The Wood Beyond

The Wood Beyond
Reginald Hill

‘Hill’s wit is the constant, ironic foil to his vision, and to call this a mere crime novel is to say Everest is a nice little hill’ Frances Hegarty, Mail on SundayWhen animal-rights activists uncover a long-dead uniformed body in the grounds of Wanwood House, a research facility, Dalziel is presented with a seemingly insoluble mystery. And he is further perplexed when he’s attracted to one of the campaigners – now implicated in a murderous assault.Meanwhile, the death of his grandmother has led Peter Pascoe to the battlefields of World War 1 and the enigma of who his grandfather was – and why he had to die.

REGINALD HILL

THE WOOD BEYOND

A Dalziel and Pascoe novel

COPYRIGHT (#uca644583-6410-5fab-b00f-e2d9704fd38c)

Harper An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain in 1996 by HarperCollinsPublishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Copyright © Reginald Hill 1996

Reginald Hill asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Source ISBN: 9780007313167

Ebook Edition © JULY 2015 ISBN 9780007386772 Version: 2015-06-22

EPIGRAPH (#ulink_94f4fb91-734c-55f0-b5e6-e7d25f9922aa)

And what may I deem now, but that this is a land of mere lies, & that there is nought real and alive therein save me. Yea, belike even these trees & the green grass will presently depart from me, & leave me falling down through the clouds.

WILLIAM MORRIS, The Wood Beyond the World

No evidence was found to lead us … to think that the convictions were unsound or that the accused were treated unfairly … we cannot rewrite history by substituting our latter-day judgement for that of contemporaries …

JOHN MAJOR, Response (Feb 1993) to request to reconsider cases of British soldiers executed during WW1

si canimus silvas, silvae sint consule dignae

(#ulink_6628fb8f-df84-50bb-9032-dd1641d0dc8b).

VIRGIL, Eclogue IV

* (#ulink_d69fe0c1-5242-5e56-9019-db884e78fbd6) If we must sing of woods, let them be woods that are worthy of a prime minister

CONTENTS

Cover (#ufe41da58-2e44-5970-9ef8-f5d05281febe)

Title Page (#u11fb36f7-5107-5cac-ae96-23814105e2b9)

Copyright

Epigraph (#uf3deb213-746a-5292-b928-9bd12b120f6a)

Prologue

Part One: Sanctuary

i (#ulink_ee937169-23fc-5caa-b20b-2dcb34fc906d)

ii (#ulink_9ab0f171-53f3-59a7-b2fb-ec33b52e102e)

iii (#ulink_02c4aedd-a723-55f2-ab0f-8b554a6abe6a)

iv (#ulink_9ecf78aa-8384-5f32-abfc-e8274feb7c64)

v (#ulink_2c59e613-542c-53c9-85dd-8deecf0d5f6a)

vi (#ulink_dbfd4f11-45c0-5021-9301-4275cd6ad6ee)

vii (#ulink_4ea0ee8e-08d2-514e-9e9b-c30a2cc8c290)

viii (#ulink_f1024c3c-8594-5ffa-9bca-e1016b448b6f)

ix (#ulink_2e62a4c5-f8a5-50b7-a702-b51ae9a1c10d)

x (#ulink_5d612966-901e-5212-a105-c6e894c47a56)

xi (#ulink_b114a6e1-0a18-5b62-8b46-20de52c2a8bb)

xii (#ulink_3c89a9b3-e155-5fb5-8921-dab81ece191f)

xiii (#ulink_a06f7b97-4fd1-5a90-b16a-c7ea1c60759a)

xiv (#litres_trial_promo)

xv (#litres_trial_promo)

xvi (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Two: Glencorse