Bones and Silence: Reginald Hill

Bones and Silence (1990) by Reginald Hill is the eleventh book in the Dalziel and Pascoe police procedural series. The series has a total of twenty four books, so I have many more to read, and I am glad of it.

Bones and Silence has two mysteries. The first is a death witnessed by Andy Dalziel while he is still more than a bit soused after a night of drinking. He sees the event through the back window of an adjoining house in his neighborhood. To him, it looks like murder. The witnesses, one of whom he insists is the murderer, say it was suicide.  The second thread is Pascoe's quest to find a woman who is threatening suicide. This woman has chosen Dalziel as her confidant, via letters, but Dalziel is not interested and Pascoe feels that he must follow up.

 

As usual in this series, the reader follows some events in the detectives lives. Pascoe's wife is involved in an arts production, an outdoor presentation of the Medieval Mysteries. Her gorgeous, statuesque friend, Eileen Chung, wants to dragoon Dalziel into playing an important role. Pascoe has just been made a Chief Inspector, and is getting used to the new rank and responsibilities.

In this series, the partners are neither buddies nor antagonists. There is mutual respect, and they lean on each other to benefit from their individual strengths. Dalziel is intelligent but coarse; Pascoe is educated and a family man.

Detective Sergeant Wield has a large role in this investigation and I like him as a supporting character. He is everything you want in a policeman; hard working, honest, loyal. He is also gay and trying to fit in with his co-workers and do a good job.

I have never read a book by Reginald Hill that I did not like. And he can do no wrong in the Dalziel and Pascoe series in my estimation. Although Reginald Hill was awarded the Gold Dagger for this book, the eleventh in the series, it is not my favorite so far. My favorites are the second, An Advancement of Learning, in which Pascoe meets his wife, and the seventh, Deadheads. 

Also reviewed at Crime Scraps, Mystery*File, and Celebrating Reginald Hill.