An April Shroud
by Reginald Hill
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Book Summary Information
Author: Reginald HillNarrator: Warren Clarke
Edition: Audio Cassette
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Published: 1996-02-19
ISBN: 0001052047
Publisher: HarperCollins Audio
Book Reviews of An April Shroud
Book Review: Masterful writing
Summary: 5 Stars
From the truly bizarre scene at the river, through the Fat Man's unexpected romance, to the not quite satisfactory winding down of the tale, this book is one riveting read.
I would say that one of Reginald Hill's touchstones is the unflinching honesty of his two protagonists, Pascoe and Dalziel (read this book, by the way, to learn how to say the Fat Man's name; I haven't quite mastered it, but it's nice to have the phonetics at hand). He simply does not allow them to lie to themselves. And, when they are not quite up to deconstructing (or admitting) all that is to be known in the moment about their motives, he doesn't shirk from laying it out for the reader.
Hill refuses to blink, too, at his supporting cast. Even the characters who might be considered sympathetic (are ANY of Hill's characters people I'd like to know? I kind of doubt it, fascinated though I am by them) receive the full Hill treatment, i.e. any warts and sins well highlighted along with their wit and good grooming.
And then there's the superb writing. Beautiful sentences. Descriptions evocative, but never over-wrought. Dialog that sounds right in the reader's "ear".
The other books in the series I've read so far (I'm taking the series in order and am only a book or two beyond this one) show far less of Dalziel, the man. So if you've read later books without having yet picked up this one, this provides some back story you might find interesting.
If you read this book and love it as I did, no worries: there's plenty wonderful writing ahead in this grand series.
Summary of An April Shroud
After seeing inspector Pascoe off for his honeymoon with a few ill-chosen words, Superintendent Andy Dalziel soon runs into trouble and water on his own solitary holiday. Rescued by a bunch of somewhat cheerful mourners, he accompanies them back to their rundown mansion to dry off.The owner of Lake House, Bonnie Fielding, seems less troubled by her husbands tragic death than by the problem of finishing the half completed Banqueting Hall which is to save her family fortunes. Prompted not only by a professional curiosity - why for instance would anyone want to keep a dead rat in a freezer? - but also by a more personal interest in Mrs Fielding's ample charms, Dalziel stay on.
By the time Pascoe reappears, there have been several more deaths and it looks as if his normally hard-headed boss might have compromised himself beyond redemption.
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