On Beulah Height (Ulverscroft Large Print Series) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Reginald Hill (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ulverscroft Large Print Series | Publication Date: April 1999

'Hill is an instinctive and complete novelist who is blessed with a spontaneous storytelling gift' Frances Fyfield, Mail on Sunday They moved everyone that long hot summer fifteen years ago. They needed a new reservoir and an old community seemed a cheap price to pay. They even dug up the dead and moved them too. But four inhabitants of the valley they couldn't move, for nobody knew where they were. Three little girls had gone missing, and the prime suspect in their disappearance, Benny Lightfoot This was Andy Dalziel's worst case and now fifteen years on he looks set to relive it. It's another long hot summer. A child goes missing in the next valley, and old fears arise as someone sprays the deadly message on the wall of Danby: BENNY'S BACK! Music and myth mingle as the Mid-Yorkshire team delve into their pasts and into their own reserves of experience and endurance in search of answers which threaten to bring more pain than they resolve.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cascading imagery and sinuous plot lines are utilized to stunning effect in Hill's latest Dalziel/Pascoe novel (The Wood Beyond, 1996, etc.), a flawless blend of mystery, ghost story and psychological thriller. Fifteen years ago, the remote Yorkshire village of Dendale was purposefully flooded in the creation of a reservoir. As most of the villagers moved to the next town, three young Dendale girls vanished, their disappearance never solved. Also vanished, presumably into the nearby moors, was Benny Lightfoot, a troubled loner and most likely suspect of rotund copper Andy Dalziel. Now, as the village is literally reappearing in a summer-long drought, Benny's return is proclaimed in graffiti, and a young girl disappears. Detective Superintendent Dalziel and his erudite partner, Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe, follow the current case. Pascoe's daughter, in the grip of a sometimes fatal disease, has nightmares about a demonic water monster who steals children. A classical concert is planned in the next village to celebrate the return of Elizabeth Wulfstan, an impressive young singer from Dendale whose translations of Mahler songs focus on dead children. This is merely the bare bones of Hill's multilayered masterpiece, in which he balances the droll interplay between the detectives, the gentle resonating of local legends and the slowly unfolding stories of numerous families shattered by secrets and sadness. From its ominous beginning to the wrenching conclusion, this, the 15th Dalziel/Pascoe tale, shows Hill at the top of his form.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The Yorkshire detective team of Dalziel and Pascoe is back in another riveting procedural. Fifteen years earlier, the quaint British village of Dendale suffered double tragedies: three children were kidnapped, never to be found, while a fourth barely escaped with her life. Then the government forced the villagers to evacuate Dendale so they could flood its homes and shops to create a new reservoir. A decade and a half later, seven-year-old Lorraine Dacre disappears from Danby, the village where most of the Dendale's inhabitants retreated. Dalziel and Pascoe are caught in a painful nightmare. They failed to solve the earlier case; can they solve this one? Theories, speculation, and suspects abound. Villagers report seeing Benny Lightfoot, a crazy recluse who was the prime suspect in the Dendale case. Betsy Allgood, the victim who escaped 15 years ago, is full of dark secrets she won't reveal. This is a stunning mystery that is at once touching, funny, provocative, suspenseful, and moving. More popular than ever, thanks to the TV series based on the Dalziel and Pascoe novels, Hill remains one of the finest crime writers of this era, and his latest deserves a place in every mystery collection. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 624 pages
• Publisher: Linford; Lrg edition (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708990568
• ISBN-13: 978-0708990568
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,716,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary, complex mystery with excellent writing!, February 8, 2002

By 

K. L Sadler "Dr. Karen L. Sadler" (Freedom, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Beulah Height (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

It's so rare to pick up a modern author from this genre (mystery) and have his talent as a wordsmith be so exquisite. If I seem effusive concerning this book, you will have to excuse me. When you get stuck reading a lot of badly written textbooks, and other material whether books or journals for profesional purposes, when you do pick up a good mystery (based on recommendations from Amazon.com--thanks guys!) it is nice to be able to dive into a story which is not only a good mystery, but the writing itself is wonderful.

The British have a way with the English language. I don't know what is in the water over there, but I am increasingly finding that my tastes are generally more satisfied when reading British mysteries. And I am not talking Agatha Christie here, though I've read stuff that far back. Hill is an obvious contender for those who enjoy P.D. James mysteries, as well as historical mysteries of the type written by Charles Todd (I keep forgetting he is American).

This story is painstakingly drawn out. It's a hefty mystery, and frankly, Hill did a great job by not allowing the reader to determine who was responsible for the disappearance of several young girls. I made several errors in judgement, that were solved (sensibly thank heavens) in the last three chapters. Rarely do I get up out of bed at night and spend three hours in a chair to finish reading a book which I just cannot put down. But I did this with this author.

I am looking forward to his other books...it is great to find another author with many books to his name that I can enjoy for a while (I read so fast usually that I go through good authors too quick and have to find another one).

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better by the Book, April 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: On Beulah Height (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I've been following Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series for years; the only thing bad about this the author is his unfortunate tendency to go out-of-print here in the States.

This is an author whose writing has undergone a noticeable improvement over the years. The first books in the series seem more formulaic and even a bit dated when held up to later entries. But this is only comparing a writer against himself: these books still stand out among the usual British procedurals; Hill's distinctive characterization is present from the first book. It's definitely worth reading the series in order, if you can find all the titles. Doing so, you can trace the development of all the characters, most notably Wield and Dalziel, who usually steal the show from the intellectual and prototypically 'heroic' Pascoe. These two are in no way side characters; this is ensemble work.

'On Beulah Height' is another great entry in the series, digging deep into the Yorkshire landscape and making a compelling story of local history. Buy, buy, buy, and tell your friends. I keep hoping that the more interest in raised in this series, the better our chances to see reissues of the earlier works.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Hill's best...., August 14, 2000

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: On Beulah Height (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) (Hardcover)

A few years ago I discovered Dalziel (pronounced "deal") and Pascoe on A&E. I became intrigued, and set out to read all Hill's many books on this infamous pair of "thinking" British cops. I am now almost caught up as "On Beulah Height" is the next to the last installment in Hill's series.

I think the best way to read Hill's books is chronologically, but there are many of them. You can figure out the order by their publication dates. The stories are complex so even if you see them dramatized on A&E you can still enjoy the written text as much of it is interior monologue/thinking. Hill writes books that eschew the pounding action of many current mystery writers (who give me a headache). His plots move vigorously, but they are thinking reader's books--somewhat like those of Colin Dexter.

DCI Peter Pascoe and his wife Ellie have to be one of the nicest, most down-to-earth, and likeable couples around. Hill has tracked their courtship, marriage, marital problems, and the birth of their child Rosie, though the various cases Dalziel and Pascoe have undertaken. This book continues their story, while simultaneously filling out the lives of other characters: Dalziel (the fat man from Yorkshire), Weild(y) (the "gay" cop who rides a motorcycle and has a kindly heart) and the female cop DC Novello.

"On Beulah Height" is a tough book, as it involves the disappearance and supposed deaths of several small girls. Interwoven through the search for the abductor/killer is the tale of Rosie Pascoe's fight for her own life. Hill has used a the device of a children's story entitled "Nina and the Nix" to structure his plot.

The characters are believable, from the singer Elizabeth Wulfson to the "retarded" Benny Lightfoot. I like Hill's inclination to describe the interaction between men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, and lovers of both sexes. Hill understands human behavior, and his characters are quite believable.

In the end, the loose ends are tied up. You may find one angle a bit stretched, but I am willing to give Hill the suspension of disbelief.