Recalled to Life: A Dalziel and Pascoe Novel [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Reginald Hill (Author), Brian Glover (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1994

'The story is expertly told, skein by skein, with a new knot to be untied just when you think everything is clear' Sunday Telegraph 1963. It was the year of the Profumo Scandal, the Great Train Robbery, the Kennedy Assassination -- and the Mickeldore Hall Murder. The guests at the Hall that weekend had included a Tory minister, a CIA officer specializing in dirty tricks, a British diplomat with royal connections -- and Cissy Kohler, a young American nanny who had come to England for love. And love kept her in England for nearly thirty years. In jail. For murder. Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel is convinced that Cissy Kohler was -- and is -- guilty. But, investigating further, he soon finds his certainties being eroded. Not a state of affairs Dalziel can put up with for long, particularly when his old mentor's reputation is at stake. Not to mention his own!

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

As Inspector Dalziel and partner Pascoe work unofficially to refute new evidence concerning a 1963 case, they threaten to unearth various nasty political secrets. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/92.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

When new evidence in a 1963 murder case leads to a new trial for nanny Cissy Kohler, who's been serving a life sentence for killing her employer's wife Pam Westropp, peerlessly curmudgeonly Mid-Yorkshire Chief Supt. Andrew Dalziel drags D.C.I. Peter Pascoe into the reopened investigation, trying to defend the judgment of Dalziel's mentor Inspector Walter Tallantire, who made the arrest, against the insinuations of South Thames investigating chief Geoffrey Hiller. The case groans under the eminence of the politicos and royal connections involved and the weight of its staggering complexities--did Sir Ralph Mickledore, who was executed for the murder, pull the trigger at the instigation of Cissy? why did Cissy, who never denied her guilt, suddenly seek parole 13 years after her conviction and just as suddenly abandon it? why is the witness whose long-suppressed testimony abruptly freed Cissy found dead?--but the salt-and-pepper inquiries of Dalziel and Pascoe, especially a flying trip that leads to the tabloid headline ``CROCODILE DALZIEL,'' are pure pleasure. Not quite the equal of the sterling Bones and Silence (1990), but several lengths ahead of the current competition. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Chivers Audio Books (July 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745142990
• ISBN-13: 978-0745142999
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.7 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,015,318 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

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars English language, British humor at its best..., June 6, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Recalled to Life (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Reginald Hill's books on Dalziel/Pascoe make me laugh. One of the best things that can be said about any author is that they make you laugh! If they can do it while spinning a pretty good plot in the mystery genre, they have my admiration. Hill's cop-duet are an odd couple. I know the prevalence of 'odd couples' in mysteries has been done and overdone, but Hill brings a breath of fresh air to the genre with these two. I know I couldn't possibly stand either Dalziel or Pascoe alone through a whole book, hence they play off of one another to keep the reader interested and the plot interesting.

Now granted, every once in a while Hill feels he has to authenticate his cops with language I would prefer not to read. But...having been around some military and a few cops, I would not be surprised if they do talk like this except around women and children. Hill's books have enough good writing to make up for the occasional lapse into raunchy language.

This book combines not just a murder mystery but also incorporates a bit of the spy genre in here, as it involves both American CIA and British royalty in the murder. The plot becomes convoluted throughout the book since the people originally in the house at the time of the 'accidental' shooting not only do not stay in Britain, but they don't even stay married to the same people. It's a bit of a strain at times keeping people separated, but worth it.

I got a huge kick out of Dalziel's visit to America, and much of the language. I always have wished I had the knack of someone like Dalziel, who is an older British curmudgeon, to administer dry, humorous put-downs...I am not sure if someone like him would make it in the 'real world' without more diplomatic abilities than he seems willing to be bothered with...so he really does need Pascoe to smooth things over and 'cover his rear'.

A totally enjoyable reading...

Karen Sadler

University of Pittsburgh

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sexual intercourse began in 1963 (and very British scandals), July 11, 2000

By 

"scottish_lawyer" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Recalled to Life (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

For some reason 1963 is a landmark year in British culture. Kim Philby defected. The Profumo affair (prostitutes and politicians - a potent mix) broke. And, as Philip Larkin had it "Sexual intercourse began in nineteen sixty three between the end of the Chatterley ban and the Beatles first LP". The era is revisited in a number of novels, including John LAwton's A Little White Death. Recalled to Life is Reginald Hill's take on the era.

Hill is one of the finest contemporary genre writers. His Dalziel and Pascoe series is a long running police procedural series that rarely flags, due not only to the stength of the central characters (well drawn, and believably human, they are the bull like Superintendent Andy Dalziel, and sensitive graduate Inspector Peter Pascoe), but also the variety and deft characterisation of the peripheral characters (be they regulars like Sergeant Edgar Wield (a gay police officer), or Pascoe's wife Ellie a former sociology lecturer). Sometimes, though, all does not work as it should. In my view this is one such novel.

The novel begins with the release of Cissy Kohler from prison. She had been convicted of a country house murder in 1963, where in attendance were a prominent politician, an industrialist, a distant royal relative, and an American "diplomat" (together with assorted spouses, nannies and children). Dalziel was involved in the original investigation, and becomes involved in reassessing the investigation. His investigations take him to the United States, where his Yorkshire based brand of zero tolerance sees him featured on the front of a newspaper as "Crocodile Dalziel". The story comes together with involvement of the media, the secret service (from the UK and the USA), police corruption investigation, high politics, low deceit. Hill handles the plot in an exemplary fashion, drawing together the strands, and running a number of storylines/strands of investigation simultaneously. So far, so police procedural.

As ever the peripheral characters are delightfully drawn, from the ageing Scottish nanny, Miss Marsh, to the money grabbing former prison officer, encountered by Peter Pascoe, to Lord Partridge, a former cabinet minister, forced to resign in the aftermath of the Profumo affair.

So why the moderate ranking? If 3.5 stars were available I would have awarded that. But, there seems to be something missing in this book. The Dalziel and Pascoe series works at its best on home ground, drawing strength from the Yorkshire geography and culture (witness On Beulah Height and Bones and Silence). However, here by removing Dalziel from home base we are left with a number of forced situations of an Englishman abroad. There is also an unlikely love (lust?) interest that stretches the bounds of credibility.

This is a very enjoyable mystery novel. It has the usual Hill virtues (plotting, characterisation, and a twisted sense of humour), and manages to say a lot about English society. However, for me, the spark is missing.

If you enjoyed this novel try the Lawton book or either of the the Dalziel and Pascoe books mentioned earlier.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cake and the Fat Man, April 30, 2010

By 

MJS "Constant Reader" (New York, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Recalled to Life: A Dalziel and Pascoe Novel (Audio Cassette)

This is the first book I've read in the Dalziel & Pascoe series. I'm not all that impressed. The mystery was ok but dragged out to a silly degree - that may be because the murder took place 30 years before. Whether one enjoys this book depends on whether you find the character of Andy Dalziel a humorous force of nature with the deducting powers of Sherlock Holmes or an oaf. I'm in the oaf camp. All the references to Andy as "the fat man" left me wondering where Jake was hiding.

Listening to this on audiobook probably didn't help as the narrator, Brian Glover, should be legally barred from doing American accents. He shouldn't be allowed to do British accents either (only two speeds there - Yorkshire and Winston Churchill) but his American accents were appalling. Every single American character, and there were many, no matter what age, sex or social class sounded like Archie Bunker. Ok, not all of them. The train conductor sounded like a Steppinfetchit and the southern belle sounded like Aunt Jemima.