About Me

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Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada
I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Celebrating Reginald Hill

Crime fiction bloggers Margot Kinberg and Rhian Davies have pooled their formidable talents celebrate Reginald Hill who passed away in January of this year. They have put together a month long blog in honour of Reg which is located at this link

There are daily posts about Reg and his books.

Yesterday there was a superb tribute by Mike Ripley.

Today there are reviews of Stranger House, one of his stand alone novels, by myself and Sarah Ward of the Crimepieces blog. I found it interesting to read the reviews back to back.

My review is:

Sam (Samantha) Flood from Australia and Mig (Miguel) Madero from Spain arrive in the northwest England village of Illthwaite looking into family mysteries from the near past, early 1960s, to medieval times (the 1500s). Sam’s mathematical talents and Mig’s supernatural perceptions gradually allow them to penetrate the silences of the people of Illthwaite. The science and art of detection are combined. Sam believes her grandmother was shipped to Australia as part of the Child Migrants Programme (orphans sent away). Mig seeks the history of Simeon Woollas, a Jesuit priest who reputedly traveled through the area where his cousins’ ancestral home was located. Centuries later the Woollas, Winander and Gowder families are still resident. (It was a touch contrived that their lines were all coming to an end.) Hill smoothly and deftly unfolds the tale. Each twist is plausible and adds to the overall story. Sam and Mig find unexpected answers to their quests.

Sarah offers a longer in depth analysis.

Many future posts will involve his justly famous series of Dalziel and Pascoe solving crimes in Yorkshire.

It is a wonderful blog that I encourage all readers to visit. I appreciate Margot and Rhian for inviting me to participate in the celebration. They are to be praised for their efforts to honour a giant of crime fiction.

4 comments:

  1. Bill - Thanks so much for your kind remarks! Even more, thanks for your contribution to the Reg Hill blog. You have added to its richness.

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  2. Margot: Thanks for the comment. You and Rhian have worked hard on the blog Celebrating Reginald Hill.

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  3. I feel sad that I haven't read any of this master's books. I plan to rectify that sometime this year.

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  4. Clarissa: Thanks for the comment. I look forwarding to reading your thoughts on Reg.

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