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This book was my least favorite of the Serrailler series so far. It's difficult to say what I disliked without giving away details so I guess I'll put a spoiler alert...
My first book by his author and I loved it. Simon Serrailler has a lot in common with Adam Dalgleish, who I always admire, so it was probably a foregone conclusion that this would meet my approval too. Freeman, Hadley (18 October 2003). "Cotswold chameleon". The Guardian (UK). Guardian News and Media Ltd . Retrieved 20 March 2008. 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. This was very disappointing to me in a lot of ways. We see a lot more of Simon Serrailler in this second book in the series but he is not very likable other than his love for his sister Martha. A 9 year old boy disappears while waiting for his ride to school. This part of the story pisses me off the most. We have chapters marked David and we never see who has him or why only that he is old, hungry, and thirsty and begs to go home. At the end we just see that his body is buried in a hole. Though the police hunt him, we are not told who has him, why, or what happens.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. Begun in 2004, well known British author Susan Hill embarked on her series featuring the popular protagonist Simon Serrailler. Working from Lafferton in England, Serrailler is the police Chief Inspector for the region there. Having produced over seven books, with an eighth one to follow shortly, this particular series shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Using the crime novel genre as their basis, they have proven to be popular with both their commercial and critical acclaim. The crime is solved by the end, but the lives of Simon et al are far from settled - I can't wait to see what direction Hill takes in the next book.
The quiet cathedral town of Lafferton undergoes an undergoes an unexpected turn of events as its usually tranquil environment is disturbed following the disappearance of a woman up on an area known as ‘the hill’. Although the vanishing of this woman is not suspicious in of itself, people tend disappear of their own accord all the time up there, it’s the mysterious turn of events that precede the vanishing act. A young girl followed by an older man and then even a dog all disappear from the top of the hill, leaving everyone with the suspicion that there is something else going on up there. Freya Graffham is the young policewoman that’s been assigned to case of investigating what it is that’s going on here, as she has only recently just joined the police-force and is looking to make her way in the department. With a compassionate and inquiring mind, she aims to solve her first case with conviction. I read the previous book in this series (Betrayal of Trust) and enjoyed it enough to read this one when it came into my library as an advance reading copy. This review is based on having only read the last two books in the seven book series. It's like your brain's bursting. It doesn't happen all at once, it builds up. And then your brain's going to burst until you do something about it. You do it. You have to do it. Then it's all right again for a bit, 'til it starts again." Just as the story was coming to a head, things came to an abrupt end with a toe-curling Mills and Boon flourish. This is an intriguing premise, all too believable. As ever with Hill’s novels, this is efficient and chilling. She introduces us to prospective villains, each seems a little questionable: but are we being unfair, reading something into signs that don’t exist, generalising, making assumptions? In parallel with the introduction of prospective villains, we are also shown prospective victims.Third, Hill usually does a great job sprinkling the story with details regarding what's going on in the personal lives of her main characters. These details were practically non-existent in the first half of this book. Then, unfortunately, when they were added, they were beyond annoying in my opinion. I have such a difficult time with the Simon/Rachel relationship. It gets on my nerves. The reader gets to endure more of, "Oh, I love you." "Me too." "But we mustn't." melodrama. Ugh... Then we throw in the bit part about Cat's son Sam who has apparently turned into a super bully. He refers to his 12 year old sister as a bit**, uses the F word, etc. Cat feels Simon should save the day there though. He should take him aside and give him a good talking to. Then finally, there is a wee bit part about the closing of the hospice, so that it will only be a day service provider. Whatever. For the first time, we see into Simon Serrailler’s head, and learn that he was in fact attracted to Freya Graffham, one of the main characters in the last novel. Her death seems to have precipitated Simon’s feelings about her to the point where he stops responding to longtime f**kbuddy Diana’s messages, the first of many instances of somewhat immature behavior on Simon’s part that start to show up in the series. We also learn that Simon is very fond of his younger sister Martha, who is severely disabled, and there’s a whole subplot with the staff at her care home that should go somewhere but doesn’t—it’s interesting because Hill is an interesting writer, but from the point of view of plotting it’s a serious loose end.
it's so miserable and depressing. Now, the concept of the police not capturing the criminal isn't necessarily a problem. But it does make what on the surface appeared to be an updated Christie-style into an extremely morbid and pessimistic tale. Iris is a bereaved elderly lady who is the next to disappear. She was seeking comfort in spiritual meetings before disappeared. Can it be True?; (illustrated by Angela Barrett) Hamish Hamilton 1987; Puffin 1988; Walker Books 1990 I first 'discovered' Susan Hill about this time last year when I read The Betrayal of Trust - the sixth in her Simon Serrailler Crime novels. (my review). I was really looking forward to her latest - A Question of Identity - and I wasn't disappointed!
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
As I said, not all things are resolved. If you need that, then go read a cozy. (And btw I do read and like cozies.) But this is not that. This is fiction writ so large and real, it hurts. Hmm. Wonder why? I have my suspicions, but to be honest, I'm not overly bothered now. I was losing patience with both the series and the writing. But sadly it looks like poor Simon won't get his happy ending now. 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. 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.
However, for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed the rambling middle class family saga and Stephen Pacey’s brilliant narration. Freya is a Detective Sergeant, who is newly appointed in the town of Lafferton after getting transferred from the Met. She is selected as the in-charge of the investigation of the missing people under the command of Detective Chief Inspector, Simon Serrailler. Freya discovers through her investigation that Angela had been buying expensive gift items for an unknown man, before getting disappeared. The police struggle with the crime, since there were apparently no witnesses, and the crime itself devastates the Angus family, as much as it frightens the Lafferton residents, especially coming so soon on the heels of the serial killings in the first book. A Question of Identity opens with an italicized paragraph that hints at a dark mind and darker things to come....deliciously creepy. About Susan - Autobiography of author Susan Hill". Archived from the original on 29 May 2008 . Retrieved 28 July 2008.
Simon Serrailler: The Pure in Heart
Initial investigations discover that the mysterious "sign" left on the body was the calling card of a suspect who was charged with several murders in the northwest of the country, tried but acquitted on the grounds of insufficient evidence. All indications suggest that this person has simply vanished. Or is he right under their noses? Simon Serrailler is obliged to make delve deeper and scratch out answers, We see much more of Serailler himself in this book than we did on the first volume, together with his family: his austere mother with her difficult marriage; his sister Cat; Nathan; and even Karin who has been battling with cancer. I find it very hard to forgive Hill for setting up this juicy murder method and then not explaining WHY the killer window-dressed his victims the way he did. The mirror. The toenails. I thought for sure I knew what the mirror was about—there’s a theme of dual identity that runs through the killer, one victim AND the detective and is just screaming to be exploited—but seriously, what was up with the toenails? I NEED TO KNOW. I’m used to Hill leaving loose threads, but this one really bugs me as what we end up with is a killer without a motive, or perhaps no motive except the pleasure he gets from the crime. And even then, if pleasure is a motive I need to know why that particular setup is necessary for X to get his jollies. We get one clue right at the end, and I thought the moment had come when all would be revealed—and then the moment passed and was lost forever.
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