Born Guilty (Joe Sixsmith Series) [Mass Market Paperback]

Reginald Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 1995 | Series: Joe Sixsmith Series

'Few writers in the genre today have Hill's gifts: formidable intelligence, quick humour, compassion and a prose style that blends elegance and grace' Donna Leon, Sunday Times Hurrying out of St Monkey's church on the last Amen of the Creation, Joe Sixsmith stumbles across a boy's corpse in a cardboard box and into more trouble than he's ever known. Soon his casebook is full to bursting: retired colonial Mrs C. demands to know how the boy got there; Gallie, the Mutant from Outer Space, urges him to find the stranger nosing into her granddad's past; while Butcher, that briefest of briefs, is hellbent on digging the dirt on a deputy head's out-of-school activities. Ever valiant for truth, Joe threads his mild-mannered way through the mean streets of Luton, fighting off angry cops, demented druggies and the matchmaking machinations of his Auntie Mirabelle. But the truth he discovers does not set him free, for there's little joy in confirming that today's kids grow up so much faster than he did, and even the luckiest of them find out all too soon that they have been born guilty.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Pictures of Perfection, 1994's Dalziel/Pascoe mystery, Hill conjured up a nearly faultless puzzle with virtually no crime and no dead folks. Less successful is this, the second in his series starring laconic, balding, middle-aged Joe Sixsmith, a black detective in the gritty English town of Luton. Joe has an old suit, an old cat, a young lover and an aunt who wishes he would settle down with a nice girl. Joe sings with the church choir, sips Guinness in a bar full of Gary Glitter fans and stumbles into cases. These involve a dead homeless boy, a high-ranking cop's wife accused of sexual harassment and a relative of Joe's girl who might just be a war criminal. Hill is lamentably slapdash with all three plot threads, and the whole thing quickly deteriorates into provincial coyness. Those who have never listened to Gary Glitter or been anywhere near Luton won't get many of the jokes-but, on the other hand, they can bless their luck, as both are truly grim. A petition demanding that Hill stick to Dalziel/Pascoe capers or the psychological chillers he pens as Patrick Ruell might be in order.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Hill has produced nearly three dozen novels, generating critical acclaim and a host of loyal fans who will find his newest hero, Joe Sixsmith, among mysterydom's most unique and eccentric characters. Joe is a redundant British lathe operator, black, balding, decidedly middle-aged, and ever at the mercy of his curmudgeonly aunt Mirabelle and his nearly human cat, Whitey, who thrives on a diet of pork rinds and beer and keeps Joe on the straight and narrow. In his latest adventure, following Blood Sympathy , Joe leaves choir practice and takes a shortcut through the church graveyard, where he makes a grisly discovery--a young boy's body jammed into a box among the gravestones. Although the local coppers dismiss the case as an unfortunate drug overdose, Joe can't get the boy out of his mind. Poking and probing among the village's down-and-outs as well as its upper crust, Joe keeps at it until he discovers the shocking secrets of some of the town's most prominent citizens. A blend of Chaplin and Clouseau, Joe Sixsmith is endearingly funny, but he also has an unerring knack for discovering some of life's most serious truths in the midst of his bumbling misadventures. An outstanding read. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Publishers (October 9, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0586218521
• ISBN-13: 978-0586218525
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #722,663 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

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reginald Hill: Born Guilty, April 23, 2009

By 

J. M. Booth (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Born Guilty (Joe Sixsmith Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

Reginald Hill always is good value for money, and Born Guilty is no exception. His typical wit and humour lighten the serious subject matter without lessening its impact, or denying humanity.