Death Comes for the Fat Man (Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries)

by Reginald Hill

Paperback, 2008

Status

Available

Description

'The Death of Dalziel' is the return of Dalziel and Pascoe, the popular police duo. Dalziel is the victim of a huge Semtex explosion and it is up to DCI Peter Pascoe to seek justice for him.

User reviews

LibraryThing member smik
When Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel sticks his nose in where it is not wanted yet again, and is consequently blown up by the a Semtex bomb exploding in a video store, the unthinkable is on the cards: the death of fat Andy. Then it seems there is little justice in the world. Sheltered by
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Dalziel's bulk, and only slightly injured in the bomb blast, Peter Pascoe is fairly quickly seconded to CAT, the anti-terrorist unit. As fat Andy fights against the odds and remains in a coma, blame falls on the Knights Templar, a right wing group pledged to dealing with Moslem sympathisers through summary execution and even suicide bombing. Pascoe suspects there may be a mole in CAT who is leaking information to the Knights Templar, and that his secondment is in fact busy work to keep an eye on him. There are some beautiful cameo performances in this book: Cap Marvell, Dalziel's partner; Hector, the policeman who originally noticed something odd in the video store; Rosie, Pater Pascoe's daughter who has absolute faith that Uncle Andy will wake up when he is good and ready; Ellie Pascoe, so supportive of Peter; and finally Wieldy, ever faithful, always coming up with the goods. This is one book that you don't want to finish..
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LibraryThing member edwardsgt
Another tour de force by Reg Hill, this time taking a very contemporary theme of terrorism and weaving a brilliant D & P story around it with all the clever wit, characterisation and plotting we have come to expect from Reg Hill. For once PAscoe takes the lead with Dalziel in a coma after a
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terrorist bomb. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member macha
i've been reading Reginald Hill since his first book came out, but this one is particularly good, and a bit of a tour de force to write. essentially Peter Pascoe has to, in the absence of Andy Dalziel, become him in order to solve the case. which has some interesting consequences for Pascoe. and at
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the same time Dalziel is present only in dream, and the dream sequences are far from the usual boilerplate, just like Dalziel himself.

eventually all of it fits together into the case - both Dalziel's manifestations and reflections, and Pascoe's brinkmanship investigation. and we learn a surprising amount, after all these years, about what makes both men tick, and where their boundaries are, what drives them, and the nature of the way in which (so different) they are tied together.

when they trade places, intuition still wars with the methodical, raw power collides with civilization. except that it's Pete, not Andy, pushing those boundaries, standing in for Dalziel while he's away, navigating blind across a political minefield of competing jurisdictions, trying to recreate Andy's point of view and suddenly as careless about keeping his own counsel. and along the way the surprisingly complex character of Police Constable Hector, who as it turns out can always see Dalziel, becomes germane.
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LibraryThing member gypsysmom
I will certainly be looking for more of the Dalziel and Pascoe books. I found this one worthwhile even though Dalziel is out of commission in a coma for most of the book.

It all starts on a Bank Holiday. Pascoe is off duty, lounging in the hammock in his garden, but Dalziel is on duty. So when
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Constable Hector reports that he saw someone holding a gun in an Arab video shop Dalziel is the detective who is on call. Dalziel goes off to see what is happening but the dispatcher isn't content to have one detective at the scene so he calls Pascoe. Pascoe recognizes the address as being one the Combined Antiterrorism Unit (CAT for short) has flagged so he leaves his hammock and joins Dalziel. Dalziel has just decided to bang on the front door with Pascoe reluctantly following him when the whole edifice goes up in a bang. Dalziel is badly hurt but Pascoe is stunned more than anything. Although Pascoe is supposed to be resting at home after he is released from hospital he starts an investigation into the explosion. CAT doesn't take kindly to his intervention but Pascoe turns up some interesting evidence and he is invited to join CAT for the investigation. Soon it becomes apparent that a group calling themselves Templars have decided to exact revenge for Islamic terrorism. Pascoe believes they may even have a member in CAT. Spurred by the thought of Dalziel's possible death he continues to investigate even though he is called on the carpet by the CAT head honchos.

Does Dalziel aka The Fat Man survive? Who is the mole in CAT? How safe is Pascoe during this investigation? You'll have to read the book to find out.
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LibraryThing member auntieknickers
I'm quite fond of all the Dalziel/Pascoe mysteries by Reginald Hill, and one of the things I like best is that Hill seems to come up with a different format, conceit, or structure for each book. I suppose it's a way of keeping boredom at bay when one has a very successful series that readers want
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to keep on reading. Here, Dalziel, after a bombing, lingers between life and death and Pascoe must investigate the bombing on his own (with a little help from Ellie). One of my Best Books of 2007.
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LibraryThing member Vivl
As with most of the Dalziel & Pascoe series, very good indeed. Dalziel is unconscious throughout most of the novel and so takes a back seat... or does he? Will death come for Dalziel and if so will he get a bloody good talking to? Lovely metaphysical mystery within a mystery.
LibraryThing member librarian1204
I have read this entire series of books and they have evolved over the years to become a more satisfying read with each new book that comes out. Like Peter Robinson, Elizabeth George, Martha Grimes,Charles Todd, anew book is an occasion.
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