Thursday, May 07, 2020

A Fairly Dangerous Thing by Reginald Hill


First Line: Joe stood, dramatically outlined against the sky, on a rocky eminence above the Bosporus, and laughed mockingly as Cyril Solstice and Miss Onions were bound back to back (no; make that front to front, nothing was too bad for them) thrust into a sack and hurled into the swirling waters.

Joe Askern, teacher in an English village day school, has three obsessions: (1) concocting dire scenarios in which to put the two people in charge of the school, (2) Averningerett House, a stately home, and (3) female mammary glands. With the aid of a particularly hopeless student and the student's father, Joe is set up to learn just what can happen when obsessions collide.

In no time at all, Joe finds himself blackmailed into being a participant in the master heist of Averningerett House. Unable to finagle his way out of the mess, Joe agrees to navigate the caper. What none of them know is that it's going to be much more difficult getting out of the house than it was to get in.

Since I am a fan of Reginald Hill's Dalziel & Pascoe police procedural series as well as his standalone, The Woodcutter, I thought I'd enjoy A Fairly Dangerous Thing. For the most part, I didn't. What part did I enjoy? The caper itself. I've always liked a good heist/caper book or film, and Hill's book fulfilled this particular requirement.

What didn't I enjoy? Once, just once, I'd like to see someone who's being blackmailed say, "Damn the consequences, I'm turning these buzzards in!" I know. Then there wouldn't be much of a book. (It would, however, be quite refreshing.) I found Joe's dithering-- which only wrapped him tighter in the blackmailer's web-- tiresome, and even more wearying was his almost open drooling over women's breasts. Put a good-sized pair in front of certain men and you can do anything you want with them. But guess what? It's boring. Dolly Parton isn't the only woman who's happy that Dolly Parton jokes are a thing of the past.

So... a very good heist story involving an exasperating main character. Written by almost anyone else, I would not have finished it. Of course, your mileage may vary.

A Fairly Dangerous Thing by Reginald Hill
eISBN: 9781504057820
Open Road Integrated Media © 2019
Originally published in 1972.
eBook, 190 pages

Humorous Mystery, Standalone
Rating: C+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

 

11 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear this one didn't do it for you, Cathy, although I have to say, I think I would have the same reaction. Even if it wouldn't make for a good story, it'd still be nice if a character stood up to blackmailers. And don't get me started on Dolly Parton jokes and other such references. Not. Necessary.

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  2. No Dolly Parton jokes. Old and sexist.

    Glad to knowo about this book. I won't read it.

    I like good heist stories, too, including in movies. Got that from my father.

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    1. And I got it from my mother. I think there's a little bit of Robin Hood in all of us.

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  3. The first book in the Pascoe & Dalziel series (A Clubbable Woman) wasn't very good, but boy, did Reginald Hill get better! I adored this series--it became one of my favorite series ever. Since this one was published in 1972, it was in the very beginning of Hill's career. The depth of characters and richness of plots just kept improving with Pascoe & Dalziel!

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    1. Yes, they did. (And I agree with you about A Clubbable Woman.)

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  4. Robin Hood: I see that and I start remembering the record. My sister and I had it memorized.

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  5. Well, I do think of people with 5 mansions, jets and yachts, while 33 million people are unemployed and people are lined up at food banks for millions, which can't meet the demand. Hmmm!

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    1. I think the best way for all of us to be Robin Hood is to vote and oust the Sheriff of Nottingham and all his sycophants.

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  6. Well, I suppose the health care workers calling for protective gear and the Amazon and other workers who want safe workplaces, protective gear, sick pay, etc.

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