I ended up skimming this - partly because the descriptions of recruitment of vulnerable children to county lines gangs was upsetting, and partly because I find Cat and Simon extremely annoying. In this instalment, the principal theme is county lines. As always, the writing is excellent and the chapters and paragraphs regarding Olivia and her mother were moving and sensitively written. Brookie, a disadvantaged 11 year old, is another of the principal characters and he behaves exactly as you’d imagine a child in his position would. The plotline is good, dealing with drug issues and the so-called county lines that entice children to become involved in the distribution and the subsequent pressures put on them. Unfortunately, as a Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler becomes far too involved in the basic workings of the cases. He treats his team with some disdain and people bringing him information as beneath contempt. His relationships with women show him in a poor light and it is some question that he is inappropriately dealing with a female Detective Constable. The whole plotline is once again, in my view, dominated by his family relationships. In the end, the plot runs out of steam, apparently concluded but little by the hand of Serrailler. Overall a poor story in a good series. A Change of Circumstance reminds me of the repositioning sails cruise ships do, to move, free of passengers, to another location to begin ferrying people in a different area. I started this one thinking that it might be getting a little formulaic this time around, but Susan Hill pulled it out again. I love how she spends so much time developing her recurring characters, their difficulties, and their growth and maturation, especially Simon, who is a commitment phobe. The police work seems so well portrayed as well, with red herrings and false leads, a few happy resolutions, but many more sad endings, and sometimes no resolution at all, just the realization that there are a lot of bad people out there.

A Change of Circumstance: A Simon Serrailler Case - Kindle

MY THOUGHTS: I am fond of the Serrailler family, with perhaps the exception of Simon and Cat's father. Each new installment in this series is like visiting with old friends. Simon is still on his own but getting restless, not with his police work but with his personal life. Cat is as busy as ever, and as conscientious as ever. Familywise, things seem to be chugging along quite peacefully. But of course, it can't last. This is the latest in Susan Hill's series featuring DCS Simon Serrailler of Lafferton Police, a blend of family drama and crime fiction, an addition which has Serrailler wondering if the time has come to make different life choices, including whether he should move to the country after his comfortable life renting a flat. Professionally, he finds himself having to confront the nightmare rise and spread of the county lines drugs trade, a threat to young people, the exploitation of children, with all the attendant threats it poses to the community. It is winter, it all begins with the discovery in the village of Starly of the ravaged body of a young man in a flat above a Chinese herbal pharmacy, a heroin overdose, and which sparks police inquiries as they try to identify the victim. This novel centres around the drugs industry as it starts to get its claws into Lafferton. I enjoyed the storyline as it felt like a bit of a different plot, though there were some parts of the book which felt like they went off on a bit of a tangent and were harder to feel absorbed in.In award-winning author Susan Hill’s electrifying A Change of Circumstance , Simon Serrailler finds himself in devastating new territory as a sophisticated drug network sets its sights on Lafferton. In this newest installment of Susan Hill’s electrifying crime series, Simon Serrailler finds himself in devastating new territory as a sophisticated drug network sets its sights on Lafferton There are some harrowing moments in this unsparing novel, which shows how easily vulnerable youngsters can be exploited Children are being recruited to transfer drugs and money. DCS Simon Serrailler has been called out to investigate a suspected overdose. It just happens to be above a shop where Chinese herbal drugs are sold. Simon's sister Dr Cat, also faces issues in her medical practice. This is a well written story but we seem to spend a lot of time with Cat and her family. This book can be read as a standalone. I have loved this series since the first one -The Various Haunts of Men- and as we’re now at number eleven the characters feel as comfortable as old slippers and like friends in their familiarity. Simon is so intriguing and continues to do so which takes some skill to maintain in a succession of books. He’s a terrific policeman, a good leader, he cares very deeply about his family and is a great uncle to Cat’s children but he’s very complex and currently extremely restless and at a crossroads in his life. I like the on/off relationship with Rachel Wyatt which adds to the realism. Cat and her family always add a good personal touch and she offers Simon the stability and family he needs. Cat’s role in the books has grown over the years and I do enjoy that.

A Change of Circumstance | Susan Hill - NetGalley A Change of Circumstance | Susan Hill - NetGalley

In this latest of Hill’s series, the Simon Serailler story continues with his position at Lafferton Police keeping him more at his desk than in the past as he manages his team. And there are new problems to manage as drugs are finding there way into the smaller towns and villages now and the runners are involving local kids. EXCERPT: January and Christmas vanished without a trace. The pavements of Starly village were greasy under a day of drizzle and there was an unhealthy mildness in the air.I didn't enjoy reading about the 'county lines' set up to distribute drugs in the area. Although it makes for a good story involving two young local children and how they get embroiled, trapped in the enterprise, the grooming disturbs me far more than any outright violence would. I just hope that Hill's writing will strike a chord with some parent out there who may recognize what is going on with their own child. Having recently listened to a number of Inspector Dalgliesh stories, the similarities are notable: they’re both beautifully (if wordily) written and both rather smug - yet they’re languorous and well-plotted with great narrators. You carried every child for life, from the moment of birth." The death of a child is almost unendurable and the effects life-long. "He remembered her [the mother] as slight, thin, small-boned, but now she looked brittle as a bird, and old age lay in wait close by, though she was probably not far into her fifties." Just as the story was coming to a head, things came to an abrupt end with a toe-curling Mills and Boon flourish.

A Change of Circumstance: A Simon Serrailler Case (The Simon

It is his sister, Dr Cat Deerbon and her family, who provides the familial roots and stability to a Serrailler who has up to this point been a commitment phobe when it comes to women and relationships, although a meeting with a lover from his past, Rachel, push him towards considering permanent change. Cat is now working in the private health sector as a GP for Concierge Medical, although the pressures and strains of her profession remain, with patients like 95 year old Lionel Brown, along with the state of the NHS local hospital. This and the everyday family dramas, such as husband Chief Constable Kevin Bright's leg injury, worries over their dog Wookie, and Sam's problems, combine to leave Cat feeling exhausted. In the meantime, tragedies involving children recruited and threatened by the drugs trade, and other murders have Serrailler and his team determined to get some forms of justice. Just as in real life, there's not a lot of happy endings contained within. In fact, it makes for some pretty grim reading, alleviated only by the close Serrailler family relationships. But the ending gives me hope and I look forward to seeing how things develop in book #12, The Sound of Footsteps, due to be publisher later in 2023. It’s January and we’re deep in winters clutches in Lafferton. A heroin overdose of a young man in a rundown flat above a Chinese pharmacy in Starly leads Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler and his team into a county lines inquiry. Vulnerable children like eleven year old Brooklyn (Brookie) Roper are targeted and groomed. Meanwhile, Simon’s sister Cat Deerbon now married to Chief Constable Kieron Bright has her own issues with patients and personal family worries especially with her son Sam who is in medical training. This latest novel continues that story combined with an investigation into the problems that can be caused by the the now infamous county lines drug gangs. As always it is well written and holds the attention of the reader from beginning to end. Simon Serrailler finds himself in devastating new territory as a sophisticated drugs' network sets its sights on Lafferton and the surrounding villagesCan Serrailler finally break the drugs network that's spreading through the area or is it just too powerful for him? To class the Simon Serailler series as just crime fiction would be doing it an injustice. Throughout the series, we follow the the fortunes of bachelor Simon's family, especially his sister Cat .

A Change of Circumstance - Penguin Books UK

Serrailler, Hill's brilliant detective, is the central character in the great writer's crime fiction novels' CAMILLA, DUCHESS OF CORNWALL The drug storyline is handled well and there are some great slice of life portraits here, not least Vince whose brusque parenting hides depths of care. Simon's personal life just doesn't interest me much any more , especially his miraculous volte face at the end - but there's more than enough good stuff here to keep Hill in the game.

All that said, this is still several cuts above the majority of contemporary crime novels. Serrailler is, frankly, often annoying in his approach to his personal life, which is realistic and quite deliberate by Hill and which I rather admire – although there is a hint of more settled things to come. So, although this may not be the finest of the series, it is still very good. I hesitated when rating, because I found it a bit unsatisfying, but it's just so well written. The storylines flew along, I was drawn in and stayed up into the early hours to finish it.