A Cure for All Diseases cover art

A Cure for All Diseases

Dalziel and Pascoe, Book 23

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A Cure for All Diseases

By: Reginald Hill
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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About this listen

 Some say that Andy Dalziel wasn't ready for God, others that God wasn't ready for Dalziel. Either way, despite his recent proximity to a terrorist blast, the Superintendent remains firmly of this world. And, while Death may be the cure for all diseases, Dalziel is happy to settle for a few weeks' care under a tender nurse.

Convalescing in Sandytown, a quiet seaside resort devoted to healing, Dalziel befriends Charlotte Heywood, a fellow newcomer and psychologist, who is researching the benefits of alternative therapy. With much in common, the two soon find themselves in league when trouble comes to town. Sandytown's principal landowners have grandiose plans for the resort -- none of which they can agree on. One of them has to go, and when one of them does, in spectacularly gruesome fashion, DCI Peter Pascoe is called in to investigate -- with Dalziel and Charlotte providing unwelcome support.

But Pascoe finds dark forces at work in a place where medicine and holistic remedies are no match for the oldest cure of all!

©2008 Reginald Hill (P)2008 WF Howes Ltd Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction
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Having just listened to On Beulah Height (which is brilliant) I'm holding this to the same high standard. Dalziel is a great character with some hilarious dialogue. The best feature of the books is his relationship with Pascoe, and various local Yorkshire identities. But whereas Beulah Height is a gripping character-driven procedural, this one is enjoyable enough but a bit clunky and contrived as a novel. Large chunks of it are given over the interior monologue of Dalziel (recorded as an audio diary) and the email correspondence of fairly uninteresting character called Charlie, which implausibly reads like extended chapters of a book. The device doesn't work - largely because Dalziel on the job is a lot more interesting than Dalziel off the job in personal reflection mode. Also, the casual sexism, fat-shaming, racism and homophobia becomes a bit much when given free reign in these monologues. Rather than being challenged in dialogue or balanced by a strong female character, here Charlie is just as bad in the way she fetishises her sister's black boyfriend.
The story seems to drag on a bit, and with Dalziel holed up in a spa resort, emerging in pyjamas and one slipper to keep the investigation on course, the whole thing threatens to degenerate into an English farce. The police (and the writer) have trouble staying in control of this one.

Not quite On Beulah Height

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