Hill’s Serrailler novels are always a delight to read, thoroughly grounded in the town of Lafferton with familiar characters and landmarks set against beautiful countryside.

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. His sister, Cat, in contrast enjoys a messy farmhouse family life complete with her second husband (Simon's boss), three children, a demanding job and an injured dog. I missed whatever backstory there might be with Rachel, but the fact that she is - of course - beautiful, brilliant, successful, and rich is just over the top romance novel stuff. 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.She has also published autobiographical works and collections of short stories as well as the Simon Serrailler series of crime novels.

This entry was posted in book reviews and tagged books, crime fiction, detective fiction, Simon Serrailler, Susan Hill on May 3, 2022 by sandradan1. Trading Address (Warehouse) Unit E, Vulcan Business Complex, Vulcan Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE5 3EB. Susan Hill likes to ring the changes in her Lafferton series with a different type of criminal activity, as well as fresh developments in the ongoing Serrailler family saga, in each new instalment.Simon is unfailingly polite, courteous and sensitive when dealing with the great unwashed – but he is a little condescending too. Cat, as a physician adds an interesting mix, and Simon trying to come to terms with his life outside of police work is another added note.

I started this one thinking that it might be getting a little formulaic this time around, but Susan Hill pulled it out again. If you get into trouble because you did not report a change in your circumstances, it is very important to get expert advice as soon as you can.Added pressure was put on the CID team by the death of a heroin addict in a run-down flat over a Chinese pharmacy: he could only have been in his early twenties. The play adapted from her famous ghost novel, The Woman in Black, has been running in the West End since 1989.

I feel like the characters are believable and I could imagine the desperation of these kids’ parents. A Change of Circumstance is a horrible portrayal of the manipulation and abuse of children but lacking in the narrative drive of earlier books. Hill has recently founded her own publishing company, Long Barn Books, which has published one work of fiction per year. It is important you notify us quickly, using the above link, so that we can pay you the right amount of Benefit/Support.

Serrailler does his own fair share of pondering whether he’s ready to allow a woman to share his life. But when the body of a young drug addict is found in neighbouring Starly, the case pulls Simon into a whole new way of running drugs Vulnerable kids like Brookie and Olivia, who will give Simon a bitter taste of this new landscape. Rachel made another reappearance but it was all so confused and ‘edgy’ that I had no idea what either of them felt for each other and her rapid disappearance from Simon’s life a few books back was never explained. He has a supportive family of highly educated adults and he is arsing around like a teenager unable to make up his mind. I read that the author planned to finish this series about 2 books ago - I think she probably should have.