The Death Of Dalziel

There was no sign of life. But not for a second did Pascoe admit the possibility of death. Dalziel was indestructible. Dalziel is, and was, and forever shall be, world without end, amen. Chief constables might come and chief constables might go, but Fat Andy went on forever. Caught in the full blast of a huge explosion, Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel lies on a hospital bed, with only a life support system and his indomitable will between him and the Great Beyond. His colleague, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe, is determined to bring those responsible to justice. Pascoe suspects a group called The Templars, and the deeper he digs, the more certain he is that The Templars are getting help from within the police force. The plot is complex, the pace fast, the jokes furious, and the climax astounding. And above it all, like a huge dirigible threatening to break from its moorings, hovers the disembodied spirit of Andy Dalziel.

Three times DCI Pascoe has wrongly accused dead-pan joker Franny Roote. This time he’s determined to leave no gravestone unturned as he tries to prove that the ex-con and aspiring academic is mad, bad, and dangerous to know. Meanwhile, Edgar Wield rides to the rescue of a child in danger, only to find he has a rent-boy with a priceless secret under his wing. DC Bowler is looking forward to a blissful New Year with the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, her dreams are filled with a horror too terrible to tell . . . And over all this activity broods the huge form of DS Andy Dalziel. As trouble builds, the Fat Man discovers (as have many deities before him) that omniscience can be more trouble than it’s worth and that sometimes all omnipotence means is that you can have any colour you want, as long as it’s black.

'The Death of Dalziel' is the return of Dalziel and Pascoe, the popular police duo. Dalziel is the victim of a huge Semtex explosion and it is up to DCI Peter Pascoe to seek justice for him.

Caught in the blast of a huge Semtex explosion, the only thing preventing Superintendent Andy Dalziel from stepping through Death's door might be his own size. As he lies on a hospital bed, it falls on DCI Peter Pascoe to seek justice for Andy. The security services have written it off as an accident.

The highly anticipated return of Dalziel and Pascoe, the hugely popular police duo and stars of the long-running BBC TV series, in a new psychological thriller.

Not for a second did Pascoe admit the possibility of death. Dalziel was indestructible. Dalziel is, and was, and forever shall be, world without end, amen . . . Chief constables might come and chief constables might go, but Fat Andy went on forever. Barreling his way into an investigation of possible terrorist activities, Superintendent Andy Dalziel is caught in the blast of a huge explosion at a video shop—and only "Fat Andy's" considerable bulk prevents his colleague, Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe, from suffering a similar fate. Now Dalziel lies on a hospital bed barely clinging to life, while Pascoe remains determined to find those responsible. But the truth is not always cut-and-dried, and sometimes those who are sworn to terror's destruction are even more dangerous than the foe they wish to annihilate.

Reginald Hill, “the master of form and sorcerer of style” returns with an internationally bestselling mystery as Dalziel and Pascoe pursue their most twisted opponent yet – the Wordman. A diabolically clever plot full of puns, cryptic riddles and word play that tests the mettle of Dalziel and Pascoe. A man drowns. Another dies in a motorbike crash. Two seemingly random accidents, yet, in a pair of so-called dialogues sent to the Mid-Yorkshire Gazette, apparently as entries in a short story competition, someone seems to be claiming responsibility. At the Mid-Yorkshire CID, however, no one seems to take the deaths seriously, not even young DC Hat Bowler. But when the story is leaked to the media, and a third indisputable murder occurs, Dalziel and Pascoe find themselves playing a deadly game against an opponent known as the Wordman. Gradually, the hunt focuses on three main suspects. Yet Dialogue follows Dialogue and funeral follows funeral until Hat Bowler begins to fear that the next murder may strike very close to home...

Reginald Hill's “Dialogues of the Dead is a bridge that spans the classic English whodunit and the dark heart of contemporary crime fiction, the serial-killer novel....The fertility of Hill's imagination, the range of his power, the sheer quality of his literary style never cease to delight.” (Val McDermid) Normally, there would be nothing sinister about a death by drowning and a motorcycle fatality—had these tragic occurrences not been predicted before the fact in a pair of macabre "Dialogues" submitted to a Yorkshire short story competition. Yet the local police department is slow to act—until the arrival of a third Dialogue...and another corpse. A darkness is settling over a terrorized community, brought on by a genius fiend who hides clues to his horrific acts in complex riddles and brilliant wordplay. Now two seasoned CID investigators, Peter Pascoe and "Fat Andy" Dalziel, are racing against a clock whose every tick signals more blood and outrage, caught in the twisted game of a diabolical killer who is turning their jurisdiction into a slaughterhouse.