Rating: 
Summary: Back-stabbing.
Review: "One final twist at the very end will take readers' breath away."
Bollocks!Yes, I understand that mystery novels are a game between the author and the reader, and that (for many mystery fans) the game is the thing-- all other considerations are secondary. Character and motivation take a back seat, and for some authors characterization is limited to just a few quick swipes. That's why this book was such a disappointment for me. Hill clearly has the craftsmanship to create living, breathing characters about whom the reader will care, and care deeply. This, too, is a game; the author manipulates the reader and the reader allows him to do so, hoping that this trust will not be betrayed. The ending was, to me, a stab in the back. (Or a kick in the bollocks.) For the sake of a clever solution, Hill trashes two great characters-- one is murdered, the other is revealed as the murderer. A cute solution to the mystery? Yes. An exceptionally irritating ending? Definitely. If you like a clever game and never develop any depth of feeling for the players in a novel, then this is a mystery for you. Otherwise, take a pass.
Rating: 
Summary: Word mavens rejoice
Review: A new Dalziel and Pascoe novel is always a cause for celebration but "Dialogues of the Dead" is a special treat for puzzle and word-game lovers. Hill's books are celebrated for sly and clever wordplay but this novel takes it further, making a word-puzzle central to the plot. Two accidental deaths are proved murder by "Dialogues" submitted to a local Yorkshire literary contest. The pieces contain clues, but the local police, including fat, crude, razor-sharp Supt. Andy Dalziel, and the refined and dependable Inspector Peter Pascoe, as well as several academic consultants, are baffled. Meanwhile young constable "Hat" Bowler begins to romance the attractive librarian Rye Pomona while finding numerous suspects among the sniping literati, except for one problem - they keep getting murdered. Word mavens might follow clues to the solution, but Hill leaves the key hidden until the end. Intricately constructed, with well-drawn characters and diabolical murder scenes, this novel will dazzle puzzle fans. Those less in the know, like myself, may feel many of the sophisticated clues flying right over their heads.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for style, 3 stars for plot
Review: As noted by all reviews of the book, the word play in _Dialogues of the Dead_ is witty and tremendously fun to read. The book centers around a kind of onion made out of games-- there are layers and layers and layers of words and rules and logical puzzles. Think of it as a kind of homage to Lewis Carroll. This said, I wish the plot had been as strong. I guessed the baddie very early on, and was unhappy with the ending, which felt gimmicky and out of place for a Dalziel and Pascoe book. Not my favorite Hill, although with a little better villain, perhaps it would have been.
Rating: 
Summary: Hill just keeps getting better and better
Review: Detective Constable Bowler, who, in a fit of paranomasia (wordplay, punning) has been nicknamed, "Hat," would like to date Ray (Raina) Pamona, the local reference librarian. She and her boss, Dee, have been assigned the onerous task of judging submissions to the local fiction story contest. Dee and Ray notice that two of the entries from the same writer bear striking resemblance to two recent unexplained deaths, and they wonder how the writer could have obtained such intimate details. They turn the stories over to Hat. Enter Superintendent Dalziel (pronounced "Dee-?l" ) and DCI Pascoe. Dalziel is his usual fat, curmudgeonly self who mutters things like, " 'Don't want them blowflies from the media around till we know there's dead meat and it's not us,' " and " 'One thing you've got to say about George [another inspector], he's been real conscientious helping to break in his replacement. ' 'Thought we weren't getting a replacement, sir' [said Sergeant Wield]. 'That's what I mean,' " replied Dalziel. Andy Dalziel loves hiding his rapier-sharp mind behind crude talk and behavior, and he loves to deflate pompous egos, pretending to misunderstand their pedantries. When one expert adviser presents what he calls an "interesting" theory, Dalziel responds, "If you're waiting for a bus and a giraffe walks down the street, that's interesting. But it doesn't get you anywhere."
DCI Peter Pascoe remains the perfect foil. Well-educated and refined, he's conscientious to a fault and impeccably polite even if he does have a snit on about an ex-convict he thinks might be the killer. The detectives are soon in the midst of numerous investigations, as the "Wordman" so-named embarks on a killing spree, tantilizing the public and police by sending literate descriptive passages describing how the murders were accomplished. All of Hill's books revel in paranomania ( a clinical obsession with word games), but in this one he has outdone himself. Virtually every page has some kind of pun, and it turns out the murderer was using the beginning and ending word entries of volumes of the OED to define his/her (believe me, you'll thank me for not revealing the gender of the murderer) next victim. Hill is so erudite it can take your breath away, and how he can come up with phrases like the following defy my imagination: ... The ending will astonish and surprise you.
Rating:
Summary: Hill just keeps getting better and better
Review: Detective Constable Bowler, who, in a fit of paranomasia (wordplay, punning) has been nicknamed, "Hat," would like to date Ray (Raina) Pamona, the local reference librarian. She and her boss, Dee, have been assigned the onerous task of judging submissions to the local fiction story contest. Dee and Ray notice that two of the entries from the same writer bear striking resemblance to two recent unexplained deaths, and they wonder how the writer could have obtained such intimate details. They turn the stories over to Hat. Enter Superintendent Dalziel (pronounced "Dee-él" ) and DCI Pascoe. Dalziel is his usual fat, curmudgeonly self who mutters things like, " 'Don't want them blowflies from the media around till we know there's dead meat and it's not us,' " and " 'One thing you've got to say about George [another inspector], he's been real conscientious helping to break in his replacement. ' 'Thought we weren't getting a replacement, sir' [said Sergeant Wield]. 'That's what I mean,' " replied Dalziel. Andy Dalziel loves hiding his rapier-sharp mind behind crude talk and behavior, and he loves to deflate pompous egos, pretending to misunderstand their pedantries. When one expert adviser presents what he calls an "interesting" theory, Dalziel responds, "If you're waiting for a bus and a giraffe walks down the street, that's interesting. But it doesn't get you anywhere."
DCI Peter Pascoe remains the perfect foil. Well-educated and refined, he's conscientious to a fault and impeccably polite even if he does have a snit on about an ex-convict he thinks might be the killer. The detectives are soon in the midst of numerous investigations, as the "Wordman" so-named embarks on a killing spree, tantilizing the public and police by sending literate descriptive passages describing how the murders were accomplished. All of Hill's books revel in paranomania ( a clinical obsession with word games), but in this one he has outdone himself. Virtually every page has some kind of pun, and it turns out the murderer was using the beginning and ending word entries of volumes of the OED to define his/her (believe me, you'll thank me for not revealing the gender of the murderer) next victim. Hill is so erudite it can take your breath away, and how he can come up with phrases like the following defy my imagination: ... The ending will astonish and surprise you.
Rating:
Summary: A review of the entire series
Review: Dialogues of the Dead was the first book I read from Hill's in the Dalzeel/Pascoe (D/P)series. I loved it and was hooked. A clever mystery with unexpected twists, the novel looks into the investogation of a serial killer byu the Yorkshire police department. The main character here is a younger officer, nicknamed Hat, with the unforgetable D/P couple serving as secondary characters. In this respect the book is not very representative of the other novels in the series, which dwell to a large extent to Danzeel and Pascoe. What makes the series unique and likable is that gradually, novel after novel, Hill is building up an entire world surrounding the two policemen. In different novels, we get to know their families, friends and enemies and once developed neither of these characters looses his/her depth or complexity. The ending of Dialogues of the Dead leaves the door open for another Hat story. But then again, Hill had a similar approach in his novel Deadheads , and never resolved the situation in another mystery (to the best of my knowledge--I have not read all of the novels). Too bad that some of the D/P mysteries are already out of print!
Rating:
Summary: Dialogues
Review: Enjoyed the book and the wonderful word puzzles. And, yes, suspected who 'did it' fairly early on. Didn't feel that there was enough of D & P but maybe he will bring them back in to full force in the next one. Always get a kick out of Mr. Hill's idea of an independent woman and when I read his heroines in action, they always remind me of a young 'Mrs. Boooookay' of "Keeping Up Appearances". But then maybe that is his idea of the perfect woman, who knows. Am just not sure the ending wasn't a bit of a cop out. Just didn't feel right in this type of book genre. Looking forward to his next book.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the wait
Review: Having not missed a Reginald Hill Dalziel/Pascal series since nearly their inception I eagerly look forward to the next one. This is definitely worth the wait. Hill's characters are so well drawn and the suspense is so tangible that I am hanging on every page. The introduction of a new character in the police force and his perspective and actions are so "right on" that together with Pascal's obsessions and Dalziels crusty "humor" this tale may come off as one of the best. If you like PD James, Hill tops her in my opinion and Rendell can't hold a candle to Hill.
Rating:
Summary: A Memorable, Imaginative Masterpiece
Review: Hill has lately written novels that seem to be searching for thematic depth, but end up being pretentious and fuzzy:Beulah, Woods, Bones, Arms. The one exception is Pictures of Perfection that comes off nicely, but can not in all honesty be considered a suspense/mysery novel. Nevertheless, Dialogues shocked this reader with its depth, fantastic plot and memorable characters. The prose glistens and the mood of the book, so hard to define, subdues the sensitive reader, squeezes the heart to its ultimate breaking point and produces the best ending of any suspense novel in many a year. The darkness of the human soul comes paradoxically alive in this novel. A great read
Rating: 
Summary: Not my favorite Dalziel and Pascoe
Review: I agree with another reader that this is not my favorite Dalziel and Pascoe. I am also not a fan of word games, so this might be the problem. I guessed the murderer halfway through the book and never swayed from my choice, which isn't necessarily bad, although I prefer it not to happen. But I found the dialogues increasingly annoying, especially the last one, which was used instead of a more clever approach to tie up the loose ends. If the dialogs actually contained clues (except for the one with the Roman numerals--which I thought was obvious), I certainly didn't catch most of them, and since I was able to figure out everything except the motivation (which I figured out partially) without them, I found them to be a distracting filler.
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