DC Simon Serrailler’s last, devastating case was nearly the death of him and left him confronting a new reality
Recovering on a remote Scottish island, his peace doesn’t last long. He is pulled in to a murder inquiry by the overstretched local police. A newcomer, popular with the islanders, has died in perplexing circumstances. The community’s reactions are complicated and fragile.
It’s good to be back on the job. And when Simon returns to Lafferton, an arsonist is on the rampage and a woman whose daughter disappeared some years before is haunting the police station seeking closure. She will not let it rest, and Simon is called in to do a cold-case review.
At home, Simon is starting to get used to having a new brother-in-law – in the form of his Chief Constable Kieron Bright. His sister Cat has embarked on a new way of practising medicine, and his nephew Sam is trying to work out what to do with his life. And then their tricky father, Richard, turns up again like a bad penny.
In this gripping new Serrailler thriller, Simon’s personal and professional lives intertwine in more complex and demanding ways than ever before.
I love this series and am so pleased to see it back – after the tension fuelled previous novel with it’s heart stopping ending it was wonderful to enter the world of Simon, Cat et al once more.
I adore the way Susan Hill plays with different strands of a storyline, here we have Simon recuperating yet still being drawn into a murder, Cat starting a new life with a new love and a cold case about to heat up once more. It is kind of gentle in a lot of ways, lilting prose, clever plotting and huge depth of character, but also genuinely addictive, a brilliant read.
Each of the Simon Serrailler novels is a journey of character with beautifully described settings and an authentic sense of place. This one was no different and was a pleasure from first page to last.
There is nothing not to love here. My one request would be not to make us wait so long again for more.
This, plus the entirety of the series comes highly recommended from me.
You can order The Comforts Of Home (Chatto and Windus) Here.
Happy Reading!
