Child's Play [Paperback]

Reginald Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1988

Geraldine Lomas's son went missing in Italy during World War Two, but the eccentric old lady never accepted his death.

Now she is dead, leaving the Lomas beer fortune to be divided between an animal rights organization, a fascist front and a services benevolent fund. As disgruntled relatives gather by the gravside, the funeral is interrupted by a middle-aged man in an Italian suit, who falls to his knees crying, 'Mama!'

Andy Dalziel is preoccupied with the illegal book one of his sergents is running on who is to be appointed as the new chief Constable. But when a dead Italian turns up in the police car park, Peter Pascoe and his bloated superior are plunged into an investigation that makes internal police politics look like child's play...

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The 10th in Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe novels ( Exit Lines, etc.) is, as usual, a nicely plotted, smoothly written mystery on the top rung of the genre. A half-dotty old Yorkshire widow dies, throwing her relations into confusion with a will that leaves her wealth to a son missing in action in World War II. If he's not founnd by 2015, the fortune will be divided among charities for animals, the needy and Women for Empire. A man resembling the long-lost son appears and disappears. Officials of the charities, surviving relatives and the deceased's lawyer begin a complicated bargaining dance. A top cop campaigns to become Chief Constable. A young drifter enters the life of Sgt. Wield, forcing him to a decision about his homosexuality. There are a couple of apparently unrelated murders. Supt. Dalziel sorts it all out in his usual boorish, intuitive, irreverent way. He's helped by youthful, (relatively) cultured Inspector Pascoe, stolid Sgt. Wield and by Lexie Huby, a young, mousy legal secretary with lots of surprises. Readers will love Hill's rich characterization, vivid local color and lightly stinging humor. Reprint rights to Warner Books.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'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 'The fertility of Hill's imagination, the range of his power, the sheer quality of his literary style never cease to delight' Val McDermid, Sunday Express 'He is probably the best living male crime writer in the English-speaking world' Andrew Taylor, Independent 'Reginald Hill's novels are really dances to the music of time, his heroes and villains interconnecting, their stories entwining' Ian Rankin, Scotland on Sunday 'An increasingly lyrical and always humorous writer, he is first and foremost an instinctive and complete novelist who is blessed with a spontaneous storytelling gift' Francis Fyfield, Mail On Sunday --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Warner Books Inc (Mm) (February 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446345334
• ISBN-13: 978-0446345330
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,112,164 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

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a really good read!, December 12, 2004

By 

Mendicant Pigeon "Mendicant Pigeon" (pdx, or United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child's Play (Paperback)

I'm flabbergasted that nobody has chosen to review this book before. This is my first exposure to Mr. Hill's writing and I am impressed. Hill is an English writer of detective mystery fiction. This book is one in a series that revolves around the workings of a pair of policemen based in Northern England, one of whom is a Rabelaisian, dyed in the wool Yorkshireman, the other a University educated middle class everyman. Childs Play is a story that evolves around the entwined fates of two families and, of all things, a repressed homosexual cop. When a mystery man appears graveside to claim the heritance of a prodigal son, things quickly spin wildly out of control when he and another complete stranger are killed within a week of each other in apparently unrelated incidents. Complexity is added when an eager representative of a named party in the origingal deceased's will begins to cobble together an alliance in order to overturn the will, which makes any one of the interested parties a suspect in the murders. Dalziel and Pascoe work together to puzzle the pieces and solve this fine mystery in an ending that is sure to have you curling your toes in anticipation and suspense. I am giving this book five stars because it is truly well-written and the suspense becomes wonderfully excruciating as the author proceeds to weave a half-dozen seemingly disparate threads together into Gordian knot before cutting it. My only objections to Mr. Hill's story telling is his penchant for throwing in obscure high culture references that seem oddly out of place and his willingness to place extreme pressure upon his audience's suspension of disbelief. All in all though, this story will have you panting for more, I am quite sure.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reginald Hill, The Master, January 11, 2007

By 

Mystery Fan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Child's Play (Dalziel and Pascoe) (Paperback)

Hill is one of the top mystery writers. The world he has created in the Dalziel and Pascoe series is as real as Nero Wolfe's. The interplay between liberal, educated, and sexy Pascoe and gross, vulgar, and brilliant Dalziel is well observed and outrageously funny. Hill has a sly wit, often leading to laugh-out-loud outbursts that can be embarrassing in public places. Read the whole series, spend time with his characters.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intensely entertaining!, December 18, 2006

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Child's Play (Paperback)

Hill is a wonderful writer, and this series just gets better and better. In this book we have a little bit of everything - greed, murder, police politics, and of course the guy who never lets any of that bother him in his efforts to solve mysteries - Andy Dalziel. Hill unfolds his plot like a wonderfully wrapped package - layer upon layer comes off until we get to the surprising ending! One thing about Reginald Hill - he is never predictable and every book is surprisingly different. Enough to keep me guessing, and continuing to read this wonderful series.