An Advancement of Learning

Dalziel and Pascoe Series, Book 2

By: Reginald Hill

Narrated by: Brian Glover

Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Superintendent Dalziel had a somewhat cynical view of what college administrations spent his taxes on. But when he and that over-educated Sergeant of his, Pascoe, were sent to investigate a disinterred corpse at Holm Coultram College, he hadn't reckoned on a rash of fresh killings. While Pascoe rekindled an old flame on the staff, protesting students identified Dalziel as a 'fascist pig'. The Superintendent smiled with satisfaction...if that's how they wanted to play it.

©2014 Audible, Inc. (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Sound quality a little off

The narration is wonderful, but be warned that the accent used for Dalziel is authentically Yorkshirean and may be difficult to understand. I loved it. Also, the book must originally been recorded on tape, and the transfer to digital could have been better. A small thing, but worth noting.

Didn't like narrating style!

Narrator brays for one character, whispers for others; it's a huge PIA to have to continuously adjust the damn volume!!! I I can't concentrate on the plot because this is so distracting. I have a really hard time with the speed at which the book is also, it just hasn't worked for me. I've listened to hundreds of books and never had these issues! I hope the author's other books have different narrator, or I'll just read those. Think I also have problems with Dalziel's narrated accent. I know the narrator is doing his best to make this accurate and believable; I'm just having a really hard time and that is definitely lessening any enjoyment I would have reading this book.

Poor reader

The reading is really disappointing. Reginald Hill is seriously let down by the performance of his book's readers.

Not One of the Best

Reader is terrible and so is the sound quality. The story isn't bad. The series improves from this early effort. If this is the first one you've listened to don't judge by this one.

Couldn't understand

I love listening to books on tape during my commute. This one is the first where the recording quality plus the accent made the experience challenging. I honestly can't speak to the story because I didn't listen to much of it.

An Ordeal to Listen

This is the first audiobook to which I've listened that has been so substandard in performance and audio quality. There is a reasonably good Dalziel & Pascoe story being read here, but the audio quality is very muddy, and the voices portrayed for characters are not consistent, distinctive or appropriate. Other readers use Yorkshire and other regional British dialects and voice Andy "The Fat Man" Dalziel with a growling bass tone that leaves the listener with no doubt as to which character is speaking.
Based on this audiobook I would be hesitant to listen to other titles with this reader, and I'll be more inclined to heed other reviews about bad audio quality.

Quality of recording is terrible.

The story is good, but if you’re able to get a recording of better quality, please do that. It sounds muffled from beginning to end.

Good book marred by abysmal sound quality

Almost all reviewers have commented on the sub-standard sound quality, and I fully agree with them: the audio sounds as though it had been transferred to digital using worn-out cassettes as the source. This kind of thing is unacceptable and should embarrass the people whose responsibility it is to put books on to Audible.com. All of this is a great pity because it has repelled a large number of people who might otherwise have enjoyed this audiobook. The story and prose are actually very good, and the characters and their conversations are quite engaging and entertaining, and there is a good deal of Yorkshire humor about the book. Unlike several other reviewers, I was able to understand Brian Glover's very thick accent, having grown up close to the region in which the story is set. I recommend that you give this book a try: it's actually a hidden gem, albeit one that is flawed.

Disappointing Production

I started reading this series after finishing the Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes and seeing a few episodes of this series on PBS. It is hard to tell what is going on at the beginning of this audiobook because of the poor quality of the sound. The actual sound rises and falls in a manner separate from the story. Some of the words are virtually inaudible even in a quiet room. Mostly the narrator sounds like he is talking with marbles in his mouth. I understand that the story is set in Yorkshire, so accent comes into play, but would have a appreciated better enunciation and less of the marble-mouth.

Clever but narrator has a cold?

I had read only one Reginald Hill novel (the first in the series) when I downloaded An Advancement of Learning. With this novel, the relationship between the two major characters seems better developed, more humorous, and the novel overall much wittier. That said, I listen to audiobooks while I walk or exercise, and Brian Glover is not an ideal reader for these circumstances, nor is the quality of the recording up to usual Audible standards. I believe another reviewer complained about Glover's accent, but that seemed fairly easy for this American listener to get used to. However, the man also sounds as if he has a cold about half the time and slurs his words a bit. Add in the occasional patch of white noise (a result of low-tech editing?), and this audiobook can be a bit annoying to listen to. The sound level also seems to vary up and down at odd times so that I found myself frequently adjusting the volume.

So, I, based on my experience of only two mysteries, I recommend Hill's work for those attracted to quirky characters and witty wordplay, but I can't recommend Brian Glover as a narrator or this particular recording.