Death's Jest-Book

DCI Peter Pascoe is again being bedeviled by his nemesis, Franny Roote, this time through long, chatty letters that Roote keeps sending him detailing his travels in academia and Europe. Pascoe remains convinced that Roote is a serial killer, especially as numerous individuals connected to him keep mysteriously dying in such a way that gives an advantage to Roote, but as ever, he cannot prove this. Meanwhile, DC “Hat” Bowler is pursuing a romance with the woman of his dreams, Rye, but readers of the series know something important about her that Hat doesn’t; and DS Edgar Wield becomes involved with a rent boy whom he hopes to be able to save…. As always with Mr. Hill’s novels, there are multiple threads running throughout show more Death’s Jest-Book, and they’re all very layered and dense. In essence, this novel can be seen as the third in a trilogy (including Arms and the Women and Dialogues of the Dead) featuring Pascoe’s relationship with Franny Roote, but there’s ever so much more than just that going on. Highly recommended! show less

Another entertaining, complex Dalziel and Pascoe novel. This time the literary hook is the relatively obscure Romantic poet Thomas Lovell Beddoes, and we have an engaging bit of academic skulduggery involving competing biographies. A small irritation is that neither the author nor the publisher has bothered to get a native speaker to check the little bits of German that are scattered throughout the text, leaving a number of annoying little typos. Not very professional.

Something to be aware of is that, whilst most of the D&P novels are essentially self-contained, this one follows closely on from Dialogues of the Dead — in essence, it's a reopening of that case — so, especially if you are obsessive about spoilers, make sure you've show more read the earlier book first. Franny Roote and Rye Pomona are both back as central characters. Parts of the book are set in Sheffield and at "Estotiland", a thinly disguised version of Meadowhall, which gives Hill the chance for a few entertaining little digs at South Yorkshire.

Hmm: Dialogues of the Dead, Death's Jest-book, The Death of Dalziel,A Cure for all diseases — is it just me, or do you get the feeling that Hill is getting a bit morbid in his old age? Obviously, you can't write murder mysteries without bringing death into them somewhere, but in this book it becomes a fairly central theme. show less

The fertility of Regional Hills imagination,the range of his power,the sheer quality of his litary style never cease to delight.
DCI Pascoe continues to receive correspondence from Franney Roote as xcon Roote aspires to become an author and academic.
Edgar Wields rent a boy informer is torn between protecting him and his duty as a cop.
DC Bowler has found the love of his life. Unfortunately her life is filled with horror.
DS Andy Dalziel gives strength, direction and deep sympathy with his staff to solve this multi level thriller.

The usual casr of inmates in Yorkshire's fictional police department, this account weaves three separate stories into one. A recently released, wrongly accused felon and his weird relationship with the officer who put him in prison intertwined with a young constable's fatal attraction to his librarian amour; topped-off by another officer's alternative lifestyle that includes a homeless boy who feeds him news of local criminal activity.
All in all a good read, but sometimes confusing as it jumps from story to story and character to character.

Hops about a bit - but in the end the three threads merge well to a good climatic ending

ZERO STARS. Reginald Hill seems to have quite the following, but I just cannot get into his novel Death's Jest-Book. I have tried to read it 3 times now and just cannot get into it.

Great as usual - make sure you read :Dialogues of the Dead" first though.