| Title | : | Dialogues of the Dead (Dalziel Pascoe, #19) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0060528095 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780060528096 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 528 |
| Publication | : | First published April 2, 2001 |
| Awards | : | Barry Award Best British Crime Novel (2002) |
Dialogues of the Dead (Dalziel Pascoe, #19) Reviews
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Detective Constable Bowler, who, in a fit of paranomasia (wordplay, punning) has been nicknamed, "Hat," would like to date Ray (Raina) Pamona, the local reference librarian. She and her boss, Dee, have been assigned the onerous task of judging submissions to the local fiction story contest. Dee and Ray notice that two of the entries from the same writer bear striking resemblance to two recent unexplained deaths, and they wonder how the writer could have obtained such intimate details. They turn the stories over to Hat. Enter Superintendent Dalziel (pronounced "Dee-él" ) and DCI Pascoe. Dalziel is his usual fat, curmudgeonly self who mutters things like, " 'Don't want them blowflies from the media around till we know there's dead meat and it's not us,' " and " 'One thing you've got to say about George [another inspector], he's been real conscientious helping to break in his replacement. ' 'Thought we weren't getting a replacement, sir' [said Sergeant Wield]. 'That's what I mean,' " replied Dalziel. Andy Dalziel loves hiding his rapier-sharp mind behind crude talk and behavior, and he loves to deflate pompous egos, pretending to misunderstand their pedantries. When one expert adviser presents what he calls an "interesting" theory, Dalziel responds, "If you're waiting for a bus and a giraffe walks down the street, that's interesting. But it doesn't get you anywhere."
DCI Peter Pascoe remains the perfect foil. Well-educated and refined, he's conscientious to a fault and impeccably polite even if he does have a snit on about an ex-convict he thinks might be the killer.
The detectives are soon in the midst of numerous investigations, as the "Wordman" so-named embarks on a killing spree, tantalizing the public and police by sending literate descriptive passages describing how the murders were accomplished.
All of Hill's books revel in paranomania ( a clinical obsession with word games), but in this one he has outdone himself. Virtually every page has some kind of pun, and it turns out the murderer was using the beginning and ending word entries of volumes of the OED to define his/her (believe me, you'll thank me for not revealing the gender of the murderer) next victim.
Hill is so erudite it can take your breath away. The ending will astonish and surprise you. -
I have to say that this book really surprised me. Although I had my suspicions, the ending was really a shock. Someone is murdering people who are associated with the local library, the arts and even a local politician. The way they are killed varies as do the victims. The murderer announces his murders ahead of time by means of a short story contest being run by a local newspaper and being judged by members of the library. It soon becomes obvious that the dialogues being sent are inspired by an elaborate word game that some library employees have playing. A new member of the team, Ethelbert "Hat" Bowler is anxious to make a good impression. There is a leak in the department to the good looking and ambitious television presenter, Jax. The assumption is that it is "Hat" because they are friends and of similar ages. Hat is more than happy to prove himself but soon finds himself dazzled by Rye (short for Rainia) Pomona, one of the librarians. Things come to a head and the bad guy is found and punished. Maybe. This has to be one of the best ones in my opinion. The word play is amazing. Reginal Hill was an incredibly bright and well educated man.
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Managed to finish the hefty tome alright.
Is that making you doubtful about its readability? Let me assure you, this book was one of the most breathtaking murder-mysteries that I have read. It was simultaneously cozy and violent, brusque and lyrical. Most importantly, it was a police procedural as well as a strangely personal journey for the protagonists (and the antagonist).
Then, what took me so long to finish this book?
This book is one of the most erudite murder mysteries that I have ever read. Its nuanced prose is laden with dark humour that makes one cherish the read. The depiction of tension, be it political, societal or sexual, is simply magnificent. And the word-plays are absolutely brilliant. So, I took my time. Believe me, you can't imagine how good it was unless you have read the book!
Then why did I drop one star?
Because of the last chapter, which had literally stunned me. It not only gave everything that I had read until then a new interpretation, it made the story open-ended.
Such things work better in short stories, in my opinion. Novels, especially one so rich, deserves a proper closure.
But that's personal nitpicking. If you are yet to read this marvelous volume, please rectify the situation ASAP.
Recommended. -
A double review of two books in the Dalziel and Pascoe series that really have to be seen as Parts 1 and 2 of the same story. I’m posting this double review on both books.
Dialogues of the Dead (Dalziel and Pascoe 19)
5 stars
When an AA man dies after apparently falling from a bridge, it is assumed to be an accident. Then a young musician crashes his car into a tree and dies, again put down to accident. But at the local library, librarians Dick Dee and Rye Pomona are going through the massive pile of entries to a short story competition in the local paper when they come across anonymous stories that show another side to these deaths, and it appears they must have been written before the deaths were reported in the media. As Dalziel and Pascoe begin to investigate, there’s another death, then another, and it appears obvious the team have a serial killer on their hands. The killer is soon nicknamed the Wordman, since each death is accompanied by another short story. Meantime, new member of the team, “Hat” Bowler, is falling in love…
I had forgotten just how good this one is! It’s a wonderful blend of light and dark, and full of Hill’s trademark love of words and wordplay, which this time he puts at the centre of the story by filling the Wordman’s written “confessions” with literary “clues”, and by involving the librarians – Dick Dee especially loves to play word games. There’s a huge cast – essential, since so many of them will be bumped off and there need to be enough left as suspects. It’s mainly set among the self-styled great and good of the town, and Hill has excelled himself in creating characters who stay just the right side of caricature. Dalziel is on fine form, which means the book is full of humour, but Hill is expert at suddenly changing the mask from comedy to tragedy – the murders are dark enough, but the Wordman’s confessions take us deep into a troubled and damaged mind.
The denouement is tense and thrilling, and the solution shocks. And we’re left with the reader knowing more about what happened than Dalziel and Pascoe. They think that everything has finally been wrapped up, maybe not neatly, but securely. However…
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Death’s Jest-Book (Dalziel and Pascoe 20)
4 stars
It’s impossible to see this one as anything other than as Part Two of Dialogues of the Dead. Unlike many of the books in the series, this one does not stand on its own – anyone trying to read it without having read the one before would probably be completely lost, or at the very least feel as if important stuff had been left out. As a result, I’m not giving a little blurb, since almost anything I say about this one could spoil the last one. I’d also say to anyone who’s reading the series in order, make room to read these two one after the other – they’re both intricately plotted and having the details of the first one fresh in your mind helps when reading the second.
Oddly, although it is a sequel of sorts, this one doesn’t work nearly as well as the first, in my opinion. Hill had obviously become fascinated by the character of Franny Roote over the course of the series – a man who appeared in one of the early cases and reappears in several of the later ones, becoming a kind of nemesis for Peter Pascoe. In this one we get screeds of letters he writes to Pascoe which take up probably around a third of the book, and while they’re interesting, often amusing and, of course, well written, they slow the main plot down to a crawl. I’m afraid I never found Franny quite as entertaining as Hill clearly thought he was, although he provides an interesting study in psychology both of himself and of Pascoe’s reaction to him. I’m not sure the psychology is completely convincing, though.
The other aspect that weakens this one is very hard to discuss without spoilers, so forgive my vagueness. As I said above, at the end of Dialogues of the Dead, the reader knows more than the characters. This continues throughout Death's Jest-Book, which is basically the story of Dalziel and the team gradually realising that their knowledge is incomplete and trying to fill the gap. Hat’s love story continues too but, knowing what we know, we more or less know how that will work out. So all through we’re watching the characters learning about things the reader already knows. Of course it’s more complex than that makes it sound, and there’s still all the usual stuff that makes Hill so enjoyable – the writing, the language, the regular characters, secondary plots, moral dilemmas – but the pace is very slow, and plot-wise it doesn’t build the same level of tension. It’s good – just not as good as the first part of this story, and being a sequel of sorts it’s impossible to avoid making that comparison.
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In summary, then, together the two books form one massive story – both books individually are chunksters. Dialogues of the Dead is excellent and could be read separately as a standalone, although the reader is likely to feel that there are some loose ends. Death’s Jest-Book is good but with some structural weaknesses, and is very much a sequel or second part. It doesn’t work well as a standalone, and should be read soon after Dialogues of the Dead while the details are fresh. -
I loved this book. But then again, I love almost everything I've read by Reginald Hill. The mystery is convoluted and well contrived and though I understand why some readers may feel the ending is not quite fair, I found it both surprising and satisfying.
Hill is skilled at creating characters of considerable depth. And there are few more enjoyable than the outrageous, irascible and in the end always right "Fat Man" Andy Dalziel. The reappearance of Franny Roote, trailing clouds of Mr. Ripley, added another layer to the story and cast the usually buttoned down Peter Pascoe in a slightly paranoid light. Or is he? Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
A hard book to put down. -
This is the 19th adventure of Superintendent Andrew “Fat Andy” Dalziel and Sergeant Peter Pascoe, law officers in Yorkshire, England. To rehash – the “boss”, Fat Andy, is irreverent, profane, and brusque, but has a heart of gold. He also can be laugh out loud funny. Peter Pascoe, who initially was a side-kick in this series, has evolved into a force in his own right. There is also a very well developed secondary cast in this series, including other police officers on the Yorkshire police force, Pascoe’s wife Ellie and some of Fat Andy’s pals and acquaintances.
Hill’s books are not your average mysteries nor are they typical of the genre – which can be slightly disconcerting for a first time reader of this series. Multiple story threads and narrators abound. Don’t be alarmed, just keep reading, because before you know it the separate threads come together and you’ll find yourself in the middle of a great book.
In Dialogues Of the Dead, Dalziel, Pascoe, Sgt. “Wieldy” and a new police team member – the up and comer Constable “Hat” Bowler – find themselves on the trail of a very cocky and efficient serial killer – a plot we mystery readers are more than familiar with. Said murderer is not only dispatching victims without leaving a clue behind, the villain is also writing cryptic letters, i.e. dialogues, to the authorities, utilizing word-games as clues, much to the frustration of Fat Andy and his gang of police officers.
With these “dialogues” the game is afoot – not only for our beloved characters, but for the reader too. The author’s inclusion of his reading audience is what critics either love or hate about this book. You’ll either take the leap of faith and join in the charade or find this twist preposterous – for Hill seems to be not so gently reminding us, this is fiction after all. Depending on which attitude you adopt, the conclusion, which is very reminiscent of Lehane’s Shutter Island, i.e. it’s not clear-cut - will either have you cheering or leave you frustrated as hell.
Personally I was cheering. Dialogues of the Dead is one of the more engaging and unique novels I have read recently – particularly for this genre. -
Outstanding,as always.
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Having read this book, there is no doubt in my mind that the author is a talented writer with an extraordinary command of the English language. This mystery/whodunit novel is filled with witty dialogue, clever wordplay, and a hefty dose of satire, much of which is highly entertaining, humorous, and often brilliant.
That said, it saddens me that such a prodigious writing talent should be wasted on the kind of nonsense that pervades this novel. A serial killer is on the loose in mid-Yorkshire, which is somewhere in England. The killer, believing him (or her) self to be invincible, leaves behind clues after each murder in the form of written "dialogues” which are then submitted to a writing competition sponsored by a local newspaper.
Within these dialogues, which are really monologues, the author planted clues as to the identity of the killer, but somehow I missed them all, and when the killer’s identity was finally revealed after many increasingly repetitive chapters, it came as a total surprise to me. Surprise endings are a good thing, but only if they occur at a point in the story where the reader still cares about the outcome of the story. In this case, by the time the ending came around I was so tired of all the sarcasm, the witticisms, the puns and word games that I just wanted to get it over with.
There are dozens of characters to sort out, and every time I thought I had them all sorted out, suddenly a new character would appear on the scene, leaving me more confused than ever. The problem with so many characters is that none of them are explored in depth, leaving the reader, or at least this reader, without a "hero" to identify or empathize with. The female characters especially are a sorry lot.
To quote another of Britain’s legendary wordsmiths: Too much of anything, is too much for me. -
This book has really knocked this series over the edge from relatively realistic seeming detective novel into wild flights of fantasy type of story telling. In many ways it's totally silly, but Hill keeps an edge of realism about it, and I love it.
Throughout Hill's books there have been many cases of appropriately named characters and nicknames that tie in with the plots but none more so than here. This is a long book and at times it felt like the plot was a bit too obvious and really it was all an excuse for five hundred odd pages of fun with words and riddles. But what's ace is that while there might be a hundred clues that you see through and you perhaps find a bit transparent and you wonder what the detectives are up to not seeing them all, what you see as the reader (or as this reader anyway) is only the tip of the iceberg of the clues and convolutions that are actually in the book. The ending a pleasure to read as you groan about all the things you managed to miss along the way.
A summary of the story is pretty short: a serial killer is knocking off victims with no apparent logic and writing 'dialogues' about the killings, these turn up at the local reference library. This simple idea makes for a really fascinating story, sometimes a bit comic book like but overall it works really very well.
I'm making myself wait to read the next installment of this series because I don't want to overdose on it. This was great and I hope the next book is just as good. -
The nineteenth in this mostly great series, and I've read all of the previous ones. This one was a long way from my favorite. It centers on what is for me an unbelievable premise: a serial killer who is so utterly insane as to appear normal to everyone (including the reader), a serial killer with a Plan that until it is understood makes the killings look random. There is much wordplay, much erudition, Dalziel is his usual crass, intimidating, and funny self. But at 424 large pages of small print, the story is far too long, and in my view the Big Finish doesn't justify the time it takes to get to it. One character has a name that is so obviously an anagram that I noticed it at once; but I'm embarrassed to say that, obvious as it was, I didn't figure it out. Like almost everything else in the book, the reason for and explanation of the name (when it was finally revealed) was beyond my ability to suspend my disbelief.
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I confess that Hill's encyclopedic knowledge of language draws me in like a moth to a flame. I am impressed and amazed by his use of words that send me to a dictionary, only to find the word is absolutely the exact correct word in that context. Two examples of the many memorable new words for me in this book were 'steatopygous' and 'dominie'...
The main protagonists are certainly quirky in the extreme, and the plot lines are well woven, very intriguing and keep me hanging right to the end, until the final reveal.
Not an easy read, but well worthwhile and thoroughly enjoyable.
Just keep your dictionary handy! -
enh. Life's too short. These convoluted, obscure English whodunits are just too much work if the storytelling is anything but wonderful and Hill is no PD James. Too much loftly language and too many tangents.
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Another stand-out performance by Reginald Hill!
This installment of the Dalziel & Pascoe series was engaging, humorous at times, and full of twist and turns. Loved it! -
The first two murders would have slipped under police radar as tragic road accidents if the Wordman hadn't written little short stories with verifiable details about the victims and circumstances. The short stories were entered in a contest sponsored by a local TV station, sent to the local newspaper and sorted for quality by 2 librarians at the local library. Pascoe is sure the perp is Franny Roote, his sneaky nemesis who has some gardener job and keeps showing up wherever Pascoe goes. But Roote doesn't quite have the monumental grasp of language and culture Wordman seems to have. Dalziel has other suspects and Pascoe brings in professional help in the form of a criminal psychiatrist and a linguist. As more culturally significant victims turn up, paired with short stories turned in to the library, the motives and patterns of Wordman become too complex for the police to crack. The author has spun masterpiece of a yarn. Even the ending is a surprise. Along the way Reginald Hill points to other master writers as his characters make wry or pithy comments. The linguist calls Dalziel Hamish but I have no idea what that name signifies to a native Scot.
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Dalziel, Pascoe, Wield, and Hat Bowler are caught up in the search for a serial killer they call the Wordman. The book was a bit of a slog, but was so fascinating I had to persevere. The ending was left a bit open - I wonder if there is a sequel? I really want to know what happens to Hat....
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This story about a serial killer in Yorkshire, England is themed on words and their meanings in the English Language, and sometimes in other languages, such as Latin, Hebrew and German. In fact, the whole story revolves around a fictional word game called “Paronomania,” which is itself a play on a real word: “paronomasia, (noun) the use of a word in different senses or the use of words similar in sound to achieve a specific effect, as humour or a dual meaning; punning.” The title comes from the fact that the killer submits a short essay, or “dialogue,” to the local library after each murder, and words play such an important part in the murderer’s dialogues that he or she has become known to the police and press as “Wordman.”
This is a well-crafted story. The author clearly had his tongue in his cheek while writing this book. One of the primary suspects in the story, for example, has the initials “OED,” which, coincidently, is the shortcut manner of referring to the Oxford English Dictionary -- the authoritative reference on words of the English language. Hill also has filled his book with obscure and little-used words taken from that dictionary – dozens of them, in fact. I bet he got a kick out of forcing his readers to look up so many obscure words, especially if they had to use the OED to find them.
You will probably change your opinion as to the identity of the killer several times as the story progresses – I know I did. Then, after each suspect becomes a victim, we are left wondering. A new member of the Mid-Yorkshire CID is more fully introduced in this story: Detective Constable Ethelbert “Hat” Bowler, who falls madly in love with a lady librarian who is at the center of the story.
With his usual aplomb, Mr. Hill hands his readers a surprise at the ending of the story, where he ties up all loose ends and surprises most of us. I liked the story, and award it five stars. This book will make more sense to you if you are already familiar with the characters, but if you have never read a Dalziel and Pascoe novel, don’t be afraid to start with this one. It is one of the author’s best works. -
This is the 19th novel featuring Yorkshire detectives Dalziel and Pascoe. Dalziel the “fat man” has a dry with and a sharp intelligence hidden behind a curmudgeonly exterior. Pascoe is more educated but has rather a low key presence in this novel. A young Detective Constable Bowler, nicknamed “Hat” is cutting his teeth on his first serial murder case and is keen but doesn’t follow Dalziel’s instructions to the letter, communicating confidential police information to his “bit of fluff”. Two deaths which appeared at first to be accidents are connected when the murderer enters details of the murders in a short story competition. The competition entries go to the local library, where librarians Dee and Rye have the onerous task of sorting the entries. The killings continue even after the competition ends with the dialogues continuing to turn up at the library as the body count increases. The killer is nicknamed the “Wordman” and there is a lot of paranomasia and paranomania throughout the book (look them up in the OED). An interesting read for lovers of puns and word games, maybe a little over long for a crime suspense novel.
The ending let’s just say is a little different as the murder victims are preparing their journey across the river Styx in an imaginative final dialogue. -
Someone is murdering people at random and then leaving a detailed “dialogue” about each murder at the local library. Dubbed “the Wordman,” this mysterious individual leads Dalziel, Pascoe and their colleagues on a chase throughout their Yorkshire patch, becoming more elusive even while leaving more and more erudite clues….This is, I think, the 18th or 19th book in the long-running Dalziel and Pascoe series, and to my mind it’s one of the best, not only because of the richness of the characters and their lives, but for the richness of the language, which Mr. Hill uses to devastating effect this time around. As it happens, this is one of the rare occasions when I figured out “who did it” well before the detectives did, which is always a satisfying extra when reading detective fiction. Recommended!
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Probably my favourite of the Dalziel and Pascoe series, and I have enjoyed all of the ones I've read, some very much so. I was glad I didn't know anything about the story before I started it. It's worth it to go in blind if you can, because it's a witty and clever book. Definitely read this one before Death's Jest-Book, because they are companion stories that should be read in order.
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One of my favorites in this series that i continue to obsess over (thanks, Kurt).
Dan Brown should study Hill on how to construct a suspense story where an academic thread never feels like author masturbation.
Perfection. -
I normally enjoy Reginald Hill's books, but just couldn't get interested in this one, it seemed as though the characters were being deliberately obtuse about the deaths in the beginning and that kind of irrational behaviour in a novel always annoys me. I may try it again at some time.
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I've enjoyed Dalziel and Pascoe so much over the years and was saddened to hear that the author has died. All the novels are great, this one in particular had me completely fooled, which was great.
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Greatly missed author
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Coming to the end of my journey with Dalziel and Pascoe. Not looking forward to the day when I am not apart of those two ( and Weildy's ) adventures.
Another great instalment.
