A PINCH OF SNUFF

This second case for Yorkshire's Supt. Dalziel and Inspector Pascoe is just as snappily written as their American debut (Ruling Passion, 1977). But Hill stuffs in a few too many kinky secrets here, however tastefully he may handle them. Pascoe has reason to suspect that a local porno-film company is really making "muff" films—in which an unsuspecting actress is actually killed on screen. The only copy of the film in question disappears in a theater fire, the cinema proprietor murdered in the bargain. Meanwhile, Pascoe's dentist is accused of impregnating a teenage patient, but adultery and teen sex are the least of the domestic licentiousness to be revealed—some of it involving raunchy senior citizens. Undeniably lively doings, with foul, fat Dalziel and lean, dour Pascoe (his liberated wife is a mixed blessing) still a truly abrasive team. Yet, with a new kink on every page, there's no time to focus on the cops, the seedy local color, or anything in particular—making Hill #2 more readable than memorable.