Recalled to Life (Dalziel and Pascoe Series #13) by Reginald Hill

From the Publisher

The New York Times has praised Reginald Hill for raising "the classical British mystery to new heights." Recalled to Life, a textured novel rich in psychological complexities and intricate narrative, brings Reginald Hill to still another level. Here, Detective Superintendent Dalziel and Inspector Pascoe must solve a murder rife with political scandal, but one that happened almost thirty years ago. It was 1963, the year of the Kennedy assassination, the Profumo scandal, and the murder of a young American woman in a case that became known as the Mickledore Hall Murder. The guests at Mickledore Hall the weekend of the killing included a Tory minister, a "dirty tricks" CIA agent, the diplomat James Westropp, and Cissy Kohler, a young American nanny. Dalziel was the protege of the inspector in charge of the case, the man responsible for the arrest of Cissy Kohler and the master of Mickledore Hall in what now appears to have been a grave miscarriage of justice. The convenient scapegoat of the government's full-scale inquiry is Dalziel's late mentor. Determined to prove him right, the bullheaded Dalziel and the engaging Pascoe launch their own unofficial investigation. Dalziel, ordered "to take a vacation," goes to America to continue his probing while Pascoe pursues the investigation in England. Dalziel's certainties begin to erode as he moves from the old world to the new, while Pascoe's conclusions unravel as he moves between the worlds of then and now. Together their explorations carry them to the world of politics, diplomacy, and intrigue, where truths uncovered can be more dangerous than truths interred.

Publishers Weekly

A 1963 murder in Great Britain involving ``a royal, a cabinet minister and an American diplomat'' has repercussions decades later for Det. Supt. Andrew Dalziel and Inspector Peter Pascoe in this dynamic, surprising mystery, their 11th escapade. Shortly after the Profumo scandal rocked England, Pamela Westropp, the wife of a distant cousin of the queen, was killed on a hunting weekend at Mickledore Hall in Yorkshire. Her host and lover Ralph Mickledore was convicted of the crime and hanged, while his alleged accomplice Cissy Kohler, the Westropps' American nanny, was sentenced to life in prison. Nearly 30 years later, the suggestion of new evidence brings about Kohler's release; Dalziel, who was a rookie on the case, enlists Pascoe's help in learning what's behind the current interest. Hill's ( Bones and Silence ) gruff and engaging hero takes on CIA and Home Office figures as he follows Kohler to New York City and Williamsburg, Va., where he unravels the threads of the old crime. Though Hill relies too much on coincidence, the complex plot here sustains interest. The novel's chief rewards, however, are those of character: Dalziel is a brilliant, bearish delight and the supporting players, including a brash black woman CIA agent, provide a constant parade of pleasures. BOMC featured alternate. (Oct.)

Library Journal

As Inspector Dalziel and partner Pascoe work unofficially to refute new evidence concerning a 1963 case, they threaten to unearth various nasty political secrets. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/92.

BookList

While odd-couple detective teams aren't anything new to crime fiction, they still have drawing power, especially if the chemistry is right. It's very right, indeed, in Reginald Hill's series pairing the rough-and-ready Yorkshire charm of Andrew Dalziel with the hidden canniness and quietly driven focus of his quieter subordinate Peter Pascoe. Their last at-bat, "Bones and Silence" , was just maybe the best ever--until now, that is. "Recalled to Life" is quite simply a near-perfect crime novel. Not only is the rotund Dalziel blustering at full throttle, but readers get the unforgettable bonus of watching what happens when he hits the Big Apple. It isn't all just blowhard British detective versus the borough of Manhattan, though; in a lengthy series of flashbacks to the 1960s, Hill reconstructs the mysterious country-house murder of a young woman. A maid is implicated, and the lord of the manor swings for the crime, the last man to be hanged in Britain. But suddenly, many years later, the maid's guilt isn't quite so obvious, and the career of the copper responsible for the investigation, who just happens to have been Dalziel's mentor, is brought into question. Despite aggravation from his namby-pamby, weak-chinned superiors, Dalziel isn't about to let an old pal's name get dragged through the mud--even if it takes a trip to Gotham to sort things out. Hill gives us a masterful composite of character, crime, and comedy. A delight on every level.

Product Details

• ISBN: 0440215730
  
• ISBN-13: 9780440215738
• Format: Mass Market Paperback, 392pp
• Publisher: Dell Publishing
• Pub. Date: July 1993
• Edition Number: 1
• Sales Rank: 89,370
• Series: Dalziel and Pascoe Series, #13

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents