The Wood Beyond: A Dalziel/Pascoe Mystery (G K Hall Large Print Book Series) - Hardcover

The old trick of splitting a central character into two very different parts and using the tension to create literary sparks has worked for writers as diverse as Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin) and Patrick O'Brian (Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin). Nobody in the mystery field does it better these days than Hill, whose down-and-dirty Inspector Dalziel (pronounced Dah-eel in the A&E TV series) jigs and jousts wonderfully with his smart, sensitive sidekick Pascoe. Their latest outing is one of the best in the series, with Pascoe digging up some old bones and family secrets from his own past. (Other Dalziel/Pascoe books include Blood Sympathy, Exit Lines, Pictures of Perfection, A Pinch of Snuff, Ruling Passion.)

Police Inspector Peter Pascoe has stumbled upon the remains of an ancestor unjustly executed in wartime. As he delves into the mystery of his disgraced great-grandfather's death, his partner, Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel, is preoccupied with a shapely animal rights activist. Eight female protesters have discovered human bones on the grounds of a drug company's research headquarters, and the investigation has a shocking connection to Pascoe's own family case.