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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9780440218005
ISBN number: 0440218004
Label: Dell
Manufacturer: Dell
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: October 01, 1995
Publishing house: Dell
Release Date: September 01, 1995
Sale Popularity Level: 79340
Studio: Dell
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Product Description:
Investigating a policeman's disappearance in Enscombe, Yorkshire Superintendent Dalziel, Inspector Pascoe, and Sergeant Wield uncover a plot that threatens the entire community. Reprint. AB. K.
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Rated by buyers 
-
Reginald Hill has been one of the best English writers around in any genre for the past 20 years. His Dalziel and Pascoe mysteries range in mood from very dark to moderately ironic, and almost all are beautifully plotted and character rich.
"Pictures of Perfection" is something else again. It certainly shares the virtues of other Hill mysteries, but this book is a comedic tour de force that has elements of Shakespearean farce, Dickensonian characters, Carl Hiiasen bizarreness and Marx Brothers energy and wildness. The story is pure fun from page one on.
Not everyone will agree, but I swear, that the author's description of a mass shooting incident early on in the book transcends horror and causes belly laughs even as the reader tries hard to keep some perspective on what a terrible thing is transpiring.
The characters in this novel are so well drawn that it's hard not to suspect that the author must know each and every one of them personally and intimately. Dalziel and Pascoe are certainly present and in very rare form, and so is the redoubtable Sgt. Edgar Wield, the copper who is trying to maintain his professional pride and dignity while trying to develop a personal life as a gay man. The novel contains dozens of other characters who do, indeed, rise to Dickensonian qualities and behavior at times.
So do whatever you can to get a copy of this book; then sit down, fasten your seat belt and settle in for a very wild ride. Also, warn your significant other(s) in advance that you will be reading passages to them that are too delicious to be savored alone. Enjoy.
Rated by buyers -
I've said it many times, and I will say it again - Reginald Hill is one of the best authors out there in this genre today. His characters are really remarkable - both the ones we see every time, plus the new ones that he introduces with each book. In this book it's easy to tell that Mr. Hill is having us on for a bit of a romp, but that does not diminish the pure joy of reading this book. It is a book where as Fat Andy says, that no one has gotten killed, no one has been arrested either even though there seemed to be a spate of crime in the wonderful little village of Enscombe, but they will have two or maybe three marriages, and everyone appears to live happily ever after. And another reason why I enjoyed this book so much is because of the close-up that we get of Wield. He is one of my very favourite characters, and we get to see lots of him in this rollicking book. What a pleasant surprise this book was! I loved it!
Rated by buyers -
This is my favorite mystery novel. Period.
Seriously, just take my word for it. DO NOT read any reviews. DO NOT read the book jacket. DO NOT so much as glance at a blurb. It wouldn't be any fun if you knew anything (let alone everything) about what happens, right? Right. So Step 1: Start reading the novel. Now, you might find yourself thinking, But this isn't my kind of mystery at all. Which brings us to Step 2: KEEP READING. (Step 3 is completely optional: You can thank me later.)
Rated by buyers -
If you've never read any of Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pasco series and you're not obstinately set on beginning with the very first one, or if you just like belly laughs, try Pictures of Perfection. Our story opens in Enscombe, a picture-perfect Yorkshire village that time has forgot, until now. The vicarage is for sale, the hall is overrun by tourists, and the students are mobilizing for Iwo Jima. No, not really, and no matter how dire these matters seem to the Enscombians there isn't a lot for a practicing policeman to do about them. Then a policeman goes missing. Enter Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Pasco, and Detective Sergeant Wield, aka Wieldy (the best nickname in crime fiction) to save the day. More or less. The longest shaggy dog story ever.
Read also Hill's The Wood Beyond, another Dalziel and Pasco novel in a much more serious vein which achieves the level of art. And all right, since you insist -- the very first in the series is A Clubbable Woman.
Rated by buyers -
Reginald Hill is usually such a funny writer. This time he didn't start with funny; he started with horror as an entire town seemingly is shot by what can only be a deranged madman. A 'berserker'...and Hill seamlessly sews up a story that not only has the reader come in after or as the crime is being committed, but one that leads the reader to the wrong conclusion about the crimes committed and as to whom is committing the crimes.
Of course, 'Fat Andy' is all there in his sartorial wonder, so is a younger Pascoe and a much more involved Wield. This book has Wield meeting his rather 'stuffed shirt' mate, Digweed, so that is one social mystery reconstructed for me. Have they put this series on in England. If not, someone should hurry up and do it, so we Americans can laugh ourselves out of our misery concerning our politics and the war...
Karen Sadler
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