Book description
A fast-moving, stunning new standalone psychological thriller - from
the award-winning author of the Dalziel and Pascoe series
Wolf Hadda's life has been a fairytale. From humble origins as a
Cumbrian woodcutter's son, he has risen to become a hugely successful
entrepreneur, happily married to the girl of his dreams.
A knock on the door one morning ends it all. Universally reviled,
thrown into prison while protesting his innocence, abandoned by friends
and family, Wolf retreats into silence. Seven years later prison
psychiatrist Alva Ozigbo makes the breakthrough. Wolf begins to talk and
under her guidance gets parole, returning to his rundown family home in
rural Cumbria.
But there is a mysterious period in Wolf's youth when he disappeared
from home and was known to his employers as the Woodcutter. And now the
Woodcutter is back, looking for the truth - and with the truth, revenge.
Can Alva intervene before his pursuit of vengeance takes him to a place
from which he can never come back? 'An outstanding novel of force and
beauty [which shows] Hill's elegant writing, erudition and imagination'
The Times
'He quickly proves he's lost none of his sardonic wit, punch and
complexity … You'll be hard pushed to find another crime writer with his
verve … Hill uses every trick in his arsenal to elucidate. The result is
an epic, unbeatable mystery' Financial Times
'A big, fat mystery which has the enduring power of a myth … Hill
proves once again that the driving force of a successful crime novel is
character, not incident … The heights of the Dalziel & Pascoe series
aside, Hill has never written a better book' Evening Standard
'Reginald Hill's books are as good as crime fiction gets and this one
is as good as he gets … A tragic, funny standalone mystery … History is
rewritten with brilliant originality and verve. The combination of wit
and humanity is characteristic of this most inventive of crime novelists
- warmly recommended' Literary Review
'Hill's plotting is brilliant, the jokes first-rate, the prose supple:
it's his humble awe at the English language that enables him to be a
minor master of it' Daily Telegraph
'To give more of plot would be to destroy the great pleasure this
complex and accomplished novel offers … Added to his colourful prose and
involving narrative are acute psychological insights, beautifully
realized characters and landscapes, an examination of the nature of
justice, political rage, humour and enough word games to keep any
bookish crossword-puzzler happy for hours … The Woodcutter combines
romance, fairy tale and tragedy in one of the most gripping crime novels
of the past few years' TLS Reginald Hill is a native of Cumbria and
former resident of Yorkshire, the setting for his novels featuring
Superintendent Dalziel and DCI Pascoe, 'the best detective duo on the
scene bar none' ('Daily Telegraph'). Their appearances have won him
numerous awards including a CWA Gold Dagger and Lifetime Achievement
award. They have also been adapted into a hugely popular BBC TV series.
