In the original dustsheet. Purple cloth binding with silver title on the spine.

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New Dalziel and Pascoe novel from Britain’s finest male crime writer: ‘Reginald Hill stands head and shoulders above any other writer of homebred crime fiction’ Tom Hiney, Observer

A man drowns. Another dies in a motorbike crash. Two accidents … yet in a pair of so-called Dialogues sent to the Mid-Yorkshire Gazette as entries in a short story competition, someone seems to be taking responsibility for the deaths.

In Mid-Yorkshire CID these claims are greeted with disbelief. But when the story is leaked to television and a third indisputable murder takes place, Dalziel and Pascoe find themselves playing a game no one knows the rules of against an opponent known only as the Wordman.

Reviews:

• ‘Red herrings and clues abound … the dialogue is laugh-out-loud and offensive, one of the many things readers have come to love in Hill’s books’ Sunday Times

• ‘As entertainingly funny as it is exciting’ Spectator

• ‘Hugely enjoyable’ Observer

• ‘Reginald Hill is writing very much at the top of his form … the cleverest crime novel of the year, and also one of the most enjoyable’ Evening Standard

• ‘Another winner from a genuine master of British crime fiction’ Time Out

• A man drowns. Another dies in a motorbike crash. Two accidents… yet in a pair of so-called Dialogues sent to the Mid-Yorkshire Gazette, apparently as entries in a short story competition, someone seems to be claiming responsibility for the deaths.

• It sounds like a tall tale to most of Mid-Yorkshire CID. And even Hat Bowler, the young DC who first gets hold of the story, only pretends to take it seriously in order to get closer to the girl of his dreams, librarian Raina Pomona. But when a third indisputable murder takes place, Dalziel and Pascoe find themselves playing a game no-one knows the rules of, against an opponent known only as the Wordman. Dialogue follows Dialogue and funeral follows funeral as Pascoe and the Fat Man unravel the Wordman’s riddle. There are enough clues to weave a tapestry, but just who has the upper hand in this deadly word-game?

• “Dialogues of the Dead is a ridge that spans the classic English whodunit and the dark heart of contemporary crime fiction, the serial-killer novel… The fertility of Hill’s imagination, the range of his power, the sheer quality of his literary style never ceases to delight.” VAL MCDERMID, ‘Sunday Express’

• “Twist follows twist I a brilliant, bloody, totally unexpected climax that shows Hill at his most macabrely inventive.”
  MARCEL BERLINS, ‘The Times’

• The Author, Reginald Hill is a native of Cumbria and former resident of Yorkshire, the setting for his novels featuring Superintendent Dalziel and DCI Pascoe, ‘the best detective duo on the scene bar none’ (‘Daily Telegraph’). Their appearances have won him numerous awards including a CWA Gold Dagger and Lifetime Achievement award. They have also been adapted into a hugely popular BBC TV series.