A Pinch of Snuff (Hill, 1978)

 Reginald Hill. A Pinch of Snuff (1978) Pascoe’s dentist Jack Shorter, who likes watching porn, tells Pascoe that he thinks a brutal attack on one of the characters in a blue movie was real. Pascoe can’t find evidence to corroborate, until Ellie (who’s being wooed by a feminist group) watches the same film and tells him that the scene in question involved two different actresses. Still no joy when he investigates. In the meantime, the dentist is accused of statutory rape. As you may surmise, the two cases eventually coalesce, and assorted baddies are arrested. But it leaves Pascoe with an even bleaker view of human nature. Even Dalziel is subdued by the way some of his friends are bent out of shape by betrayals of trust.

Well plotted, more complex than earlier novels in characterisation and the understanding of how evil grows like mold and rots everything it touches. The title is rather grisly pun. Recommended. *****