“Dark humor . . . clever plotting . . . and a few fine shivers” in Hill’s collection of short fiction, including a Dalziel and Pascoe story (Kirkus Reviews).
Best known for his Dalziel and Pascoe novels, which were adapted into a hit BBC series, Reginald Hill proves himself to be a “master of . . . cerebral puzzle mysteries” in his stand-alone novels and short stories as well—now available as ebooks (The New York Times).
“With gleeful malice aforethought, Hill explodes the genre of the short murder tale and diverts it to his own wicked, original ends” in these five stories and one novella (Publishers Weekly).
In “Bring Back the Cat,” a missing feline leads British PI Joe Sixsmith to a shocking discovery in the suburbs. A freak death at a sadistic French military training camp ignites revenge in “The Bull Ring.” In “Auteur Theory,” a marvelous meta-fictional story, author Reginald Hill unleashes his rage when one of his Dalziel and Pascoe mysteries is made into a less-than-stellar movie. “Poor Emma” dashes the expectations of Jane Austen’s heroine after her marriage to Mr. Knightley. A home invasion takes an unexpected twist in “Crowded Hour.” And in the title tale, a Russian inspector turns ghost hunter to solve a puzzling fifty-year-old mystery.
