Someone attempts to abduct Ellie Pascoe, and her friend, Daphne Alderman, is assaulted by a man keeping watch on the Pascoe house. Dalziel, Pascoe and Wield feel certain there must be a link here with one of Pascoe's cases, either current or past. Only DC Shirley Novello wonders whether perhaps these events might have more to do with Ellie than her husband.
While the men concentrate on their individual theories, Ellie, her daughter Rosie, Daphne, and Novello (their official minder) head for the coast to the supposed safety of the Alderman's holiday home, Cleets Cottage. But their flight proves somewhat futile as Ellie's would-be abductor continues to send her letters of possibly threatening intent, composed in a strange Elizabethan English.
While the men concentrate on their individual theories, Ellie, her daughter Rosie, Daphne, and Novello (their official minder) head for the coast to the supposed safety of the Alderman's holiday home, Cleets Cottage. But their flight proves somewhat futile as Ellie's would-be abductor continues to send her letters of possibly threatening intent, composed in a strange Elizabethan English.
Praise for Reginald Hill:
"Hill remains one of the finest crime writers of this era."
--Booklist (starred review)
"Hill's polished, sophisticated novels are intelligently written and permeated with his sly and delightful sense of humor. More than most other mystery novels, Hill's Dalziel/Pascoe novels are enjoyable as much for their characters as for their complicated, suspenseful mystery plots."
--The Christian Science Monitor
"Reginald Hill has raised the classical British mystery to new heights."
--The New York Times Book Review
"A lot of people write classic detective stories, but Reginald Hill is one of the elite few who write classy classics."
--The Baltimore Sun
"The real joy of the Dalziel-Pascoe books is the writing and the characterizations. Mr. Hill has such disparate writers as Trollope, Beerbohm, Sayers and Shaw in his blood."
--The New York Times
From the Hardcover edition.
"Hill remains one of the finest crime writers of this era."
--Booklist (starred review)
"Hill's polished, sophisticated novels are intelligently written and permeated with his sly and delightful sense of humor. More than most other mystery novels, Hill's Dalziel/Pascoe novels are enjoyable as much for their characters as for their complicated, suspenseful mystery plots."
--The Christian Science Monitor
"Reginald Hill has raised the classical British mystery to new heights."
--The New York Times Book Review
"A lot of people write classic detective stories, but Reginald Hill is one of the elite few who write classy classics."
--The Baltimore Sun
"The real joy of the Dalziel-Pascoe books is the writing and the characterizations. Mr. Hill has such disparate writers as Trollope, Beerbohm, Sayers and Shaw in his blood."
--The New York Times
From the Hardcover edition.