Bones and Silence (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Reginald Hill (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries | Publication Date: June 1, 1991

One woman dead and one threatening to die set Yorkshire's police superintendent Dalziel and Inspector Pascoe on a chilling hunt for a killer and a potential suicide. A drunken Dalziel witnesses the murder that others insist is a tragic accident. Meanwhile the letters of an anonymous woman say she plans to kill herself in a spectacular way...unless Pascoe can find her first. Dalziel has been picked to play God in a local Mystery Play, but can he live up to his role by solving this puzzling psychological thriller...or unveiling the passions and perversions that lie hidden in the human heart?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While one of a police duo follows up on a cache of suicidal letters, his partner is cast as God opposite a murder suspect playing Lucifer in a contemporized medieval mystery play. According to PW , this mystery "confirms Hill's place among top British writers who produce solid stories of detection that succeed as first-rate novels exploring human character."
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

With language that ranges from the purposely vulgar to the awkwardly sublime, author Hill ( An April Shroud, LJ 4/1/86, Deadheads, LJ 5/1/84) traces progress in Detective Andy Dalziel's latest case. Two cases actually coexist, but the rude, callous, fat, and overbearing Dalziel virtually ignores a series of suicide letters from a woman while attempting to prove that a suicide he witnessed was murder. Village inhabitants, meanwhile, prepare for presentation of a cycle of medieval mystery plays in which director Eileen Chung, ironically, wishes Dalziel to play God. Dalziel harasses the suspects in the "murder" case, eventually uncovering everything from drug dealing to multiple murder, but he leaves the suicide letters to assistant Pasco. Crisp prose and dry wit add momentum, culminating in bizarre twists and a heartfelt thrust at the end. Recommended for most collections.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Dell (June 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440209358
• ISBN-13: 978-0440209355
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > British Detectives

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

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hill, a wonderful writer, is at his best in this novel ., September 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Bones and Silence (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

A wonderful combination of mystery and philosophy, Bones and Silence presents Yorkshire detective inspector Andrew Dalziel with the opportunity to play God. In the community production of the York mystery cycle, a religious play from medieval times, the gargantuan detective is cast as the Deity; in real life he is receiving anonymous notes from someone threatening suicide. He knows that the writer of the letters is an acquaintance of his-- but which one? Reginald Hill is an excellent prose stylist. He deserves as wide a readership and as much acclaim as P.D. James, with whom he is often compared. This novel was a finalist for the Edgar in 1990, when I chaired the Best Novel committee, and it won the Golden Dagger in England. Reginald Hill is an extraordinary writer.-- Sharyn McCrumb

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, with an ending I am still not sure about..., July 14, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Bones and Silence (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Regardless of other reviewers and the difficulty of Hill's linguistic excursions sometimes, Hill is still one of the top producers of well-written mysteries of this current batch. This particular book had its good points and its bad points, but overall the book was a great read. I enjoyed the introductions that use the York Cycle of Mystery Plays. Apparently, like many other European countries such as Germany, theatricals explaining the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, and in this particular group of plays, the period of creation and Lucifer's involvement in free agency, was used because people at that time simply could not pick up the Bible and read it. It was written in Latin, and only the clergy (and some royalty) had the ability to read. I expect that these theatricals were an extremely popular change of pace from the daily grind and I look forward to learning more concerning them, now that Hill has brought them to my attention.

As usual Dalziel is his perturbing, acidic, and curmudgeonly self. He doesn't like it when he ends up on the other side as a witness to a crime, that he's having a heck of a time proving actually happened as a homicide and not an accident. Like most of us, we don't like it when the shoe is on the other foot, and Dalziel doesn't take well to being seen as wrong. In the end...well...that would ruin the story. Not going to give it away. Pascoe has his own set of problems to deal with. He's still recuperating from the last case that nearly killed him, and his more sensitive psyche has taken a beating. His wife gets him involved in some of her pet projects, which he is not crazy about...but it ends up being of some assistance to providing keys of understanding to Dalziel's witnessed crime, and to the person who is writing Dalziel letters about her future self-inflicted demise.

This side story confuses a few readers, but life is never so tidy as to give us one problem at a time. IF it were, I think more crimes and problems would be solved. Dalziel can't be bothered with figure out who the looney is who is writing him suicide notes (and the writer knows this). But as usual, Pascoe gets saddled with this annoying problem, and it weighs on him. I really am not sure what happened at the end...but it was certainly not what I expected.

A sign of a good writer for me is one where I deliberately go back and look for his other books, rather than just browsing through and picking up a mystery that 'looks' good. I did that for too long, and it ends up wasting my time. When I want a good writer with a good plot and decent characters, I know where to go look for one. Hill still has plenty I have not read yet. Time to go get another!

Karen Sadler,
University of Pittsburgh

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great plot, colorful characters and razor-sharp wit, October 18, 2001

By 

Roger Lee - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bones and Silence (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

First all, I will admit that this book moves a little slowly, especially compared to most mysteries written by American authors. However, what you get here that you don't get with 99% of American mysteries is complex, interesting characters, a great plot, plenty of humor, and a wonderfully literate style. I will definitely read more of this series. The ending of this book is particularly powerful and it stayed with me for a while after I had finished it; an affect few mysteries have ever had on me.