Who Guards the Prince? [Paperback]

Reginald Hill (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Pantheon Books (1982)
• ISBN-10: 0394713370
• ISBN-13: 978-0394713373
• ASIN: B002I45U2E
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• 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)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.