Someone attempts to abduct Ellie Pascoe, and her friend, Daphne Alderman, is assaulted by a man keeping watch on the Pascoe house. Dalziel, Pascoe and Wield feel certain there must be a link here with one of Pascoe's cases, either current or past. Only DC Shirley Novello wonders whether perhaps these events might have more to do with Ellie than her husband.
While the men concentrate on their individual theories, Ellie, her daughter Rosie, Daphne, and Novello (their official minder) head for the coast to the supposed safety of the Alderman's holiday home, Cleets Cottage. But their flight proves somewhat futile as Ellie's would-be abductor continues to send her letters of possibly threatening intent, composed in a strange Elizabethan English.

Reviews

Hill has written some very good mysteries in the last several years (e.g., Asking for the Moon: Four Dalziel and Pascoe Tales), and this work continues that tradition. In fact, it is among his best, filled with classic Hill characters that include Dalziel and Pascoe. This time, they play supporting roles, as Hill's narrative focus shifts to other charactersÄsome from past books and some brand new, some good and some evil. There are revolutionaries and drug couriers, embezzlers and spies; even Odysseus and Aeneas make an appearance. The story, which concerns the disappearance of several little girls, is slow to get moving as Hill reintroduces old plots lines and characters. But soon it picks up speed and takes the reader along. You could either start or complete your library's Reginald Hill collection here and serve your patrons well. Recommended for all libraries.ÄPatrick J. Wall, Univ. City P.L., MO Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Few mystery authors know better than the prolific Hill (Singing the Sadness, Forecasts, Aug. 23) how to keep the delicate engine of a high-quality series running. After successfully mining the past for his last two books about Yorkshire coppers Andy Dalziel and Peter Pascoe (The Wood Beyond and On Beulah Height), he now takes an entirely new directionÄcentering the series' action on Pascoe's wife, Ellie, and surrounding her with a captivating gallery of mostly female characters. The result is a delightfully quirky, literate, often explosively funny novel that actually extends the genre's range. Ellie PascoeÄformer activist and deeply involved teacher, now recovering from the serious medical threat to her nine-year-old daughter, Rosie, that was detailed in On Beulah HeightÄis a "pre-published" novelist working on a book about Odysseus (who in Ellie's hands sounds a lot like a Greek version of Fat Andy Dalziel, complete with Yorkshire vernacular). When a slick couple show up in an expensive car, claiming to be from the local education authority and offering to give her a lift to the spot where a bus carrying Rosie has broken down, Ellie almost goes alongÄescaping an abduction attempt only because of the deeply implanted suspicions of a cop's wife. Pascoe, Dalziel, the wonderfully resourceful Sgt. Edgar Wield and the extremely sharp Constable Shirley Novello try to link the attempted snatch to some of Pascoe's past cases and enemies, especially to the gorgeous money launderer Kelly Cornelius. Hill soon lets us know better, however, introducing a shadowy figure who calls herself Sybil and a wheelchair-bound intelligence gatherer working for a high-ranking spook. And there's also the Colombian drug bandits and Irish arms-runners who somehow figure into the attack on EllieÄand then in the assault on Ellie's marvelously acid, deceptively stiff-upper-lipped neighbor Daphne. Also vital to the plot is Feenie Macallum, the aged but doggedly energetic daughter of a legendary arms merchant, whose crumbling seaside estate provides the locale for the novel's amazing finaleÄa rare, perfect blend of danger and hilarity. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Praise for Reginald Hill:
" Hill remains one of the finest crime writers of this era."
--"Booklist" (starred review)
" Hill's polished, sophisticated novels are intelligently written and permeated with his sly and delightful sense of humor. More than most other mystery novels, Hill's Dalziel/Pascoe novels are enjoyable as much for their characters as for their complicated, suspenseful mystery plots."
--"The Christian Science Monitor"
" Reginald Hill has raised the classical British mystery to new heights."
--"The New York Times Book Review"
" A lot of people write classic detective stories, but Reginald Hill is one of the elite few who write classy classics."
--"The Baltimore Sun"
" The real joy of the Dalziel-Pascoe books is the writing and the characterizations. Mr. Hill has such disparate writers as Trollope, Beerbohm, Sayers and Shaw in his blood."
--"The New York Times"

"From the Hardcover edition."