276°
Posted 20 hours ago

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

£10£20.00Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

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. At best, this book is Part 1 of an unfinished book. At worst, this book is a complete waste of time. 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. The second in the Simon Serrailler series, this particular novel from Susan Hill follows on directly from the last. First published in 2005 on the 2nd of June, it continues the story of the Chief Inspector and his many cases. Developing his character further, it establishes more of the traits that his audience have come to recognize and love over time. There is a moment in this book where really not much is happening, but an old lady is alone in her home with an electrician. Suddenly the electrician says "Gotcha!" and I nearly jumped out of my skin. At that point, I broke down, demanded my husband's undivided attention (no small request as he is currently reading the George RR Martin series), and just started telling him all about what was going on in this book. How Hill sets up this evil character then sends him underground with a new identity, how she then moves the action to Lafferton where the snow won't stop falling and small family dramas drive the action, how she introduces you to these older women who are moving to a new housing development -- their lives full of excitement and possiblity, and how you are so tense because you know these women's days are numbered.

Just as the story was coming to a head, things came to an abrupt end with a toe-curling Mills and Boon flourish.

Can Serrailler finally break the drugs network that's spreading through the area or is it just too powerful for him? Angela was a 53 year old woman who is very reclusive. She disappears while jogging one foggy morning from a local landmark, The Hill. Her disappearance is taken too seriously and as a result, her employer Carol Ashton demands for a serious police investigation. 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. 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. The abduction case is not so much of a procedural as a telling of how such events affect the victim’s family and the police officers trying to find the child. The novel concludes in a way that you could either find incredibly realistic or incredibly frustrating depending on how much you’ve decided you like the series, and also in a huge come-on for the next book.

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. On yet another unrelated note (everything in this book was unrelated) a rich 56 year old moves to town with his sexy 22 year old wife, buys a stately house, gives a million pounds to Simon's mom's charity to fund a respite day care for those caring for the elderly and the wife wants Karin to help her with her gardens. Uh huh.Which is this author's great strength - to forge a story which, on its surface, is another mystery featuring a likeable detective, with all his staff about him. You follow the clues along with them, with diverting asides into some of the individual's separate lives. But with Ms. Hill, as is the case with similar writers, Ruth Rendell and PD James, you also delve into the deep issues of mind, heart, family, love, life, and 'what's it all about?' There are also a number of sub-plots that don't interact with each other at all. There's 'world building' and then there's just padding. In the newest installmentofSusan Hill’s electrifying crime series, Simon Serrailler finds himself in devastating new territoryas a sophisticated drug networksets its sights on Lafferton In AChangeofCircumstance , the eleventh book in Susan Hill’s acclaimed crime series featuring the enigmatic detective Simon Serrailler, Hill yet again raises the stakes. This is certainly not a light, crime read. Ultimately, it's not much fun to read. But the prose is genre-like and you can virtually skim it. 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.

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! 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. About Susan - Autobiography of author Susan Hill". Archived from the original on 29 May 2008 . Retrieved 28 July 2008. Debbie is a 20 year old girl suffering from depression, overweight and acne. She began feeling better after visiting a spiritual leader named Dava and had started taking morning walks on The Hill. She also disappears from the same location one morning while jogging.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. 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! In this installment of the Simon Serailler murder mystery series, Simon is confronted with a killer of old ladies. Little old ladies. Nice old ladies. Because nobody is safe in Susan Hill’s world.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment