Spotted this on the bookswap shelf at the unicafé. Whoa, I haven't read a Dalziel & Pascoe mystery in ages!

Hadn't read one of these in such a long time that I'd completely forgotten about Dalziel's incessant swearing. (!!)
This one was fun. Lots and lots of red herrings that keep you guessing even if you've got a really good collection of hints and evidence. Also loads of gossip and word games and puzzles. I found the foregrounding of the young police officer "Hat" Bowler interesting, but of course it all makes perfect sense. And you get a whole series of plot twists towards the end - and the ending itself breaks a couple of detective fiction rules in an entirely okay way. :)

And then I closed the book and thought about my Reginald Hill bookswap with Dunzy back in 2008 (A Pinch of Snuff for Arms and the Women), and I remembered all the great discussions we had in the famous DTQ threads, and it was a bit of a weird and sad feeling, but also a happy one because in a way Dunzy is still there in some of the books on my shelf and in my memories. We never met in person, but we had good times bookcrossing. :)

This book goes to the winner of the tea & mystery sweepstakes. Enjoy! :))

I am so happy I received this book with a fantastic choice of tea bags, thank you anathema-device ! It definitely means I am the winner of the Tea & Mystery sweepstake. How exciting :)
Now looking forward to reading Dialogues of the Dead (looks creepy) sipping delicious tea.

I finally managed to read it close to Halloween time, the title seeming extremely appropriate :-) A serial killer novel with a far fetched plot, however very enjoyable and even funny in spite of all the horrible murders.

SSM Halloween
Spook-tacular October 2017!

Happy Halloween !