The phrase ?a country-house mystery? evokes an image of 1930s fops in dinner jackets, starched family retainers, slinky femme fatales. It does not evoke an image of the belching Andy Dalziel, and yet there he is, on an enforced holiday, fetched up to a crumbling country manor, and sticking his bulbous nose into the late owner?s unusual demise. As this is in fact the 1970s, the fops are sporting t-shirts and unfortunate facial hair, and the family retainer is knocking ash into the microwaved stew. But there is a femme, and while she may or may not be fatale, she?s fabulous enough to waken even Dalziel?s long dormant romantic dreams.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Fans of Hill's procedurals featuring Superintendent Dalziel and Inspector Pascoe may be startled at encountering Dalziel out of character. In the first U.S. publication of a 1975 work, Dalziel is mainly on his own, during Pascoe's honeymoon, and is, if not in love, at least in lust. Stranded in the country by heavy April rains, Dalziel is rescued by an odd funeral procesion led by new widow Bonnie Fielding. Dalziel is bothered by the mourners' casual airs and even more by the sensuously ripe Bonnie. Complications arise when he discovers the strange manner in which Bonnie's husband died, the possibility of an insurance scam, the mortal fear of Bonnie's father-in-law and the realization that all the Fieldings, including Bonnie, are suspects in a possible murder. The usually gruff, if not brutish, Dalziel begins an affair with Bonnie and when two more bodies are found he launches his own discreet investigation. Hill's high standards of humor and civilized characterization are intact here, and justice and ambiguity are served in satisfactory fashion.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
'An instinctive novelist who is blessed with a spontaneous storytelling gift' - THE TIMES
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
Reginald Hill has been widely published both in England and the United States. He received Britain's most coveted mystery writers award, the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award, as well as the Golden Dagger for his Dalziel/Pascoe series. He lives with his wife in Cumbria, England.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An offbeat story featuring fat Andy Dalziel.,
By
This review is from: An April Shroud (Paperback)
This book is a little different than most in this series because it focuses on Andy Dalziel on his own. It also shows a side of Andy that we have never seen before. We see him at his most vulnerable - in the middle of a love affair with a widow. It is also a story set in an old crumbling country house (a la Agatha Christie). But there the similarity ends. This book has more twists in it than a small English country road. It is filled with wonderful eccentric characters and Dalziel knows that at least one of them is a murderer. He sets out to find out, hoping that his paramour is not the one. The book is also very funny. This is a must-read for any Dalziel and Pascoe fans. It gives the best picture of Andy Dalziel that you'll find in any of these books. Hill is a master storyteller, and he has used his considerable skills to pen a nice country manor mystery that isn't like any English country manor mystery that you'll find anywhere else.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A flood of great writing,
By
This review is from: An April Shroud (Dalziel & Pascoe Novel) (Paperback)
Ever seen a cortege of punts? From the truly bizarre scene at the river, through the Fat Man's unexpected romance, to the not quite satisfactory winding down of the tale, this book is one riveting read.
I would say that one of Reginald Hill's touchstones is the unflinching honesty of his two protagonists, Pascoe and Dalziel (read this book, by the way, to learn how to say the Fat Man's name; I haven't quite mastered it, but it's nice to have the phonetics at hand). He simply does not allow them to lie to themselves. And, when they are not quite up to deconstructing (or admitting) all that is to be known in the moment about their motives, he doesn't shirk from laying it out for the reader. Hill refuses to blink, too, at his supporting cast. Even the characters who might be considered sympathetic (are ANY of Hill's characters people I'd like to know? I kind of doubt it, fascinated though I am by them) receive the full Hill treatment, i.e. any warts and sins well highlighted along with their wit and good grooming. And then there's the superb writing. Beautiful sentences. Descriptions evocative, but never over-wrought. Dialog that sounds right in the reader's "ear". The other books in the series I've read so far (I'm taking the series in order and am only a book or two beyond this one) show far less of Dalziel, the man. So if you've read later books without having yet picked up this one, this provides some back story you might find interesting. In fact, you might even go to the headwaters of this great series: A Clubbable Woman (Felony & Mayhem Mysteries)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterful writing,
By
This review is from: An April Shroud (Paperback)
From the truly bizarre scene at the river, through the Fat Man's unexpected romance, to the not quite satisfactory winding down of the tale, this book is one riveting read.
I would say that one of Reginald Hill's touchstones is the unflinching honesty of his two protagonists, Pascoe and Dalziel (read this book, by the way, to learn how to say the Fat Man's name; I haven't quite mastered it, but it's nice to have the phonetics at hand). He simply does not allow them to lie to themselves. And, when they are not quite up to deconstructing (or admitting) all that is to be known in the moment about their motives, he doesn't shirk from laying it out for the reader. Hill refuses to blink, too, at his supporting cast. Even the characters who might be considered sympathetic (are ANY of Hill's characters people I'd like to know? I kind of doubt it, fascinated though I am by them) receive the full Hill treatment, i.e. any warts and sins well highlighted along with their wit and good grooming. And then there's the superb writing. Beautiful sentences. Descriptions evocative, but never over-wrought. Dialog that sounds right in the reader's "ear". The other books in the series I've read so far (I'm taking the series in order and am only a book or two beyond this one) show far less of Dalziel, the man. So if you've read later books without having yet picked up this one, this provides some back story you might find interesting. If you read this book and love it as I did, no worries: there's plenty wonderful writing ahead in this grand series.
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