Part of Dalziel & Pascoe, book 1
First published 1987
Sam Connon staggers home after taking a brutal hit during his rugby match. His wife greets him with her usual silence, perhaps more distant than normal. Exhausted, he collapses on his bed for five hours. When he wakes and goes downstairs, he discovers why she seemed so quiet. A bullet hole sits in the center of her forehead. Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel arrives to investigate the murder. He knows everyone at the rugby club where emotions and rivalries burn hot both during games and after. Sergeant Peter Pascoe works alongside him, though the two men follow different approaches to police work. Dalziel understands the local players and their secrets. Pascoe brings fresh perspective to the case. As they dig into the victim's life and her husband's world, the investigation reveals the dangerous passions that simmer beneath the surface of club life. This marks the first case where Dalziel and Pascoe work together, establishing a partnership between two very different detectives.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, partnership
Setting: Rugby Club
Period: 20th-century
256 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Grafton Books