Brilliant

Love the characters, the humour and the plot. Cant’t get enough of this series - and read by Pascoe himself!

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Interesting story and a great narrator

What did you like most about A Pinch of Snuff?

Very easy to listen to.

Have you listened to any of Colin Buchanan’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I've listened to several books narrated by Colin Buchanan and he is consistently good. I really like his narration style, he doesn't intrude into the story and acts all the different characters well. I am particularly impressed that he manages to act the parts of female characters believably - a rare talent.

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3 people found this helpful

Not faring brilliantly with the passage of time…

I am very fond of the Dalziel and Pascoe novels, and have read them all some years ago. I enjoyed this, but it cannot be denied that some of the attitudes and language have not withstood the test of time of time too well, and feel somewhat awkward and unpleasant in the 21st century. I’ll always have a soft spot, but whilst the Fat Man has always been an i apologetic boor, Pascoe also comes across as something of a chauvinist which is more disappointing, now lacking the balance the duo once appeared to manage. I still enjoyed it, but it’s a bit like re-watching Rising Damp, or the Dukes of Hazard… Of its time, and not wearing well.

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2 people found this helpful

Engaging intelligent writing and interesting story

A detective novel which amongst many other gems throws in a reference to Mary Wollstonecraft gets 5* from me!

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1 person found this helpful

"There'll be no cover-ups here."

When Pascoe's dentist confides in him that he thought a scene in an adult fantasy sex film showing at the local members only club was more than just play acting, Peter decides to look into it despite the scorn coming from Dalziel. A murder further draws him into a determination to find out exactly what is going on. A fine example of Dalziel's sarcastic wit and local knowledge as the big bully lets Peter muddle on. (And Peter has his wife to contend with, too!)
Performed by Colin Buchanan, this is another great read with plenty of humour lurking amidst the crime. However, this book seems mostly about Pascoe's misadventures and the rather unsavoury folks with whom he was dealing and I was less involved than I usually become reading one of Reginald Hill's books, hence the four rather than five stars. Still a fine read, however, and recommended

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1 person found this helpful

Reginald Hill

loved it I enjoy Reginald Hills books my favourite is The spy's Wife that is a good story

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4 people found this helpful

a trip back to the TV series

this a Dalziel and pascoe I hadn't heard of before but it is as good a tale as the others if not my favourite. the narration is spot on and listening makes it almost as if Warren Clarke himself were doing the voice.

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1 person found this helpful

A Great Listen

I read this book years ago, and this was an entertaining revisit to favourite characters, and a great storyline.

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Really boring

Normally a fan of these two but, oh dear, this was dreary. Have given up half way through from sheer disinterest

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Story below par; narration not great

I'm a fan of Dalziel & Pascoe, and maybe it's because I'm going back and filling in the books I've missed, having read or listened to many of the later episodes, but this was not up to the standard I'm used to. This is book 5 in the series, and perhaps the author was still getting into stride. There wasn't a great deal of interaction between Dalziel, Pascoe and Wield - usually a highlight. And the solving of the case was wrapped up with undue haste at the end, with the very serious aspects of the subject matter (snuff movies and sexual exploitation of underage girls) dealt with only at the most superficial level.

The narrator, Colin Buchanan, had moments of excellence - usually when delivering dialogue in character - as you might expect from an actor (and the one who plays Peter Pascoe in the TV series). But he failed to grasp that the voice of the narrator needs performance too. In the narration sections, his delivery was akin to a student standing on a stage self-consciously reading a passage from a book to an audience of parents. It wasn't bad enough to make me stop listening, but I'm not looking forward to the other two D&P titles I've got that are narrated by him.

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1 person found this helpful