Guest Post: André Jute on Dalziel & Pascoe PLUS a Giveaway of one of my favourite books of the year: IDITAROD A Novel of the Greatest Race on Earth by André Jute

Got a gift card burning a hole in your pocket? Check out today's recommendation from guest blogger André Jute!

And stay tuned following André's guest post for a giveaway of his book, IDITAROD a novel of The Greatest Race on Earth. Click here to read my review of IDITAROD and interview with André.

Fat & Thin, in Yorkshire, how likely is that for the best detective series in English?

André Jute on Dalziel & Pascoe

 Image source: bbc.co.uk

The chief policeman in the series is a fat slob with all of the sensitivity and none of the timing of a cuckoo clock. He is a bully, he is sexist, he scratches his backside in public, he belches, he farts.

His sidekick is a fast-track graduate with a stalled career. Mind you, he isn’t much more sensitive. When he shoots someone dead, he knocks up his estranged wife, the pinko bleeding-heart, to tell her he feels good, that this is what he was made for. And then he is surprised when she takes his child and runs off to America with another man.

Together they are Dalziel and Pascoe, by far the most successful British cop double-act. Oh, there’s Morse and his sidekick, Lewis, and Barnaby is set to continue in the unlikely Midsommer after the retirement of John Nettles, and Americans may be impressed by the equally unlikely gentility of Inspector Lynley, but Dalziel and Pascoe are such a long-running and popular success for a huge number of the right reasons.

One of those is realism, which none of the other British police series with a claim to literary probity even tries to offer. Dee-hell (pronunciation for my non-Yorkshire friends) and Pascoe are just downright flat believeable, they’re so human.

Their writer, Reginald Hill, is equally human, if a very superior human: in this age of poppy-loppers he is an unashamedly literary writer, who thinks nothing of strewing pages of references to the classics, or even making them clues. His diversions can be hugely entertaining but police series don’t grow to twenty thick books by accident: Mr Hill brings every fascinating detour to a relevant conclusion.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

About the Reviewer

André Jute is editorial advisor to the micopublisher CoolMain Press. He is the author (with Andrew McCoy) of the bestselling booklength literary critique STIEG LARSSON Man, Myth & Mistress - reviewed here by Matt Posner - and many other books. Visit André's Amazon author page for a list.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Recommended by André Jute: Dalziel & Pascoe (series, read in any order) by Reginald Hill.

To start at the start, begin with A Clubbable Woman in paperback, audio book format, or watch season one of the television series on video. These titles are not yet available in ebook format.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ GIVEAWAY! ~

WIN one of three copies of

IDITAROD A Novel of the Greatest Race on Earth

by André Jute

There are 7 ways to enter below. Note that none of these are mandatory, so you can pick and choose how you will enter the contest. Enter once, or enter multiple times. There are two Twitter options, each worth one entry, which can be done once per day until the end of the contest. The contest will be open for 7 days. It is possible to earn up to 19 entries! The winners will be selected randomly once the contest has closed. Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway