A Change of Circumstance: Discover the million-copy bestselling Simon Serrailler series (Simon Serrailler, 11)

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The one joy of Simon Serrailler novels was the author’s ability to let the reader immerse themselves in the world within the pages, to allow the words to draw you in and fill your mind with rich descriptions and sounds and scents.

A Change of Circumstance: The new Simon Serrailler novel from

Vulnerable local kids like Brookie and Olivia, whose involvement gives Simon a bitter tasteofthis new landscape. There's even an Olivia to help get any non-literary heathens up to speed on where they could track down the OG version. Unfortunately, as a Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler becomes far too involved in the basic workings of the cases.The drug dealing story line is vivid and scary; grief in the wake of divorce and suicide is sensitively and powerfully portrayed; parental concerns and struggles feel genuine (as far as I know - this deliberately child-free reader remains grateful for her wise decision decades ago. In the last book (The Benefit of Hindsight), I didn’t necessarily feel like we got the best of DCI Serrailer, but he’s back on great form in this novel having become more used to having a prosthetic arm and back investigating full time again.

A Change of Circumstance: The new Simon Serrailler - AbeBooks A Change of Circumstance: The new Simon Serrailler - AbeBooks

Not a lot happens, and when it does, the action concerns the drug trade and how suppliers are using young people to do the dirty work. Meanwhile, Simon’s sister Cat Deerbon now married to Chief Never sensationalised, but always deeply affecting, her writing has the ring of realism and illustrates how anyone can be hurt by the presence in our lives of these ruthless criminals. 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. However, I did find the policing aspect just a little clunky and preachy; at one point the Chief Constable gives a long and rather sententious speech to his officers, after which, one comments, “Didn’t have the chief down for a rallying-cry-before-battle sort of guy, did you?It didn't disappoint and I was soon totally engrossed back in the lives of Simon and Cat and their families. Her hometown was later referred to in her novel A Change for the Better (1969) and some short stories especially "Cockles and Mussels". I feel like the characters are believable and I could imagine the desperation of these kids’ parents. There is no way there could be a real conclusion, it is so insidious but this story at least plays out. The novel was criticised by The Daily Mail for its sexual content, with the suggestion that writing in this style was unsuitable for a "schoolgirl".

A Change of Circumstance By Susan Hill | Used - Wob A Change of Circumstance By Susan Hill | Used - Wob

A trip to Bevham General on her rounds sets off alarm bells for Dr Cat, and a visit from her son Sam as he tries to work out if his midwifery course is right for him coincides with a threat to their beloved family dog. 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. I did feel that this book was a bit more episodic than others in the series, with shorter chapters and quicker changes of scene or character. 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. I read the first handful of books in this series, rather liked them, then kind of forgot about them.If you’re a committed reader of this series, then you’re probably invested enough to care about Simon’s domestic circumstances, his sister’s kids’ careers and love lives, and the endless ‘will he, won’t he’ saga of his own commitment issues, but I’m not and I didn’t. Cat, who seems to be working herself to the bone just as much as she did when she was an NHS GP, handily has a poor 'deserving' private client to focus on, whose care is funded by an anonymous donor. The crime is laid out, so there's no spoilers in place by saying if you've read Oliver Twist, you've read this story before, only better in that book, because this crime is an homage to that. Relateable issues are raised that draw in the reader as you, too, feel the despair and enormity of what needs to be faced. Serrailler himself sounds a bit like a politician with a pre-written answer at times, too, and I’ve come to expect better from Susan Hill.