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A Clubbable Woman (The Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries Book 1) Kindle Edition
Reginald Hill “raised the classical British mystery to new heights” when he introduced pugnacious Yorkshire Det. Inspector Andrew Dalziel and his partner, the callow Sgt. Peter Pascoe (The New York Times Book Review). Their chafing differences in education, manners, technique, and temperament made them “the most remarkable duo in the annals of crime fiction” (Toronto Star). Adapted into a long-running hit show for the BBC, the Gold Dagger Award–winning series is now available as ebooks.
Mary Connon froze out her husband, Sam, long ago. She likes the attention of other men—like the fellow members of Sam’s rugby club. Naturally, when she’s found dead in her sitting room with a hole in her head, Sam is a suspect. If only he hadn’t suffered a dizzying scrum injury that’s left everything a blur. He isn’t sure that he didn’t kill her. But Det. Inspector Andrew Dalziel and his partner, Peter Pascoe, are looking outside the unhappy home. Because it seems everyone within spitting distance of the suburban femme fatale—from prying neighbors to spurned lovers to jealous wives—wanted Mary dead. As the field of play expands, so do the motives . . .
A Clubbable Woman is the 1st book in the Dalziel and Pascoe Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMysteriousPress.com/Open Road
- Publication dateApril 30, 2019
- File size7286 KB
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See full series-
First 3$35.97
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First 5$59.95
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First 10$119.90
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All 21 available$256.79
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First 3$35.97
-
First 5$59.95
-
First 10$119.90
-
All 21 available$256.79
This option includes 3 books.
This option includes 5 books.
This option includes 10 books.
This option includes 21 books.
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Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
'Hill... is an instinctive and complete novelist who is blessed with a spontanrous storytelling gift' - Francis Fyfield, Mail on Sunday
'So far out in front that he need not bother looking over his shoulder' Mike Ripley, Sunday Telegraph
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : B07P2C9GZX
- Publisher : MysteriousPress.com/Open Road (April 30, 2019)
- Publication date : April 30, 2019
- Language : English
- File size : 7286 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 282 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #108,454 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Reginald Hill has been widely published both in England and the United States. He received Britain's most coveted mystery writers award, the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award, as well as the Golden Dagger for his Dalziel/Pascoe series.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers enjoy the intriguing plot and find the stories engaging with multiple layers. They describe the books as an enjoyable read that is difficult to put down. Readers appreciate the interesting characters and good characterization. The book offers a surprising start to the series, and customers find it exciting to make a start on the first book in the series.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers enjoy the intriguing plot line and engaging mysteries. They find the series well-crafted with enjoyable subplots. However, some readers feel disconnected from the setting.
"This was a good mystery, and Dalziel and Pascoe make interesting characters...." Read more
"...The plot line was intriguing, holding interest and offering surprises, although at times the dialogue, particularly the interactions at the rugby..." Read more
"This book is well plotted and sometimes amusing, but I am put off by the author's repeated mention of Dalziel's constant and public scratching of..." Read more
"This book had a great storyline with very interesting characters...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's readability and find it enjoyable. They say Reginald Hill delivers great reads and recommend it if you like procedurals.
"...A recommended read if you like procedurals (don't expect explosions or a lot of shootings)" Read more
"...was crisp and kept the action moving.. The writing was fluid and a joy to read." Read more
"Thoroughly enjoyable read, difficult to put down." Read more
"Most enjoyable book. Found another crime partnership to follow" Read more
Customers enjoy the interesting characters and good characterizations. They appreciate the fair plot and solid dialogue.
"This was a good mystery, and Dalziel and Pascoe make interesting characters...." Read more
"This book had a great storyline with very interesting characters...." Read more
"Good characterizations, fair plot, and solid earthy dialogue." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's start. They find the plot intriguing and offer surprises.
"...The plot line was intriguing, holding interest and offering surprises, although at times the dialogue, particularly the interactions at the rugby..." Read more
"Very exciting start to a new series...." Read more
"It was good to make a start on the first book in the series at last...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2024This was a good mystery, and Dalziel and Pascoe make interesting characters.
The story lost some points for me because sometimes the author would open a scene with descriptions that left me struggling to figure out where the scene was taking place, and that would bump me out of the story for a bit.
A recommended read if you like procedurals (don't expect explosions or a lot of shootings)
- Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2022Sam Conner’s wife is murdered with the TV blaring, but Conner is oblivious. His head is aching, and he feels sick. He goes upstairs and collapses from a knock on the head in a rugby match.
Rugby looms big in the plot. A lot of scenes transpire at the rugby club, where some of the rugby guys have attractive, wayward wives. Mary Conner, the murder victim, was once one of those wives, but she doesn’t go to the club anymore. She can cause enough trouble from home. Did Conner kill her? Was his injury an act?
Superintendent Dalziel can’t quite believe that a great player like Conner would kill his wife so brutally. Conner has brains and strategy. He would be more subtle. The investigation is absorbing, because Mary was up to some bizarre shenanigans. She was definitely a clubbable woman.
I read this series years ago, long enough to decide to re-read it. It was a pleasure to rediscover fat crass Dalziel and his handsome educated sidekick Sergeant Pascoe. A Clubbable Woman was first published in 1970 — a different world. No lattes — everyone is drinking instant coffee! I look forward to dipping into this series again.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2016The era of this novel, early 1980's, permeates via the sexual mores and innuendos throughout the book. At times the actions and the speech of the characters seem dated, almost juvenile, so a reminder of the era is important.
The plot line was intriguing, holding interest and offering surprises, although at times the dialogue, particularly the interactions at the rugby club, felt tedious without a positive impact on the storyline.
I plan to try the second novel in the series so I can see how the duo develops as a team as well as individual characters because in the first novel character development was limited.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2020Very exciting start to a new series. The detecting duo Dalziel and Pascoe are faced with solving the murder of a rugby player's wife while he was upstairs suffering from concussion or brain trauma. While the men rugby on the field, their wives played other "games". With the help of the victim's daughter and her boyfriend, the detectives get closer to the truth. It all comes to a tidy conclusion just in time for Christmas.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2019This book is well plotted and sometimes amusing, but I am put off by the author's repeated mention of Dalziel's constant and public scratching of even those hard to get at places on his body! I'm sure Hill thinks this is funny (he puts it in every book), and apparently most readers agree. I don't.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2019This book had a great storyline with very interesting characters. The dialogue was crisp and kept the action moving.. The writing was fluid and a joy to read.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2015Thoroughly enjoyable read, difficult to put down.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2021The mystery was interesting but I suppose I don't relate well to the setting. The plot centers around a rugby club and involves lots of drinking and men and women hooking up, regardless of marital status. One of the main characters appears to think women exist for only one purpose - but I suppose that is part of the point of that character. If you relate to these things you will likely enjoy this book.
Top reviews from other countries
- RWReviewed in Spain on March 18, 2021
3.0 out of 5 stars Well-wrought but narrow-focussed.
Very authentic atmosphere generated with appropriate and recognizable dialogue.
But, as with sports and booze clubs, golf, cricket and rugby, ultimately too narrow and prosaic to hold my attention for a whole book. I gave up a little under halfway through, not really caring who murdered the woman.....
- elfungoReviewed in Canada on December 14, 2018
3.0 out of 5 stars An early Dalzil & Pascoe
Not a good example of these two personalities working together - a bit shallow!
- MAUREEN DORDEVICReviewed in Australia on September 21, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars As it was written ages ago it’s a bit outdated.
Realistic characters. Interesting story.
- FictionFanReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 26, 2016
4.0 out of 5 stars A promising debut whose promise was fulfilled...
Sam Connon had been a rising star destined one day to play rugby for England, when his career was thrown off track by an injury. Still fit to play, though not at the top levels, he was a stalwart of the local rugby team in Mid Yorkshire, and still turns out occasionally for the fourth team – the old-timers whose glory days are behind them. On this afternoon, he has had a kick in the head during a scrum, which has left him feeling woozy and sick. So when he returns home, he merely pops his head into the living-room to let his wife know he's home and then goes straight to bed, where he falls into something approaching unconsciousness for several hours. His wife hadn't acknowledged his greeting but that wasn't too unusual – their marriage was rocky, at best. But when he comes downstairs again, he discovers she is dead, with a circular hole in the middle of her forehead...
This is the first book in the long-running Dalziel and Pascoe series – my favourite crime series of all time. I originally started, as so often, in the middle of the series and then backtracked to the earlier books. And I'm rather glad I did, because although this one is a good, solid police procedural it's nowhere near the standard that Hill reached as the series evolved. Both Andy Dalziel and Pete Pascoe have some of the attributes that make them such a memorable pairing, but they're not yet fully developed. Andy is as brash and uncouth as he will always be, without yet the depth of characterisation that reveals the intelligence, subtlety and loyalty to his junior colleagues that is seen in later books. Pete, still single, spends much of his time having a rather annoying internal monologue, partly about the attractions of the various women he meets in the course of the investigation, and partly about his resentment and reluctant admiration for his boorish boss.
The plotting is very good as, of course, is the writing. First published in 1970, the book shows its age in Hill's depiction of most of the women as sexual temptresses – surprising for someone who went on to write one of the most intriguingly feminist characters in crime fiction in Elly, Pete's future wife. I guess that as a debut writer, Hill may have been trying to conform to what was then the norm, whereas he soon became a leader in the field, showing the way in including strong female and even empathetic gay characters long before the trailing pack would have dared. However, Connon's daughter Jenny feels almost like an embryonic Elly, giving a hint of his later style in depicting women as intelligent, witty and, above all, equal to his male characters. Jenny's boyfriend, Anthony, is the first example of another 'type' that appears regularly throughout the series in different personas – decidedly straight men but with slightly effeminate traits, intellectual and rather urbane, with a love of words. I have always wondered how much these characters might have been autobiographical.
The plot is interesting and quite traditional in format – all of the action centres around the rugby club so there is a defined list of suspects all with various motives. Andy, as a leading figure both in the club and in Mid Yorks life, knows everybody and this gives him access to 'inside information'. Pete worries that Andy is too close to the people involved and doesn't yet know him well enough to be sure that he won't let his actions and opinions be swayed by friendship. But true to his later characterisation, Andy believes in justice above all, though he might step outside the bounds occasionally to achieve it. And the solution when it comes gives hints of the complex morality of the criminals Hill will introduce us to in future years.
To be honest, if I were reading this for the first time with no knowledge of the series, I'd probably be saying it's a promising debut, better written than most but fairly standard otherwise. And I might or might not have gone on to read the next one. So when I highly recommend it, as I am doing, it's as the first step in what becomes something exceptional further down the line. A series to be read in its entirety, and though not essential to read them in order, best read that way to see how all three of them - Dalziel and Pascoe, and Hill himself - develop as the years go by.
- Shero 68 DubReviewed in Germany on November 10, 2004
4.0 out of 5 stars Hill's first Dalziel and Pascoe novel
Hill's first Dalziel and Pascoe novel is a very promising start to what has become one of the most accomplished detective fiction series written in English. His considerable writing skills are already evident in this book first published in 1970, and the nasty character of the victim is subtly portrayed. While his trademark humour is still underdeveloped and the pacing of the novel is slower than his later books, this is an interesting portrait of 1960s/70s social mores and clearly shows what a huge time span in terms of social change the series has covered since. Definitely worth reading for all Dalziel and Pascoe fans.