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April 21st, 2008 Jon - Central Library

I’ve stuck with Dalziel and Pascoe because of Dalziel.  Pascoe I could take or leave.  But Dalziel is one of those characters that lives and breathes beyond the boundaries of the pages they inhabit.  Reginald Hill skillfully drops in details that make you wonder what he’s really like.  We’re told that his diet isn’t working.  We’re subtly reminded that he was married, once, a long, long time ago.  There he is scratching himself again.  And, when the other characters grumble about him behind his back, it has the effect of making him appear more humane and less the bully he sometimes seems to be.

So it’s sad that Dalziel takes a backseat in A Pinch of Snuff, the pair’s fifth adventure.  If you haven’t read the other novels, that’s OK.  This one would be a good place to start. Focusing on a murder in a pornographic theater, it’s lewd, but, not too lewd.  Besides investigating the case, we see a lot of Pascoe arguing with his wife.  All the while Dalziel is neither here nor there, but still managing to boss Pascoe around in one way or another.  Also in the mix is Sergeant Wield, who’s described early on as startlingly ugly.

It’s a lot of fun.  Like Hill’s other novels, events move swiftly toward their far-from-inevitable conclusion.  Also recommended for Anglophiles.

Entry Filed under: Mystery