Product Description

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. It starts with a phone call to Superintendent Dalziel from an old friend asking for help. But where it ends is a very different story. Gina Wolfe has come to Mid-Yorkshire in search of her missing husband, believed dead. Her fiance, Commander Mick Purdy of the Met, thinks Dalziel should be able to take care of the job. What none of them realize is how events set in motion decades ago will come to a violent head on this otherwise ordinary summer's day. A Welsh tabloid journalist senses the story he's been chasing for years may have finally landed in his lap. A Tory MP's secretary suspects her boss's father has an unsavoury history that could taint his prime ministerial ambitions. The ruthless entrepreneur in question sends two henchmen out to make sure the past stays in the past. And the lethal pair dispatched have some awkward secrets of their own. Four stories, two mismatched detectives trying to figure it all out, and 24 hours in which to do it: Dalziel and Pascoe are about to learn the hard way exactly just how much difference a day makes!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9130 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Crime fiction fans are devoted to Reginald Hill’s excellent sequence of Dalziel & Pascoe novels, and there is a burgeoning interest in his equally adroit series featuring the canny private eye Joe Sixsmith (notably The Roar of the Butterflies, one of the most compelling entries in the series). However, for the real Reg Hill aficionado, it’s Fat Andy and his more sophisticated colleague who inspire the real dedication, so the arrival of a new book, Midnight Fugue, is a cause for celebration – particularly as a refutation of the information in the title of Hill’s recent novel, Dalziel is Dead.

Gina Wolfe arrives in north Yorkshire seeking her missing husband, believed dead. Her new fiancé, a policeman in the Met, suggests the caustic copper Andy Dalziel might be of help – and everyone involved discovers that dark events of years ago have a way of causing troubling eruptions in the present.

It's hard to believe, but it’s been nearly four decades since readers first encountered the well-read, sensitive detective Peter Pascoe and his partner, the brash but winning Andy Dalziel, in A Clubbable Woman. Hill has always rung the changes in the series with new wrinkles that take us to startling terra incognita (for example, One Small Step addressed the first murder on the moon in the year 2010). But the key factor in the series’ continuing success (leaving aside the ratings-winning TV adaptations) is Hill’s eagerness to take on key societal issues (always, however, married to reader-grabbing plots) – and that characteristic is abundantly evident in Midnight Fugue, with the two protagonist striking sparks off each other in the usual highly satisfying fashion. --Barry Forshaw

Review
[Reginald Hill] shows no sign of descending from the high quality of his writing ... Beautifully plotted and intriguingly resolved --The Times, 13 June, 2009

Review
A masterly performance ... The plot contains at least three twists but, as always, the greatest pleasure lies in the humorous interaction between the machosexual Dalziel and his more enlightened colleagues ... will deservedly be one of this summer's big bestsellers

Customer Reviews

Shorter but Pretty Sweet
After the last few Dalziel and Pascoe outings, this is considerably shorter. The characterization isn't as complex as we have seen during the Franny Roote saga, but Hill brings a new dimension to the relationship between Dalziel and Pascoe. It's time for the balance of power between the two to be addressed, especially since Dalziel's near-death experience, and Hill starts the process here. The plot, while not wholly original, sprints along nicely. The device of confining present day action to a single day keeps you turning the pages. Even though I normally like to savour a Hill book, this length and pace was a perfect early summer read. I'm looking forward to the next stage in this series; will some familiar faces from this book show up again?

As Good As Ever
Reginald Hill hasn't disappointed with his latest Dalziel and Pascoe novel, he's still on top form. Dalziel is recovering from his spell in hospital and the convalescent home - he's returned to work earlier than his doctors recommended - but, after a shaky start, manages to solve the mystery which he gets involved in. The story moves quickly with all the wry humour of previous books.

A cracking yarn Gromit ! (Said in a broad Yorkshire accent)
If you have read Mr Hill's other work you'll be glad to know this is excellent. It can't reach the heights of some in the Fat Andy series but they would be worth 8 stars each.

If you have never read any of Mr Hill's work how I envy you - over 20 great books are available to you.

By the way the TV series although okish is not a patch on the books so don't let the telly version put you off the books.