Recalled to Life is a 1992 crime fiction novel set in England by Reginald Hill and is part of the Dalziel and Pascoe series. The novel tells the story of Andy Dalziel and Peter Pascoe’s re-investigation of the 1963 murder at a weekend get together at the local manor, Mickledore Hall. The house party ends badly with the wife and child of one of the guests dead and the host and a nanny in police custody. The host, Sir Ralph Mickledore is found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang. Cecily Kohler, the American nanny, is also found guilty of killing the daughter, Emma, and spends more than 25 years. During her stay in prison, she murders a prison guard, but years later she is freed. Cecily Kohler travels back to the U.S. with barely any comment on the murder while decade-old clues are found by Dalziel and Pascoe that leave the detectives thinking that the wrong aristocrat was hung.
Andy Dalziel, also known as “Fat Andy,” is by far the most prominent character in this installment of the series. In 1963, he was just starting his career as a detective, which has led him to the position of detective superintendent. This same position was held by his late friend and mentor, Wally Tallantire. Andy was there the night of the murder and wants to keep both Wally and his reputation intact by proving that justice has been served and the case was correctly closed. Dalziel will go to any measure to not let anyone besmirch the name of his dead friend and he ends up conducting his own unofficial investigation. He pulls a somewhat reluctant Peter Pascoe into the case and they uncover a national scandal. Dalziel is the almost polar opposite of his partner. Dalziel is a very independent minded and free-spirited detective unlike Pascoe who has a more by the books style. Dalziel is always three steps ahead in every investigation. The reader’s first impression may lead them to believe he is unintelligent and awkward, but you will be surprised to realize that inside he is a brilliant and relentless investigator. Humor is a key part of this novel and Dalziel produces much of it. One of the most humorous parts of the novel is Dalziel’s trip to the US in which Dalziel submerses himself quite well in the local culture.
It is very clear that Cecily had been responsible for Emma's death and that of the wardress in prison. Following Cissy's release, Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel remains convinced of her guilt, but after further investigating, his certainties were eroded. The murder of the wife, Pam Westropp, had never really been solved to Andy's satisfaction. To make things more interesting Pam was the American wife of James, distant cousin to the Queen and working for the British Secret Service at the time. The actual events of the night of the murder are slowly revealed through clues such as the fact that Cecily was not the only one involved in Emma’s death. There are constant efforts by even the British Intelligence and CIA to cover up the true story, which makes Dalziel’s job even harder. Pascoe studied a tape made about the affair and a recent television interview with Cecily showed him that there is some doubt in whether the right conviction was made. Later in the novel, the two detectives discover a group of decade-old clues that lead them to believe that a member of the royal family is the true culprit. However, when one of their most promising leads is mysteriously found dead, Dalziel goes to interview one of the most reliable sources that was there at the scene of the crime, Cecily.
The writing in Recalled to Life is very descriptive and allows the reader to picture almost every scene in their head. The following are three passages that particularly appealed to me while I was reading the novel. The first coming in chapter four, “An habitual criminal is easy to spot. Ask him, ‘Where were you when President Kennedy was shot?’ and he’ll say ‘I was at home in bed reading a book. I can bring six witnesses to prove it.’ ” (21) This passage stood out to me because it was very witty and clever. Fortunately, this novel has a humorous and amusing side that kept me reading because of passages like this. The second passage that appealed to me came from the first page of the novel and also re-appeared in chapter six:
It was the best of crimes, it was the worst of crime; it was born of love, it was spawned by greed; it was completely unplanned, it was coldly premeditated; it was an open-and-shut case, it was a locked-room mystery; it was the act of a guile-less girl, it was the work of a scheming scoundrel; it was the end of an era, it was the start of an era; a man with the face of a laughing boy reigned in Washington, a man with the features of a lugubrious hound ruled in Westminster; an ex-marine got a job at a Dallas book repository, an ex-Minister of War lost a job in politics; a group known as the Beatles made their first million, a group known as the Great Train Robbers made their first two million; it was the time when those who had fought to save the world began to surrender it to those they had fought to save it for; Dixon of Dock Green was giving way to Z-Cars, Bond to Smiley, the Monsignors to the Maharishis, Matt Dillon to Bob Dylan, l.s.d. to LSD, as the sunset glow of the old Golden Age imploded into the psychedelic dawn of the new Age of Glitz. (3 and 40)
This was one of the best openings to a novel that I have read in a long time. It set the standard of excellent writing for the entire novel and makes it clear when the crime took place. The year, nineteen sixty-three, is only a number while this passage really explains what that year was all about. The last of the passages that stood out to came in chapter twenty, “The Immigration queue snaked before him like an Alpine pass with its head almost hidden in the clouds.” (197) I particularly like the simile in this passage and it is a great representation of the writing throughout the novel. The author, Reginald Hill, uses many similes and metaphors throughout the novel, which makes his writing style very appealing and interesting.
In conclusion, Recalled to Life was an excellent crime fiction novel that I would recommend to anyone looking for a challenging and attention-grabbing read. I have not read many novels in the crime fiction genre, but after this one I definitely plan on reading more.
