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.