The end of something good

Two running stories are brought to a close in Death’s Jest-Book. The first was introduced in the novel in which we first met Ellie, Peter Pascoe’s future wife. An Advancement of Learning, published in 1971, has that great team – politically correct Sergeant Peter Pascoe and fat, slobbish, thuggish Superintendent Andy Dalziel – investigating a series of murders in the academic institution where Ellie teaches. A pattern emerges when they come across the charismatic, psychopathic, clever young student, Franny Roote. It is not entirely clear at the end how guilty Roote is of murder. He does, however, go to a secure mental hospital before trans- ferring to prison. Those who go to prison usually come out, and Roote knows how to use the system. He makes his next appearance in Arms and the Women, published in 2000. Somebody is threatening Ellie, now Peter’s wife, and Peter suspects Roote, who has left prison and is working in a hospital as a porter.