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. The action cuts between Simon and his personal dramas and the contrasting lives of two vulnerable young Starly kids who are being exploited by ruthless drug runners. The way in which lonely and neglected youngsters can be singled out for attention, designer gifts, mobile phones and finally terrifying threats is convincingly portrayed. And this can only lead to tragedy – which it inevitably does. There is something about these Serrailler novels that is infinitely pleasant: they are comfortable reads, reassuring in some way. They are not truly crime or detective novels, in my opinion, more slices of domestic life or a soap opera in which the main character – Simon – is by coincidence a police officer. Consequently, the interest comes from his personal life and his family relations as much as – more than – it does from the detection.

Simon was not a shit to women in this novel – and kind of got a taste of his own medicine from Rachel ghosting him! All the ingredients for the perfect English crime novel are here Daily Mail (Praise for the Serrailler series)The novel raises an important issue in County Lines, raising its profile and helping to protect our children. ABOUT 'A CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCE': It's mid-winter and a body is discovered in a flat just outside Lafferton. It's a drugs overdose but something doesn't feel right. The place is entirely empty. Damp walls, bare floorboards. Not even a bed.

Simon Serrailler finds himself in devastating new territory as a sophisticated drugs' network sets its sights on Lafferton and the surrounding villages. 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 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. But I persevered. After all this is Simon Serrailler - the detective who has proved his value in earlier novels, who gives his all and cares about his staff and his family, and who can’t seem to work out his own personal life. Like most readers I’ve got to know his quirks and habits, almost as much as his family, and with this latest book I was hoping for some serious development in his personal life, especially after the - frankly rather drab offering - last book which left me wondering what the hell happened!I feel like I need to start by saying I've read all the books in this series and I continue to persevere with them despite enjoying them less and less. This book sees Simon Serailler involves in a heroin overdose that could be murder and an investigation into County Lines drug activity. Against this we also catch up with Cat and her family. In the usual style everyone has something alcoholic in their hand at every opportunity and there is plenty of pain and suffering of a character we have become invested in. In 1975 she married Shakespeare scholar Stanley Wells and they moved to Stratford upon Avon. Their first daughter, Jessica, was born in 1977 and their second daughter, Clemency, was born in 1985. Hill has recently founded her own publishing company, Long Barn Books, which has published one work of fiction per year. 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.

Nothing's quite as it seems, except for Hill's brilliantly compelling prose Daily Mirror (Praise for the Serrailler series) 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.

Review

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.