Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blood Sympathy | 1993 | Reginald Hill | Buy |
| 2 | Born Guilty | 1995 | Reginald Hill | Buy |
| 3 | Killing the Lawyers | 1997 | Reginald Hill | Buy |
| 4 | Singing the Sadness | 1999 | Reginald Hill | Buy |
| 5 | The Roar of the Butterflies | 2008 | Reginald Hill | Buy |
The Joe Sixsmith series by Reginald Hill is a lighter, warmer counterpart to his better-known Dalziel and Pascoe novels. Joe Sixsmith is a Black former lathe operator in Luton who, after being laid off from his factory job, decides to become a private investigator. He has no formal training and no particular talent for detective work, but he has good instincts, a kind heart, and a stubborn refusal to give up on a case.
The 5 books in the series were published between 1993 and 2008. Hill used the Joe Sixsmith stories to explore a very different England from the Yorkshire of Dalziel and Pascoe. Luton’s multicultural working-class community gives the books their character, and Joe’s position as an outsider to the traditional detective mold is a big part of what makes them enjoyable.
The tone is more comedic than the Dalziel and Pascoe books, though the mysteries themselves are still well-constructed. Joe stumbles into trouble, gets in over his head, and somehow comes out the other side. Readers looking for something lighter from Reginald Hill will find a lot to like here, starting with Blood Sympathy.