Death's Jest-book (2002)
Blurb:
My review:
A sequel to Dialogues of the Dead, and, like all sequels, disappointing. Hill has fallen into the James trap of believing that no story is worthwhile unless couched in ambiguous and introspective prose; hence, the greatest mystery for the first three-quarters of the book is what the mystery actually is, for these pages merely set up plot strands without any actual plot. Inevitably, the central plot (if there is one) is mediocre: a fairly standard jewellery heist, in which as chance (or authorial direction) would have it, Pascoe’s daughter is kidnapped. Pascoe himself has become obnoxious, and his obsession with Franny Roote, Hill’s King Charles’s head for the last three books, irritates. The most irritating element, however, is Hill’s resolution to the problem set up by the identity of the Wordman at the end of Dialogues: he avoids any sort of conflict, and kills off the Wordman (suicide / brain tumour).