Customer Reviews

Midnight Fugue: A Dalziel and Pascoe Mystery (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries)

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Gina Wolfe has come to Yorkshire--the domain of the wonderful Superintendent Andy Dalziel--in search of her long-missing husband. He's presumed dead, but she's just seen a photo of him in a recent publication. Her fiance, Police Cmdr. Mick Purdy, calls his old friend Dalziel and asks him to keep an eye on her. The case involves several other people: a charming but ruthless crime czar, an amoral Tory Member of Parliament and his ambitious "Lady Macbeth" secretary, a sleay journalist looking for a sensational story, and the crime lord's bizarre (and deadly) assistants--a truly creepy brother/sister act. Dalziel promised to protect Gina Wolfe, and Peter Pascoe, his former subordinate (now his equal), gets involved as well. But that simple act of kindness produces a lethal chain reaction of consequences....

Reginald Hill is one of my favorite British mystery writers. He's always coming up with interesting new ways to tell his Dalziel/Pascoe stories. In this one, he adopts a beat-the-clock style: the entire plot unfolds in a mere 24 hours, with constant hour/minute reminders at the top of every chapter. This is--literally--a race against time. Also, the strained relationship between the two detectives (and Peter's wonderful wife, Ellie) is constantly changing, and here the change is pretty dramatic.

If you're a fan, I don't have to tell you to read this excellent new entry in the series. If you're new to Dalziel/Pascoe, I suggest reading the series in order, starting with A Clubbable Woman (Felony & Mayhem Mysteries). This is one of the best British crime series, and the rude, fat, cantankerous, irrepressibly nosy Andy Dalziel is one of the most lovable detectives around--Columbo with a British accent. Highly recommended.

In an earlier book Superintendent Dalziel was all but sent to Kingdom Come by a terrorist bomb. However Reginald Hill was too thoughtful of his fans to kill Fat Andy dead. In this book the gargantuan superintendent is cutting short his convalescent leave to get back to work.

It's way too early, in the opinion of his staff and associates. And in truth, Fat Andy doesn't always know what day it is. But that doesn't stop him from being as bullheaded, foul-mouthed, irresponsible and insightful as ever in pursuit of crime.

It all begins with a good deed on Andy's part. He agrees to help a lovely young woman find her husband, a cop who disappeared seven years ago - or get sufficient evidence of the man's non-existence to declare him officially dead.

Andy's investigation unleashes all sorts of mayhem. Good and bad people get bashed, shot and otherwise eliminated. A powerful rich man with a questionable past faces a serious threat to his future. Fat Andy learns to love Bach. And all this takes place in 24 hours.

There are lots of treats in store for the reader, including two terrific brother-sister gangsters and plenty of comic dialog between Andy and those who would best him.

It's always a pleasure to sit down with the quirky cops at Mid-Yorkshire CID and get caught up in their latest adventures. Reginald Hill does a great job of character development throughout this excellent series.

Like a Bach fugue, this latest novel in the Dalziel & Pascoe series is a masterful weaving of story lines into a compact and thrilling whole. Once the major themes are stated -- the Fat Man's return to work, Gina Wolfe's search for her lost husband, Fleur Delay established as the hit (wo)man with matchless cunning -- the development brings forth sub-plots culled from the principles that interweave and build to the denouement.

On the surface, this story is all about trying to find Gina Wolfe's husband who went missing 7 years earlier. Gina needs to find him because if he's still alive then she can't have him declared legally dead, something that needs to happen before she can go on to marry her former husband's friend. Fleur Delay needs to find the errant Mr. Wolfe because he's a threat to "The Man." Various tabloid journalists (of less-than-stellar ethics) are trying to find Mr. Wolfe because of his connection to The Man's son who is up and coming in his political party. Dalziel is trying to find Mr. Wolfe because helping out is a favor to Gina's fiance. Pascoe is trying to solve a murder of a journalist connected with all of this and he has to view Dalziel as aiding a possible suspect (i.e., Gina Wolfe). Below the surface, Dalziel is also trying to re-establish himself in his police precinct as the great bull he once was. Pascoe is unsure whether Dalziel should be back to work so soon. Wield is certain that Dalziel will make it back to his leading position with some time.

Hill retools some of his best story-telling devices for Midnight Fugue. Besides at least one instance of Andy Dalziel using his favorite word ("jacksie" -- it just wouldn't be Dalziel if he didn't say that), we have interstitial narration (used effectively and with slight variations in previous novels "On Beulah Height" and "Arms and the Women"). We also have the eerie -- and in this case quite satisfying -- surprise identity revealed at the end (again, used effectively and somewhat differently in "Deadheads," "Dialogue of the Dead," and "Death Comes for the Fat Man"). What I loved most about this novel is that, after reading the coda (or, postlude), you could re-read the entire story as leading to this as the ending instead of merely to concluding Gina Wolfe's search.

Overall, it's a much shorter book than Hill has published recently for this series, but the story is so masterfully crafted that it won't matter. This delightfully compact fugue is as satisfying as a three-act grand opera.

In Reginald Hill's "Midnight Fugue," the Fat Man, Superintendent Andy Dalziel, is ready to resume his old responsibilities at the Mid-Yorkshire station--or is he? He's a bit off his stride and is disconcerted to learn that his colleagues appear not to have missed him. In the past, "Andy...used his weight to roll over everybody who got in his way," but now, his subordinate, DCI Pascoe, has gotten used to giving orders instead of taking them. Meanwhile, as a favor to an old acquaintance, Andy gets involved in a tricky case involving a woman named Gina Wolfe. Seven years earlier, Gina's husband, DI Alex Wolfe, disappeared after a family tragedy and an internal affairs investigation threatened to derail his marriage and career. Gina wants Dalziel to find out if Wolfe is still alive, and if so, what happened to him. Also interested in Alex's whereabouts is an influential and clever criminal who has sent his lackeys to keep Gina and Andy under surveillance.

Reginald Hill is a literate author whose smooth prose, amusing and carefully crafted dialogue, and intriguing story lines have earned him well-deserved accolades among fans of British police procedurals. Dalziel's Yorkshire dialect is a bit off-putting as are his imperious attitude, racism, and male chauvinism. However, he does have redeeming qualities, including an innate passion for justice, a good grasp of how the pieces of an intricate puzzle fit together, and a willingness to stick his neck out. He is funny (not always intentionally), sarcastic, and quick-witted, although his tendency to indulge in too much food and drink sometimes impair his mental acuity.

Alas, this is not one of Hill's most accomplished works. It is too rambling, the convoluted narrative unfolds at a glacial pace, and the surprise ending is a bit too neat. On the other hand, the author is a skillful satirist who skewers such targets as egotistical politicians and predatory journalists, and his large cast of characters is vivid and well-delineated. They include Goldie Gidman, a kingpin who takes great pains to make sure that all of his bases are covered; David the Third, Gidman's son, who has lofty political ambitions that could be derailed by his fondness for the females; Vince and Fleur Delay, an unlikely pair of enforcers; and Gwyn Jones, a Welsh-born newspaperman who is desperate for his next big scoop. The lives of these and others are destined to intersect in strange and unpredictable ways. "Midnight Fugue" (a title that has multiple meanings) explores the idea so concisely expressed by William Faulkner: "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Sooner or later, we all must all face the music for what we have done.

Wit and wisdom collide in the outsize person of Supt. Andy Dalziel, long time head of the Yorkshire constabulary and newly back at work after the bombing that nearly killed him in "Death Comes for the Fat Man."

Dalziel is a bit unsure of himself - well, he did lose a whole day, almost showing up for work on Sunday for a Monday meeting - so a favor for London colleague Mick Purdy comes welcome on the regained Sunday.

Purdy's fiancée, Gina Wolfe, already has a husband. An ex-cop, Alan Wolfe has been missing seven years. He disappeared after the death of their daughter and in the midst of a corruption investigation. Gina was about to have him declared dead when she received a Yorkshire newspaper clipping showing his picture.

Meanwhile there's a menacing brother-and-sister team following Gina at the behest of a London crime-boss-gone-straight. He has the highest political ambitions for his playboy son and wants to ensure that inconvenient people out of his past, like Alan Wolfe, are silenced. Then there's the son's strict, mousy, practical, straight-arrow assistant who does her best to keep her charge politic.

Hill juggles multiple intertwined subplots and characters, inflicting plenty of murder and mayhem on the populace before Dalziel wraps it all up in one 24-hour day. As clever and twisty as ever, if a little more padded than usual, this is another winner from an old master.

Yorkshire police Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel has healed from the injuries he received when a perp tried to kill him. However, even as he is returning to work after a stint at the Avalon Clinic, one thing remains the same: he is still a grump.

However, even he is stunned when Gina Wolfe visits him with a personal request, as people avoid grouches not ask for a favor. Seven years ago her spouse Alex, a police officer was under an Internal Affairs investigation when he vanished; he was never found. Now as she is about to have him legally declared dead, she received a photo of Alex from a magazine looking very much alive. She asks Dalziel to investigate unofficially, which he does.

The latest Dalziel and Pascoe police procedural is an incredible accomplishment by Reginald Hill as there are numerous subplots, strong characterizations and a fast-paced at times humorous story line, which is typical of the series, but all this occurs in 24 hours. Just another day for Dalziel and Pascoe but great frenzy fun for fans as Midnight Fugue will be on the short lists for sub-genre book of the year.

Harriet Klausner

I love Hill's writing style, so I wasn't disappointed by this book. I also love Dalziel and Pascoe, but this book has too little Pascoe. It also has too much political intrigue for my liking. I can watch the news for shady politicians. The book moves along at a nice clip and Dalziel doesn't disappoint. The mysteries were wrapped up with few loose strings. It would be interesting to see some of the characters revisited in a future work.

Reginald Hill's Dalziel (pronounced "dee-ell") and Pascoe books are the crowning glory of his extensive repertoire and I'm guessing they are also the most fun to write. They'd have to be - Andy Dalziel, aka "The Fat Man" is a massive character and, after nearly escaping death, is back in tart and blasphemous form in "Midnight Fugue". This book has a nifty conceit - it takes place in a single day and the chapters tick away the time. The day in question is a gift to Dalziel, who has mistakenly misplaced Saturday. Upon waking, he takes flight for the office only to discover en route that it is Sunday and not Monday. And he will need the seemingly extra day to transact the frantic business of finding a long-dead man, seducing the man's affianced wife, battling for turf with Pascoe (who has come to like running his own show), and crossing paths with a group of criminals who are, even by Hill standards, as inept as they are evil.

There's a lot of backstory here to fill out our omniscient view of the action and some of it wears on a bit, but when the action returns to Dalziel, the focus tightens, as does the story. And our favourite squad characters are back with a little bit more to do than they've had in recent books: Detective Sergeant Wield (I like this character) and DC Novello are well-played and necessary to the action.

This is a little more madcap than most of Hill's offerings, probably because of the timeframe, but it is more fun than wearing. And who could miss with a villain named Fleur Delay?

A friend recommended this book, as she's a fan of this series & Hill in general. So I admit this is the first I'd read of his. I understand that part of his shifting viewpoint relates to the concept of the fugue; and when it occurs between chapters (although rather jumpy and inelegant), that's fine. But to shift for a brief paragraph or worse, a sentence, from the mind of the main chapter character to a minor player is such a point-of-view violation I can't get past it. Occasionally, the shift into someone else's mind wasn't clear, and I'd think, "Wait! Why's he thinking this?" and then I'd realized we'd jumped. Hill's use of free indirect discourse (i.e. going inside someone's mind without setting it off by quotation marks or the "he/she thought/wondered/mused" taglines) contributes to the confusion. It's a great device to create immediacy with third-person POV when you want first-person intimacy, but then you should choose and stick with one character at least for a clear chapter or block. For most of the book, I didn't particularly care about anyone, much less feel any sense of danger/mystery pulling me through to keep reading.

Based on other dissatisfied reviews of this book, I'll give some of his earlier works a try. I do like his use of vocabulary, and he creates authentic characters. So we'll see ....

I've read all the Dalziel and Pascoe books, and this one ranks as one of the best. Hill is a super writer--funny, thoughtful, erudite--and he very cleverly ties up all loose ends. It was a pleasure to read this!