Constable on the Hill
Constable on the Hill was first published in 1979. Nicholas Rhea had already published a number of books, but this was a new venture for him. He explained:
The story starts with PC Nick Rhea, his wife Mary and their three tiny children moving into the police house, high on a ridge overlooking the moors, on the edge of the village of Aidensfield - "probably the most beautiful site in the country". He soon gets to know all the characters on his beat, from his superior officer Sergeant Blaketon to Claude Jeremiah Greengrass, whose lurcher Alfred lands him with a summons for "allowing a dog to worry livestock on agricultural land"; the ever-resourceful Claude Jeremiah offers the defence that Alfred's victim, a budgerigar, cannot be described as livestock!"The concept of the Constable books arose because I wanted to write a book which showed that the police undertook much work which was not associated with crime or detective investigations. As I had served as a village constable in a delightful part of the North York Moors, it seemed logical to use that experience as a background to the stories, and to add a touch of humour which is always present in police work."
"The result was Constable on the Hill: The success of that book led to what has now become the Constable series which in turn inspired Heartbeat. I think Constable on the Hill is my favourite because it was the beginning of something rather special - and it was written while I was a serving policeman."
The original edition of Constable on the Hill, published by Robert Hale, has become a collectors item; but thanks to the Black Dagger Crime, it is once again in print. The Black Dagger list is drawn up as a joint venture of Chivers Press (now a division of BBC Audiobooks) and a sub-committee of The Crime Writers' Association. In their own words:
"It is designed to select outstanding examples of every type of crime and mystery story, so that enthusiasts will have the opportunity to read once more classics that have been scarce for years, while at the same time introducing them to a new generation who have not previously had the chance to enjoy them."
Read an extract from Constable on the Hill »
Order the Black Dagger Crime edition of Constable on the Hill (price £15.99, ISBN 0-7540-8650-X) from
BBC Audiobooks, or by post at:
BBC Audiobooks Ltd
St James House
The Square
Lower Bristol Rd
Bath BA2 3SB
Tel +44 (0)800 136919
- Constable on the Hill has also been published in a Magna Large Print edition (ISBN: 978-0-8600-9612-2)
- It is available as an ISIS Soundings audio book, on cassette, read by Christopher Kay (order this item direct from the publisher) (ISBN: 978-1-85496-350-5)
- There has also been a TV Tie-in audio edition from Hodder & Stoughton Audio Books, featuring William Simons and Derek Fowlds (ISBN; 978-1-85998-244-0).
- It is included in The Heartbeat Omnibus, which also contains Constable on the Prowl and Constable in the Dale,
- and it has now been translated into Finnish as Aidensfieldin uusi konstaapeli ('New Constable in Aidensfield'), published by Pauna Media Group.