Customer Reviews
A muddled read - By: Ms. A. Brooke, 30 Dec 2008 
I'm usually a great fan of the Dalziel & Pascoe novels, but this is one of the poorer ones. Frankly the first 200 or so pages are not worth reading & are very dull. It's only on Page 205 (in my paperback edition) when the murder finally happens that the novel actually commences. If I were you, I'd start there & you've lost nothing. I can also recommend skipping entirely any of Charley's boring & long-winded emails - they're not worth the read either. Other than that, the rest of it is fine. Though there are far, far too many exclamation marks scattered throughout the book, which gives an unfortunately amateur feel.
The one really good thing is at least we do get a lot of the marvellous Franny Root - he's fabulous & holds the book together. More power to his elbow, as that's a hard task indeed.
One for the committed fans only, & let's hope Hill is back on form with the next one.
Fat Fighters - By: Sheumais, 29 Dec 2008 
The Fat Arm of the Law is indeed back, sort of. It's not just the principal character which is overweight, as this ultimately frustrating book drags on rather too long & is very unsatisfactorily concluded.
Neither the crime nor the victim are a great surprise & a lot of fun is to be hadin the build-up of the various protagonists/suspects, but, once the crime has been committed, the book's momentum is lost. Perhaps taking so much out of its usual context is unsettling & the arrival of Pascoe & Wield seems more like an invasion, but it gave me the impression the author has lost some affection for the characters & is perhaps becoming bored with Dalziel & Pascoe.
This book reminds me of much of Dick Francis' output, a good story spoiled by a weak conclusion. I would almost go so far as to recommend avoiding this one, especially having enjoyed The Death of Dalziel more than any otherin the series. My hesitationin doing so is that half of this book is very enjoyable, but that is spoiled by the messy, frustrating & implausible conclusion. The format,in six parts, is insignificant & seems rather pointless.
Stop the moaning!!! - By: Jeff, 09 Dec 2008 
I'm staggered at the amount of moaning about this book! For goodness' sake [1-star reviewers please note correct apostrophe] can't you respect a quality author trying to stretch the boundaries? I'm not that well-readin Jane Austen but know enough that she [to whose followers this book is dedicated] wasin many ways ahead of the gamein her own time. To the initiated [or at least those who listen to Mr Hill's drift] there are all sorts of clues, many wryly amusing. If you're going to appreciate a writer like Hill, stay with him, go the distance. Frankly, it's you who will be found wanting. Enough. Having said all that, the book is not the writer's best but he's hamstrungin trying to get fatman back to base within a reasonable timescale. Can we now bid farewell to Franny Roote though, please - I'm fed up with him.
Too clever by half! - By: Bc V. Price, 05 Nov 2008 I am a great fan of the Dalziel & Pascoe books by Reginald Hill. So as other fans of the charactrs have already said I too was greatly looking forward to catching up on the latest escapades from our 'Heroes'.
Sad to report, I was bitterly dissapointed with this book.
It was a cross between a Victorian style Jane Austen 'Dear Diary' format & the bluster of Andy Dalziel of mid Yorkshires finest.
I found the very large chunks of the book given over to the emails.....did I say emails! I mean tomes between psycholigist Charlotte Heywood & her sister 'somewherein Africa' tedious & slowed the plot down. I realise it was used to build a theme for the books, but surely there could have been some other way of doing this or at least cut down the emails. Nobody sends stuff of that length by email surley .
I feel maybe Reginald Hill, needs to think carefully, about how he writes the next Dalziel & Pascoe novel or he will lose a lot of readers who quite frankly will be bored.
Keep the intellectual aspirations out of your Detective novels Reg'! Save it for your other books.
Failed experiment - By: B. Cooper, 02 Nov 2008 I'm only half-way through this book (having read all previous Reg Hill books) & can say that I nearly abandoned it. The first part, which is almost allin the form of email correspondence, is far too lengthy - I don't care if it's setting the scene, I was constantly waiting for something to happen.
My main complaint is the lack of punctuationin the emails - I use emails every day & can't understand why we have to have a separate grammatical style for them. The word 'shed' primariliy conveys a wooden building at the bottom of the garden; but notin these emails - it's actually 'she'd' without the apostrophe. (Other examples - wed, im, couldnt, hed, hes etc). WHY? It annoyed me intensely & reduced my enjoyment of the book. Does Mr Hill think that to emphasise the email style all he has to do is omit apostrophes?
I have now just reached part 2, which I see is writtenin Mr Hill's usual style & I shall continue to the end.
Mind you, having said all the above, should Mr Hill write & publish another book - I will almost certainly buy it!
