Death Comes for the Fat Man

There are times when Reginald Hill is so plummy and full of his own literary genius that I can't keep up. Those books feel contrived to let us feel his intelligence and I want to tear my hair and say "we know you're brilliant so please just tell us one of your whopping good stories"! I doubt he has really heard me but "Death Comes for the Fat Man" is just perfectly brilliant storytelling with enough of Hill's blazing intellect to keep things challenging but not enough to stifle the desire for the tale to go on. This is a tough one that takes in terrorism in present-day Britain and the problems faced by the poor street coppers. Enter our favorite fat superintendent Andy Dalziel and his beautifully maturing minion Peter Pascoe whose lives are altered in a flash of explosive. Pascoe lives and Dalziel hangs on by a thin sinew through the whole book. It was beautiful to see the calm, urbane Pascoe take on all of the best and worst of the character of Dalziel as he is allowed to shadow the investigation while Dalziel dances with death. In fact (and I am not one of those heartless reviewers who insist on spoiling the ending), I was absolutely breathless until the end and truly did not want to finish this book. I wanted it to go on and on. But resolve it he did and, to his credit, Hill did a hearty turn on terrorist cells, immigrants, and our own fears and prejudices. He took a lot of chances with this book and I appreciated every one of them.

In this twenty-second Dalziel and Pascoe mystery, a young Mid-Yorkshire police constable sees a man waving a gun inside a shabby video store which has been flagged for follow-up by an anti-terrorist unit, should unusual activity be observed there. The local police, including Det. Supt. Andy Dalziel and Chief Inspector Peter Pascoe, arrive on the scene to investigate this report, just as an earth-shattering explosion takes place. Both Pascoe and Dalziel are seriously injured, with the hefty Dalziel comatose and dying. Straight-talking Dalziel has always been bold and aggressive, willing to take chances and leave "the book" behind when necessary. Pascoe, by contrast, is a "master of diplomatic reticence." With Dalziel comatose, however, Pascoe determines to find out who and what caused the explosion, and he agrees to work with the Combined Anti-Terrorist Unit (CAT) of MI5 and Special Forces as they try to unravel events. Pascoe soon finds himself acting on his own, however, becoming as aggressive as Dalziel has always been, and even beginning to speak in Dalziel's bold, irreverent manner. Alternating with this narrative about terrorism and the explosion, are Dalziel's out-of-body excursions through his subconscious as he combines nightmarish elements of his past and present and suffers from his potentially fatal injuries. Several additional plots and subplots ratchet up the action and excitement. A renegade group of Knights Templar decide to take the law into their own hands, murdering men they believe to be terrorists. A local convert to Islam, Michael Carradice, related to Pascoe's wife Ellie, is released from jail after being tried for terrorism, then mysteriously disappears, and the local author of a book on the Iraq wars, a former member of the SAS, figures in the semi-conscious nightmares of a hit-and-run victim. As is always the case in this series, the emphasis on psychological reality is strong. The backgrounds of the characters are clear, even for readers who may not be familiar with earlier novels, and the tensions which develop among the characters are well developed and realistic. The author maintains his tongue-in-cheek humor throughout the novel, from events involving Pascoe's psychic dog, to Cap Marvell's attempt to bring Dalziel out of his coma by waving Lagavulin under his nose, and Dalziel's hilarious private conversation with his own God as Fr. Kerrigan prays beside his bed. The writing is sharp and controlled, and the dialogue sparkles. A few loose ends remain at the end. Perhaps they will be resolved in the next book if the series continues. A terrific mystery, even without the great Dalziel. (4.5 stars) n Mary Whipple

What a fabulous read. First of all, I am not sure why this is, but I find Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series far more entertaining than his other writings. For instance the Spy's Wife was really disappointing to me, with an ending that fell utterly flat. That never seems to happen when Dalziel and Pascoe are at work. This book has a whipping plot, without the usual slow wind up of books in this series. The dialogue is exceptionally clever and witty. The turn-of-phrase Hill deploys in this series is the equal of my hero, Raymond Chandler. Despite The Fat Man being somewhat out of the frame in most of the book, there is still wonderful character development, and to be honest (and I was surprised at this), it was kind of nice not to have "Hat" and Novello involved. Finally, this book does poke into the realm of morality, and how gray much of the world is. So, this book has it all: great plot, great characters, superb dialogue, and even a bit of philosophy. My only caution would be to those whom have not read books earlier in this series. Go back as early as you can and start from there. The relationship between the main characters is very important for extracting the most out of this book, and they are all great reads.

I feel as though it's been months since I read anything good, but this book makes up for the drought! As it opens, Dalziel and Pascoe are caught up in a bomb blast, and, as Dalziel lies comatose in the hospital, a less-critically injured but very angry Pascoe takes on the mission, depite the fervent wishes of most everyone else involved, of finding who was responsible. Although you would think that there would be little of Dalziel in a book in which he is unconscious, the brief vignettes that relate what he is thinking/dreaming/doing during this time are worth their weight in gold, metaphysically, medically and even spiritually speaking. And, on his own, Pascoe -- and we -- find that he takes on much of the persona of Fat Andy as he does whatever has to be done to solve the case, damning the consequences. On the perimeter but no less essential to the book, we have Ellie Pascoe, who provides the voice of love when it's not being a policeman; Rosie Pascoe, who sees and knows a lot more than anyone gives credit for; Sergeant Edward Wield, stalwart and efficient even as Peter goes a bit off the rails; Cap Marvell, Dalziel's lady love and number one supporter, a very Wise Woman; and a great police procedural and mystery story as the bombing becomes entwined with sites known to the Combined Antiterrorist Task Force, a Spook-y group that has a lot of rules but maybe not much right (sorry, Outback). Hard to imagine all that in just one book? Hill weaves it seamlessly, managing to also include laugh-out-loud conversational interchanges and enought pathos to make you feel as though it was the ones you love that were in danger. Oh, heck, I'll say it -- I love them all and maybe even more to realize that they can't go on forever.