Recalled to Life

At a private house party in 1963, a Royal diplomat, a CIA officer and a Tory minister, among others, play and hunt - until the wife of one of the party is found dead in the gun room. Was it a suicide, an accident or, possibly, murder? A very young Andrew Dalziel is part of the investigating team, which ends with a peer being hanged and an American nanny spending decades in a British jail. Fast forward 30 years and the case is being reopened, with a view toward blaming Dalziel’s former superior for a miscarriage of justice, something Dalziel cannot abide…. It took some time to locate a copy of "Recalled to Life," as it seems to be out of print generally, but my husband managed to track it down. It is the 13th novel in the long show more Dalziel and Pascoe series, and draws upon real British scandals while examining the justice system through a fictional scandal. Dalziel gets to America, which is a hoot, and all the literary tricks and scathing humour that we’ve come to expect in this series are on full display; recommended! show less

I'd forgotten what a pleasure it is to read one of these Dalziel and Pascoe mysteries. I found this one, tucked up unread on the shelf, like an unexpected gift.

Hill's characters have depth, his plotting is intricate, and he provides many twists and turns not to mention somersaults and backflips on the way to solving the mystery. This one involves a murder from 1963 which is being reinvestigated officially by the police, and off the books by Dalziel. It kept me guessing until the very end.

Reg Hill at his supreme best.
I am sure that, were one to go through this complex plot with a fine tooth comb, one could find flaws but, as a thoroughly enjoyable read, this tale of police, UK and US 'funny buggers' and the British Aristocracy, takes some beating.
They say that tragedy and comedy are two faces of the same beast and that is seldom better illustrated than in a work such as this where, one minute one finds oneself sympathizing with the unfortunate Cissy Kholer, and the next laughing at 'Crocodile Daziel's' outrageous antics.
Naturally, with such a cocktail of law agencies nobody gets to know the truth - except, of course, the reader and a strangely reflective Andy Daziel.

Practically flawless, Reginald Hill at the top of his Dalziel & Pascoe game. Very, VERY funny in parts (particularly those involving Dalziel of course but Pascoe also gets in with a few laughs), clever and pacey. Great stuff!

The decision by the narrator/publisher to have the Yorkshire accent feature so strongly in this audio book was a brave one, and, for this non-Yorkshire listener, a trying one. I kept wishing they would lapse into "proper" English.

The story begins with the release of Cissy Kohler from prison, her sentence quashed, but the reason for the release is not given. "New evidence at come to light" - at the instigation of an American TV host into whose care Cissy is released.

The conviction obtained 30 years before is under scrutiny, especially the role played by the now-dead Inspector Tallantire, Dalziel's old boss. If Cissy Kohler is innocent, what does that mean in the case of Mickledore who was hanged for the murder?

In the long run the plot show more was a very complex one with some historical roots. Listening to an audio version probably detracted from my ability to follow the plot, as it is very difficult to check on a point that you didn't quite get the significance of at first. This book also has little quotations at the beginning of each chapter, and their meaning often quite eluded me.

I was struck though by Reginald Hill's at times quirky sense of humour, interesting turn of phrase, an allusions to other literature. show less

Although I must say that this is your typical English cozy mystery, I mean that in the very best sense – it’s fun to read, moves along in a brisk fashion, and presents an intriguing puzzle (and of course, it all begins at an English manor in the country). I thoroughly enjoyed this light offering feature Detectives Dalziel and Pascoe and will probably seek out more in the series.

This started off well, but I soon began to find it confusing: there were too many people at the house party in the 1960s who were all sleeping with each other and some of them were British and some of them were American. Dalziel and Pascoe were their usual selves and the humour was there, but I found it hard to care about any of the other characters.

The solutions to the various mysteries were convoluted and involved Dalziel going to the US and apparently not knowing what a muffin or a pretzel is. I was glad when it was all over, but I'm not sure even now I grasped the whole plot.