A Clubbable Woman (1970)

The first in the Dalziel-Pascoe series, introducing Fat Andy in one of his natural habitats -- the local rugby club. Humor, atmosphere, characters, plot -- this book has it all, and is a good introduction to Hill's series. Later on, he does a lot of experimentation with the form, but at this point he was writing in the classic mystery form. Recommended. ( )

pretty good mystery and Dalziel is as annoying as ever :) ( )

This was a recommendation from a patron, actually, who knows my taste in stuff and I was actually surprised by how much I liked it. The characters involved in the murder are truly interesting and the two detectives are likable, almost instantaneously, in their own unique ways. I think my enjoyment of this first book was based on the fact that the story revolved around rugby, which isn't a sport I'm familiar with, but it's a sport all the same. That started the novel off on the right foot and it just got better from there. I quite liked Dalziel and Pascoe -- especially the way they ended up playing off each other as the novel went on. The plot was interesting, I kept trying to guess who the killer was (and got close a few times and figured out, then was like, no that can't be ... and then it was). I will definitely attempt to read more of this series. It definitely fits into my obsession with things created before I was born (aka in the 60s and early to mid 70s). ( )

Abridged audio adaptation of the first book in the Dalziel & Pascoe series (which I've previously reviewed), on 3 CDs. It's read by Warren Clarke, who played Dalziell in the tv adaptation. This is a good abridgement, which from following along in places on the printed edition I thought cut about half the text while retaining everything needed for the plot, plus a good chunk of the characterisations. Clarke does an excellent job of reading. ( )

A good enough entry to the Dalziel and Pascoe series. It is the first one, so readers more familiar with Hill's later work may be surprised by how his narrative voice feels. I don't remember Pascoe having quite so many internal monologues in later works, but it's interesting to see them in a more rambly form.

The case itself had decent twists and turns, but the atmosphere of the book was definitely saturated in rugby; the family at the heart of the case are involved with a rugby club. Not being a rugby person myself, I found the rugby discussion bits/metaphors going over my head. Nevertheless, I did enjoy this book, but I would suggest that newcomers to Dalziel and Pascoe get a few of the more recent ones under their belt before going back to this one. ( )