Confessions of a Serial Reader – The Simon Serrailler Series by Susan Hill

As part of this week’s Detectives Around the World activities this week I’m focusing a Confessions of a Serial Reader post on the Simon Serrailler Series by Susan Hill.

I’ve read the first two books in this series and have thoroughly enjoyed them. My bookseller friend says of Susan Hill “she is so good she makes my teeth hurt”. Trust me this is high praise and well deserved.

I read the first book in the series last year and just recently finished the second. I am most definitely looking forward to continuing with this series.

If you like your crime fiction to start off with a bang and go full speed non-stop to the end, then this probably isn’t the series for you. However, if you like your crime fiction to give you characters that you get to know and care about whether they are the victims, the investigators or those who know and love these people then this is a series worth reading. The books are slower paced and while the crime investigation and mystery are the core of the story they are by far not the only focus.

Deputy Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler lives and works in the English cathedral city of Lafferton. According to his father he’s the black sheep of the family because he’s the only one who has not become a physician. Both of his parents are doctors as are his siblings. One of a set of triplets, Simon is very close to his sister Cat who is a family doctor in Lafferton. The third triplet (a brother) lives and works abroad. Cat is a dedicated physician and her devotion to her family and patients is as much a part of these stories as is Simon and his career as a DCI.

The first book in the series is The Various Haunts of Men (my full review is here)

If I hadn’t known that this was the first in a series featuring DCI Simon Serrailler, I would not have guessed, because he actually plays more of a supporting role in much of this book.

The story opens with a disappearance. The Hill is an area of Lafferton where people walk, run, bike, and just enjoy the day. But when people start disappearing with no trace and don’t seem to have anything in common, it begins to take on a possibly sinister feel. Detective Sergeant Freya Graffham has recently transferred from London to the smaller town of Lafferton and takes an interest in the missing persons cases and feels that somehow they are connected.

In both of the books in this series that I have read, the author introduces multiple subplots that take a while to intersect but the characters and excellent writing make the journey through the story an intriguing one. Not every subplot is ultimately related to the crime being investigated. Much of the story also revolves around Simon Serrailler, his family and several recurring characters.

There are a couple of things I think you should know about this series based on what I’ve read in the first two books.

1. If you like your mysteries to end with all the subplots and loose ends tied up, you probably won’t like this series. This has never bothered me with crime fiction because I think it’s very realistic for things to be left hanging or even unsolved at the end of a case.
2. Although the author says on her site that the books follow in chronological order, each one can be read independently, I feel it is important that you know that the end of the first book is freely and importantly a part of the story in the second book. Once you read The Pure in Heart, you will know the end of The Various Haunts of Men.

The bottom line for me is that this is a complex series that is not only about the particular central crime of the book, but also and maybe even more about the lead detective, his family and the place where he lives.

If you have enjoyed Tana French’s books I would strongly encourage you to give this series a try.

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