Hill, Reginald

(British, 1936– )

Although Hill's roots are firmly in the traditional English detective novel, he brings to it an ambivalence and ambiguity that allows him to display the complexities of contemporary life, both moral and social. Among the most literate of writers in the field, he brings to life a cast of characters who change and develop in response to their experiences. He is best known for his Yorkshire-based series, featuring boorish but shrewd Superintendent Andy Dalziel and his sensitive but tenacious underling Peter Pascoe. Start with A Clubbable Woman (1970) which introduces the detective duo. High points in the series include Underworld (1988), with the backdrop of a beleaguered mining community, Bones and Silence (1990), set against a contemporary production of a medieval mystery play, and the remarkable On Beulah Height (1998), an elegiac exploration of the deaths of children in a Yorkshire village, spanning twenty years. Hill has been awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger for his contribution to crime writing.

Ruth Rendell, Ian Rankin, John Harvey.

See CRIME  VM