What a disappointment - Rated 
I had this shipped out to me in Borneo and was really looking forward to another of Reginald Hill's excellent D&P books. But try as I might I cannot bring myself to finish it. Like other reviewers I found the lengthy e-mails, which lack both punctuation and grammar, quite unreadable; surely no one actually writes e-mails like that, or am I really out of touch with the communication skills of young graduates? Meanwhile it's still on the bookcase. Perhaps some kind soul will "borrow" it one day and make space for the next from Mr Hill which can only be an improvement.
A Slow Starter but worth Sticking with! - Rated 
After the disappointment of "The Death of Dalziel" this one, for me, is a real return to form! It has a strange style, with parts of the story told in normal narrative, parts as emails from one of the major characters, and parts as the spoken thoughts of Andy Dalziel. I agree with one of the other reviewers that the first 100 pages or so are a bit of a slog (because of the strange mix of styles) but stick with it and you'll find it was all worth while!
There are times when it reminds me more of "Midsomer Murders" than anything Mr Hill would normally give us but it doesn't spoil the fun!
Hit and Miss - Rated 
I have read all the novels in this series and I was really expecting terrific things from this latest Dalziel and Pascoe. The last book, in which Dalziel is blown up by a terrorist bomb was one of the finest books by Hill for a very long time and I really had hoped he had gotten back into his stride. I confess to being sorely disappointed by this effort.
It picks up where the last book left off, with Dalziel recovering in a convalescent home in a fictional seaside resort of Sandytown. The book is written from several narrative viewpoints and I really think that this is one of the things that lets it down. Hill inhabits Dalziel and Pascoe like a comfortable coat, but his ability to switch voices doesn't seem well tuned here. Much of the first part of the book is taken up with the e-mail correspondence of a young woman who is a newly trained clinical psychologist, talking to her sister about her stay in Sandytown. I found it impossible to believe that a) Charley was a woman and b) that Charley was a trained anything. The lack of spelling, punctuation and attention to grammar coupled with improbable linguistic usage and ridiculously long descriptive passages just did not work at all and left me irritated beyond belief. Nobody writes e-mails like these, except in books.
The other thing is that this is a very long book with a ridiculously complex plot and I found that the pudding was rather over egged. Nothing really happens for a good two hundred pages and then at the end everything is sewn up in about fifty pages. It was unbalanced, unwieldy and a real trial to read. I persevere with Hill because when he is good he is almost unbeatable at modern crime fiction, but when he is bad he is execrable. Sadly this is one of the bad ones. To be read only if you are a die hard fan and want to find out more about the long term plot arcs of the series. Otherwise, as a stand alone crime novel I would say it is a poor read and a waste of valuable time and money.
So far the best Dalziel and Pasco - Rated
This is so far the best Dalziel and Pasco book. It made me laugh many times. The witty dialogues are very good. I have read all Dalziel and Pasco books with great pleasure and am looking forward to the next one.
wonderful writer chooses his topics rather than aims for bestsellers - Rated
This man is so unusual. Clearly he selects and chooses which areas to investigate and then applies all of his wit and intelligence to create an in depth exploration.
If only he could publish more often.
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