Who Guards a Prince [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Reginald Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 2006

Who would sever a tongue from a living mouth? Or kill a pathetic, homeless old man? Or terrify a young doctor into silence? The questions are piling up, and Doug McHarg can’t stop asking them, even – especially – when he’s warned off his inquiries by his boss in the local police force, by Scotland Yard, and by increasingly professional death-threats. The pattern that emerges is of a shadowy, immensely powerful organization, with a reach that extends to the White House and the English throne. And all that stands against them is the implacable McHarg – one discontented copper with little left to lose. Best known for his award-winning series featuring Dalziel and Pascoe of the Mid-Yorkshire CID, in Who Guards a Prince Reginald Hill takes on a different kind of cop and a very different bad guy. The Philadelphia Inquirer called the book “a good old-fashioned thriller,” but in truth, that doesn’t begin to describe the ride.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Hill "may be our finest living crime writer" --[London] Sunday Telegraph

"The characters are a treat and the storytelling delivered with charm, irony, and laid-back savvy." --Kirkus

"An exciting page turner, literate and clever" --Library Journal --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Hill has won both Britain's CWA Gold Dagger Award (for best mystery of the year) and Cartier Diamond Dagger Award (for lifetime achievement in mystery fiction), as well as an Anthony Award, a Barry Award, three Edgar Award nominations, and a Macavity Award. His books appear on many lists of the 100 best mysteries of the 20th century. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Oakhill Publishing Limited; Unabridged edition (November 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1846481473
• ISBN-13: 978-1846481475
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific writing by a mystery master, December 27, 2007

By 

Blue in Washington "Barry Ballow" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Who Guards a Prince (Felony & Mayhem Mysteries) (Paperback)

Most readers know Reginald Hill for the Pascoe and Dalziel series that has established the author as one of the best mystery writers of the past 20 years. "Who Guards a Prince" is one of Hill's early, pre-Pascoe/Dalziel stories that thankfully has recently been republished. This is a literate, engaging and at times, terrifying story of conspiracy and blackguardness that leaves you thinking that it all is quite plausible in this day and age. The book's hero is Douglas McHarg, a tough police inspector who has hit some pretty tough times because of his nonconformist approach to his profession (and life in general). While this might sound uncomfortably familiar--how many of this type inhabit the average mystery/crime story?--McHarg is an original in many ways. But the book's strongest point is the intricate plot line that author lays out that is sophisticated and never insulting to the reader's intelligence. The characters here are also wonderfully drawn--large, but not overly so.

This is one of the best mysteries I've read in a long time. Highly recommended.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Way too many murders in one story, December 20, 2009

By 

northkona (Kailua-Kona, HI United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Who Guards a Prince (Felony & Mayhem Mysteries) (Paperback)

This book has way too many nasty murders to be believable. It did strike me after awhile that maybe Dan Brown read this book at some point and it planted a seed in his head for the DaVinci Code and the concept of secret societies with long histories. It's a pretty old book, and he might have run across it. If you're really into Reginald Hill, reading one of his early novels could be OK. It's pretty well written, but the story is too involved, too vicious, and requires too great a suspension of disbelief. The Dalziel & Pascoe books are generally much better than this.

I've bought several Felony & Mayhem books by now, and I must say, none of them has been that good. Maybe F&M acquires early or less successful titles at less expensive rates. I plan to be more cautious about buying from their list in the future. They seem to republish a lot of old mysteries, so if you're a student of the genre, some of the oldies are entertaining, but many of the F&M titles show that they haven't aged well.

1.0 out of 5 stars Dire, May 7, 2011

By 

Libros (NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Guards a Prince (Felony & Mayhem Mysteries) (Paperback)

I'm a huge Reginald Hill fan, but this early book was nearly unreadable; it was just silly and over the top. I struggled to finish it and then wondered why I'd bothered. The Dalgliesh/Pascoe books are infinitely better, so don't waste your time with this one.