'Humour and topicality along a cold enigmatic trail of murder' Observer

Life is on the up for Patrick Aldermann: his Great Aunt Florence has collapsed into her rose bed leaving him Rosemont House with its splendid gardens.

But when his boss, 'Dandy' Dick Elgood, suggests to Peter Pascoe that Aldermann is a murderer - then later retracts the accusation - the detective inspector is left with a thorny problem.

Not only have the police already dug up some interesting information about Aldermann's beautiful wife; it also appears that his rapid promotion has been helped by the convenient deaths of some of his colleagues...

About the Author

Reginald Hill was brought up in Cumbria, and has returned there after many years in Yorkshire. His Dalziel and Pascoe novels are amongst the best-loved and most admired in crime fiction. They have been adapted by the BBC, won many awards and are top ten bestsellers

Reviews

'Few writers in the genre today have Hill's gifts: formidable intelligence, quick humour, compassion and a prose style that blends elegance and grace' Donna Leon, Sunday Times

'The finest male English contemporary crime writer' Val McDermid

'Reginald Hill's novels are really dances to the music of time, his heroes and villains interconnecting, their stories intertwining'
Ian Rankin

'One of Britain's most consistently excellent crime novelists' The Times

'These novels last, like a grand malt whisky - rounded, rich, intoxicating... Here is an author at his formidable best'
Frances Fyfield, Mail on Sunday

'So far out in front that he need not bother looking over his shoulder' Sunday Telegraph

'He is probably the best living male crime writer in the English-speaking world' Andrew Taylor, Independent

'Reginald Hill stands head and shoulders above any other writer of homebred crime fiction' Tom Hiney, Observer

Book Information
ISBN 9780007313082
Author Reginald Hill
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint HarperCollins
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Weight(grams) 260g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 24mm