Reginald Hill is a native of Cumbria, and a former resident of Yorkshire, the setting for his crime novels featuring Dalziel and Pascoe. His writing career began with the publication of A Clubbable Woman (1970), which introduced Chief Superintendent Andy Dalziel and DS Peter Pascoe. Their subsequent appearances, together with the adventures of Luton lathe operator turned PI Joe Sixsmith, have confirmed Hill's position as "the best living male crime writer in the English speaking world" (Telegraph) and won numerous awards, including the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for his lifetime contribution to the genre.