Singing the Sadness

As always, Reginald Hill is an excellent writer!

This is the fourth of the novels about Joe Sixsmith, a redundant lathe operator turned private eye from Luton. The chapel choir that Joe sings in is on its way to Wales for a choral festival. Things get off to a fine start when the bus first gets lost on the way, and then breaks down in the middle of nowhere.The last incident to mar the journey is a good deal more serious, as they come across a burning cottage with a woman trapped inside. Joe goes to the rescue, saving the woman but putting himself in hospital for a few hours, and putting himself out of the choral competition with the tenporary throat damage from smoke inhalation. That leaves him with plenty of time to investigate the fire, which at first glance looks like an anti-English arson attack that went further than intended. But his digging gradually turns up evidence of other crimes, some petty and others very serious indeed. As always with Reginald Hill's novels, this book is both a gripping mystery and a beautifully written piece of prose. Joe is an entertaining character, and the book is very funny without ever trivialising the crime that lies at the heart of the case. The cast of characters is well developed, and there's a nice exploration of the way middle and upper-class criminals can cover their tracks by exploiting the willingness of others to do a little favour for a friend. Hill's series books build a continuing universe, with his characters developing as a results of events in previous books, and later books often refer back to early books in the series. This one is no exception, but there's enough backstory worked in that you don't need to have read the earlier books in the series first--at the time of writing this is the only Sixsmith novel I've read, and I had no trouble following the references to the backstory.

Joe Sixsmith is a new character for me from Hill, though other reviewers say he's written with him before. A thoroughly enjoyable man who manages to get himself involved in other people's problems even if he weren't a PI. Joe has a bit of a heroic death-wish in this book. He keeps plunging into flaming houses to rescue people. In the process, he not only saves two women (one who deserves saving, the other who doesn't) but he opens a rancid can of worms in the form of people. I won't say any more so as not to give the plots away, not one of my favorite topics...but Hill handles it well and with minimal gratuitous violence or other types of behavior. Hill's ability to use words is always a pleasure to read. Joe is an educated man, with an appreciation (and healthy fear) of his aunt who raised him and for many of the worthy traits she taught him. He is going to sing with his church's choir down at a Welsh exhibition/contest, which falls apart due to the shenanigans of a variety of Welsh characters. It's always interesting to read concerning areas of the world I have no experience in, and Hill inspires a desire to see Wales for the countryside and the people.Hope to see more of Sixsmith...he's a pleasant fellow.

Reginald Hill is a superb writer with an original, witty, poetic style that grows on you in a big way. I've enjoyed everything I've read by him, which till this book has been just the Dalziel/Pascoe mysteries. I'm happy that Hill has a new character, Joe Sixsmith, who's charming and likeable. But unfortunately, the slight whiff of a possibility of a stereotype kept me from total enjoyment. As a black character, does Joe have to be such a happy-go-lucky, act- and speak-before-you-think kind of guy? I hope I'm wrong and that I'm just being overly PC. At any rate, I'm looking forward to more from this writer.

Private investigator Joe Sixsmith is in the Welsh town of Llanffugiol to take part of a church choir festival in Reginald Hill's Singing The Sadness. When a local cottage catches fire, Joe rushes in to rescue a young woman. Hailed as a hero, Joe considers the unanswered questions of how the fire started and the mysterious woman's identity. No less than three different people hire Joe to discover the answer to that questions -- but the answer could shatter this small Welsh village. Singing The Sadness is a superbly written, carefully constructed mystery that will fully entertain and satisfy fans of the mystery genre.

I enjoyed this book very much and can't wait to read about Joe's further adventures!