, too darn stubborn and sure of himself, and I found myself wishing for a main character more in line with Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache or Martha Grimes' Richard Jury.
Dalziel is convinced it was murder without more than his drunken witness to what happened. It's for others to look at the apparent evidence and try to see the reality. That's what makes the mystery exciting and interesting. This time, I didn't think the big man served well. Instead, Dalziel comes out looking like the loser.
January 24, 2012
I struggled with this book. Frankly, I found a lot of it rather dull. There's this huge section in the middle where Dalziel is convinced that someone has committed a crime but they can't find any evidence proving this. And they keep trying to find these clues...and they keep failing...and they look some more...and they still can't find anything... So needless to say, it got a little tedious. And I wasn't interested enough in the characters to enjoy the investigative process. It may not have helped that in my first time reading a book in this series I didn't start with the first one. Also it probably didn't help that I'm not that familiar with British slang/dialects or law and kept getting a little confused.
What pushed the book up to 3 stars was the writing, which was quite literary and had that dry British humour about it. The characters also felt very complex and believable. They just didn't pull me in for some reason. Also, I want to give Hill props for not following the typical mystery tropes.
What pushed the book up to 3 stars was the writing, which was quite literary and had that dry British humour about it. The characters also felt very complex and believable. They just didn't pull me in for some reason. Also, I want to give Hill props for not following the typical mystery tropes.
January 14, 2017
There are a lot of great English mystery writers around and Reginald Hill figures right at the top of my list. Through detective Dalziel, Hill creates not just a solver of crimes, but a sharp and acerbic instrument of satire...Dalziel is nasty to everyone, infinitely more so to the many sanctimonious types that just seem to have exploded in the age of social media...from the bleeding heart types who are waiting to rage with self-righteousness to more conventional members of the establishment hiding behind facades of respectability, Dalziels tongue and wit spare no one...in the process also solving crimes through an old fashioned nose for human motivations...an ability to see through jealousies, insecurities, greed and lust....
Hill never gives in to the need to sound either politically correct or sensitive...thats why his art seems raw and visceral and most importantly authentic.
On a side note, Warren Clarke is to Inspector Dalziel what Jeremy Brett was to Sherlock Holmes...I saw the TV series before I read the book, but was astonished to the degree of integrity with which Clarke was able to play the rugby loving inspector who does not mind picking his nose, scratching his crotch and letting some wind out - all in public view
Hill never gives in to the need to sound either politically correct or sensitive...thats why his art seems raw and visceral and most importantly authentic.
On a side note, Warren Clarke is to Inspector Dalziel what Jeremy Brett was to Sherlock Holmes...I saw the TV series before I read the book, but was astonished to the degree of integrity with which Clarke was able to play the rugby loving inspector who does not mind picking his nose, scratching his crotch and letting some wind out - all in public view
December 17, 2016
Chief Superintendent Dalziel witnesses the shooting death of a woman from his kitchen window; it appears to him that either the woman’s husband or lover killed her. But when questioned about the events, both men swear the woman killed herself and what Dalziel saw was each of them trying to get the gun away from her before it went off. When it turns out that the woman was a rich American and that the husband has serious financial problems, Dalziel’s suspicions ratchet up even higher, but he just can’t seem to get anybody to believe him…. I began reading Reginald Hill’s "Bones and Silence" immediately after finishing the previous book in the Dalziel and Pascoe series because of events in that book, which unfortunately weren’t really answered with this one. Never mind; it’s a rollicking story and there’s a marvelous sub-plot about a Mystery Play being performed in town with Dalziel serving as God Himself, which is quite a hoot. Recommended!
May 27, 2016
It's just too crowded with characters and subplots so that it takes too long to get going. Then, when it does, the stakes never seem all that high. There is a lot of time spent on a medieval "mystery play" as in God and Satan and all that, not murder mystery. At first I was resenting that, because I wanted a quick crime read not a lesson in the history of English theater, but then after a while it wasn't interrupting the already thin action so much and I got some pleasure out of suddenly being confronted with middle English poetry. I really like Dalziel, Pascoe and especially craggy, staid, gay sergeant Wield, but this title shook my faith in the series. Turns out Reginald Hill is capable of laying an egg.
May 30, 2012
At last I've finished this bumper book from the splendid writer, Reginald Hill. Hill has an amazing way with words and setting the scene. For the duration of the book I WAS there, mixed up in the murders and gore of that Yorkshire man and his police force.A convoluted story with many twists and turns and a couple of background stories running parallel to the main theme.There is no doubt who the culprit is - it is just seeing hoe Dalziel pieces it all together before he can really the murderer. Good stuff as ever.
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