Books, Dogs and Beaches

.....and yet another literary death - I suppose it is the heart of winter, and more older people die in winter, or so it seems. I heard last night on the radio that Reginald Hill had died, and very selfishly thought, oh dear - no more books to read by him then - which was both egocentric, but yet a tribute to the man who was still producing very good crime fiction. I shall miss his books, as will his many readers. No doubt his family and friends will miss him.


Hill was best known for his crime novels about Dalziel and Pascoe, and he wrote a further smaller humorous series set in Luton, featuring the private detective Joe Sixsmith.  He won  the Crime Writers' Association's Gold Dagger award, for Bones and Silence in 1990 and received the Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement five years later. However he produced more work than this - he wrote historical novels and standalone thrillers, and wrote further books under the pseudonyms of Patrick Ruell & Charles Underhill.
Reginald Hill was a talented writer, and wrote with humour and popular appeal.