Arms and the Women, The [Mass Market Paperback]

Reginald Hill (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (2003)
• ASIN: B000RKIALE
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth Wading Through, May 22, 2000

By 

Judith A. Brodnicki (Omaha, Nebraska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Arms and the Women (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The opening chapters of Hill's latest Dalziel & Pascoe are an onslaught much like the storm at the close of the book. People and plots come howling in from all directions. I felt rather "gobsmacked" by all of it, but I kept on slogging through until it began to come together into a cohesive story.

Hill has the extraordinary ability to shift consciousness from one character to the next, and I suppose that's what kept me off balance. From Ellie Pascoe, to DC Novello, to the writer "Spelt from Sybil's Leaves," Hill proves that he understands the insides of people, the private side they keep to themselves. This novel is told primarily from the perspective of the women who drive it forward. Hill grasps the confusion of midlife, the roles of wife and mother, the longing for belonging of singlehood. After these things, the mystery plot itself is only a frame on which to project the people.

While Ellie Pascoe thwarts an attempted abduction, she leads the rest of the cast on an odyssey as she continues to seek comfort and meaning in her life. That we end up in a "cleansing" storm at the end of these Herculean labors is fitting.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dalziel/Pascoe series keeps getting better!, October 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Arms and the Women (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The Dalziel/Pascoe series started out as typical of the British procedural: sharply drawn characters, intricate structure and plot, and most important, wonderful prose writing. In the past few installments, though, Hill has added a thematic twist to make things more interesting. For example, "Recalled To Life" uses "A Tale of Two Cities" as a leitmotif; "Bones and Silence" draws on the medieval mystery plays; and "On Beulah Height" uses Mahler's "Kindertodtenlieder". In this book, "The Odyssey", in a retelling by Pascoe's wife Ellie, provides a counterpoint to the main action involving high tech terrorism, South American drug smugglers, and a mysterious "Sybil" who watches over everyone through her computer. Hill once again demonstrates that he is the unsurpassed master of this genre, and is fully the equal of John Mortimer when it comes to pithy literary allusions. Afficionados of the more genteel and politically correct lady novelists. eg. P.D. James, Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine, will have a hard time relating to the unrestrained Dionysian character of Andy Dalziel, and will be put of by the frequent use of humor to ward off the stultifying seriousness which so often oppresses those authors' works. Fans of Inspector Frost and American procedurals will be right at home though.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could not put it down; glad to see Ellie take center stage, October 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Arms and the Women (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Maybe I'm biased because I enjoy Mr. Hill's novels so much as a whole. What I like best about this series is the way the writing complements the characters' personalities (literary and academic, and very, very human and realistic). For me, the weaving of three novels was intriguing--even the title is evocative (refer to George Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man"). As for the characters, I found them believable. I also feel like I know more about the main characters' psyches with every novel Hill writes (in this series). I think the unexpected events in the main plot that may seem like coincidence help build excitement. I wouldn't recommend this book as an introduction to the Dalziel and Pascoe stories, but I highly recommend it to fans who have some familiarity with them.