Dalziel and Pascoe

Dalziel, Superintendent Andrew, and Inspector Peter Pascoe Hill's Yorkshire detectives are another entry in a long line of excellent British police procedural's, a subgenre that may more truly define the British mystery than the so-called cozy. Dalziel (pronounced, according to the author, "Deeell"), is middle-aged, fat, and a realist to the point just short of being a cynic. He is shrewd and a top-notch investigator. Pascoe is younger, college educated, and on the way up. A sergeant when we meet him, he is a detective chief inspector in the most recent book. He's married and has one child. The series is given a certain edge by the fact that, while the men work well together and respect each others abilities, they are not bosom buddies in the manner of so many detective teams. While working in the procedural vein and giving us a close-up picture of life in Yorkshire from the cities to the small mining towns, Hill still frequently provides clues and solutions worthy of a classic puzzle.