Midnight Fugue

Starred review from August 24, 2009
The short time frame of British author Hill's strong 24th Dalziel and Pascoe procedural (after 2008's The Price of Butcher's Meat
) maximizes suspense without sacrificing either characterization or humor. Andy Dalziel, an irascible dinosaur of a police officer who's only just returned to the Mid-Yorkshire force after recovering from a serious injury, is tracked down by Gina Wolfe, whose policeman husband, Alex, has been missing for seven years. Alex disappeared while under investigation by internal affairs, who suspected him of leaking information to a major criminal target. Gina was on the verge of having Alex declared legally dead, until she received a recent magazine photo clearly showing Alex or his double. Dalziel's decision to assist Gina unofficially in finding out what became of Alex leads to his placing a colleague in jeopardy. Numerous subplots don't slow the pace, a testament to Hill's skill in putting all the pieces together.

October 15, 2009
The search for a colleague long presumed dead leads Chief Supt. Andrew Dalziel to 16 of the most jam-packed hours ever to strike the Mid-Yorkshire Constabulary.

Following the death of their daughter Lucy seven years ago, Gina Wolfe left her husband Alex, a one-time police inspector dropped from the Ilford force over unproved accusations of bribery. Alex retaliated by disappearing. Now Gina's fallen in love with his old boss, Commander Mick Purdy, and can't remarry unless Alex is proven to be dead. The problem is, he doesn't act dead. Someone's sent a recent photo of a man who looks like his twin to Gina, and Purdy has encouraged her to talk to his old mate Andy Dalziel, still recovering from a near-fatal bombing (The Price of Butcher's Meat, 2008, etc.), about tracking him down. Before Andy can do more than take Gina to lunch, a nefarious pair stalking her on behalf of shady financier Goldie Gidman make their move. The resulting violence will send one of Andy's favorite constables to the hospital, an inoffensive young man to the morgue, DCI Peter Pascoe to the forefront and the survivors scurrying about as if they were being chased by malefactors with pitchforks and burning brands. What mystery there is in the case of Alex Wolfe's disappearance is solved with insolent dispatch, but Hill keeps a particularly nasty surprise up his sleeve for last.

The accelerated timetable gives Dalziel and Pascoe's 24th a Rube Goldberg effervescence that contrasts effectively with the pervasive sadness beneath.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 15, 2009
Over the years, Hill has employed interestingand sometimes jarringnarrative techniques, and the 24th installment (after "The Price of Butcher's Meat") in his Yorkshire-set series featuring detectives Andy Dalziel and Pete Pascoe is no exception: the novel takes place in the course of a single day. Dalziel is still adjusting to being back at work after his injuries and long convalescence. He is asked to help Gina Wolfe, wife of long-missing detective Alex Wolfe. Dalziel quickly sees that the case is much more complicated than it appears, and he and the team spend a dizzying day uncovering leads and trying to protect Gina from dangerous characters from Alex's past. VERDICT This complicated mystery with great characters and a fast pace will attract Hill's loyal following and fans of British police procedurals. Hill is a very talented wordsmith as well, and his works should appeal to those seeking out well-written, carefully crafted crime novels.Beth Lindsay, Washington State Univ. Libs., Pullman

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2009
Hill, who has won the UKs Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for his Dalziel and Pascoe novels, produces his twenty-fourth in the series about the two hard-bitten Yorkshire coppers, Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel and sidekick Detective Sergeant Peter Pascoe. The number 24 is reflected in the plot, which is compressed into a single day. Hill also references a musical fugue, or restatements of a theme, in a somewhat heavy-handed wayby the time readers get to the ending, billed as con fuoco poi smorzando, they may have tired of the poorly explained conceit. But theres enough to keep fans of the series happyDalziel, who has spent the past two books recovering from a terrorist bomb, is back at work full time. A woman contacts himshe wants to make sure her husband, a London bobby gone missing for years, is actually dead. The case intensifies, crime spreads, Dalziel and Pascoe trade barbs, and some order has been restored to the world. A must for series fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)