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A Clubbable Woman (Felony & Mayhem Mysteries)
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Item Description...
Product Description
Mary Connon was a small-town femme fatale, eager to test her allure on any man between 6 and 60. When she's found dead in her own living room, her husband -- the one bloke to whom she never blew a kiss -- comes instantly under suspicion. But Andy Dalziel, the gloriously vulgar savant of the Mid-Yorkshire police force, has some other ideas, and all of them center on the local rugby club -- the town's social center, and Mary Connon's preferred hunting ground. Peter Pascoe, Dalziel's young sergeant, suspects that his new boss's interest in the club has at least as much to do with access to good beer as it does with solving the murder. But while Dalziel never said no to a pint or three, Pascoe has much to learn about Fat Andy's uniquely effective methodology. With A Clubbable Woman -- the first in an astonishing, multi-award-winning series -- his education begins.
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Item Specifications...
Pages 273
Dimensions: Length: 0.5" Width: 5.5" Height: 7.5"
Weight: 0.65 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date Sep 15, 2007
ISBN 1933397934
EAN 9781933397931
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Availability 10 units.
Availability accurate as of May 30, 2012 06:06.
Usually ships within one to two business days from Momence, IL.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | Start here, read them in order and enjoy! Series list included! Apr 27, 2008 |
Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series starts here. A Clubbable Woman is the first in the series, and generally continues to improve throughout the series. The upronounceable Dalziel (Dee-el)is the Chief Inspector: apparently crude and ill mannered, he is the active force in the partnership, if active is defined as the rush of an enraged bull, demanding beyond reason and totally unsuited for tearooms and crumpets. Dalziel is boorish, coarse and candid (that is, rude) in his opinions and prejudiced in his various points of view. He could easily have become a stereotype himself, but in Hill's hands he reveals himself to be intelligent, occasionally sensitive, and though willing to stomp pretty thoroughly on the manual of police procedure, he is honest and moral and, rarely, willing to reverse himself or his opinions. His foil is Peter Pascoe, educated, handsome, and the image of the new face of policing--a face that his boss can't abide. Through the series, these characters mature, add depth and become more nuanced, although true to the original characters revealed here. Their relationship with each other and with other continuing characters, especially Ellie Pascoe, grows with every book.
All of this is great fun to watch expand through the novels but if the mysteries in each book were not interesting, the series would not work. Some in the series are stronger than others, but all of them are, at worst, interesting and at best throughly engrossing. It is always murder, sometimes by murders caught in the circumstances of their lives, sometimes by madmen, and occasionally by the good gone wrong.
There are some notes that jar. Ellie Pascoe is the weakest of the characters, seen as a feminist first and often strident, which does not quite seem to fit with her husband and often seems one dimensional. Every now and again, one of the books will wander a bit, making the reader wonder what Hill really wants to talk about. But the writing is strong, literate, often witty and spare enough to allow the reader to build an affectionate picture of the characters and countryside without being cloying. The suspects become more complex as the books progress and some of the best are the most recent. My only regret is that I did not start the series at the beginning and that I have read them all, and miss the pleasure of having a Dalziel and Pascoe story to look forward to. I've stolen the list, in order, from Wikiopedia:
1. A Clubbable Woman (1970)
2. An Advancement of Learning (1971)
3. Ruling Passion (1973)
4. An April Shroud (1975)
5. A Pinch of Snuff (1978)
6. A Killing Kindness (1980)
7. Deadheads (1983)
8. Exit Lines (1984)
9. Child's Play (1987)
10. Under World (1988)
11. Bones and Silence (1990)
12. One Small Step (novella) (1990)
13. Recalled to Life (1992)
14. Pictures of Perfection (1994)
15. The Wood Beyond (1995)
16. Asking for the Moon [SS] (1996)
o "The Last National Service Man"
o "Pascoe's Ghost"
o "Dalziel's Ghost"
o "One Small Step"
17. On Beulah Height (1998)
18. Arms and the Women (1999)
19. Dialogues of the Dead (2002)
20. Death's Jest-Book (2003)
21. Good Morning Midnight (2004)
22. The Death of Dalziel (UK Title)/Death Comes for the Fat Man (US Title) (2007)
23. A Cure for All Diseases (2008)
| | |  | Reginald Hill's first and still enjoyable Nov 11, 2007 |
Though written in 1970, this first book by Hill (with an interesting foreward by the author), has some terrific dialogue and character setups that will eventually become the hallmarks of his writing. "A Clubbable Woman" is the first outing for the Dalziel and Pascoe detective partnership and the contrasting personalities work well even at this early stage. Hill's foreward explains his thinking in creating the polar-opposite characters.
"A Clubbable Woman" is slightly sexist in its treatment of women, but otherwise presents an entertaining complex story line that is ultimately plausible and satisifying.
This book also signals the welcome arrival of numerous reprints of Hill's earlier novels, which provide the U.S. mystery reader with many new possibilities to absorb time and money. | | | | reprint of the first Dalziel and Pascal British police procedural Sep 25, 2007 |
In the early 1970s in Yorkshire, Mary Connon loved rugby; literally she loved seducing the local rugby team's players. Her husband "Connie" knew she flirted with the entire squad, but seemed to tolerate her activity. That is until she is found dead in their home; the Mid-Yorkshire police believe a cuckold drunken Connie killed his wife fueled by the alcohol.
Case closed except the new cop on the block Andy Dalziel finds the wrap up too simple especially since everyone knows Mary was the local rugby team's biggest fan. He thinks sharing a few pints with the players might prove illuminating. Sergeant Peter Pascoe cannot believe the investigative method of his new superior "Fat Andy", but tags along especially as clues begin to point towards the squad rather than the spouse.
Although in some ways this reprint of the first Dalziel and Pascal British police procedural feels like a 1970s historical (although written at the time as a present day tale), A CLUBBABLE WOMAN remains a well written somewhat a sports whodunit. The story line introduces the audience to the dynamic duo who are working together for the first time; thus Pascoe is shocked by Dalziel's techniques as he has not adapted to it yet. Fans of the series will enjoy where it all began.
Harriet Klausner
| | | | Very good first book in a series Jun 28, 2006 |
| I've been anxiously waiting to begin the Dalziel and Pascoe series, and was very happy to begin with this first book in this long-lived series. I am anticipating a a wonderful time while I read all the other books. Hill is a remarkable writer, and his two characters - Dalziel and Pascoe are as real as they can get. I am a huge fan of the british police procedural genre, and this series looks to be a winner. In this book we are introduced to the wonderful world of English Rugby, as well as the plots and counterplots afoot in the English Rugby Country Club culture. This is a very readable book. | | | | Worthwhile, if not as good as Hill's later work Jan 12, 2006 |
The first of the Dalziel and Pascoe novels is not as complex or thoughtful as some of the later books in the series, but it's still an entertaining mystery that lays the foundations of the relationship between two very different men who together form a formidable detective team. Even this first book displays Hill's witty style and elegant prose, if not to the same high level as later books.
The book is based around the goings-on at a rugby club that may or may not be connected with the murder of the wife of one of the players, but no knowledge of the game is required to enjoy the book -- it's a study of the social interactions in such a venue rather than the sport itself. The main problem readers are likely to face is that the book was first published in 1970, and as such is recent enough not to be immediately obviously a period work, while still being old enough for the culture and mores to feel somewhat odd to the modern reader. It's important to be aware of the period when reading the book, as many of the potential motivations for the characters revolve around sexual jealousy and flouting of mores. Hill draws a detailed picture of life in a relatively small Yorkshire town in the 1970s, with its web of social obligations and friendships that can be exploited by both the police and those they're pursuing.
Not my favourite of the series, and the characters aren't yet fully developed, but well worth reading both in its own right and as an introduction to the series. | | | Write your own review about A Clubbable Woman (Felony & Mayhem Mysteries)
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