The Risk of Darkness: Simon Serrailler Book 3
| The Risk of Darkness: Simon Serrailler Book 3 by Susan Hill | |
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| Category: Crime | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: The village of Lafferton is still stunned and disbelieving after the disappearance of David Angus when DCI Simon Serrailler is told that a child has disppeared in North Yorkshire. Will this child be found alive and is it linked to the Lafferton case? An exceedingly good read. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 496 | Date: September 2009 |
| Publisher: Vintage | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0099535027 | |
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The first three books in the Simon Serrailler series must be read in order if you are to get the best from them. If you've not started with the first book you'd do well not to read any further in this review as spoilers are inevitable. Sorry!
When we left DCI Simon Serrailler at the end of The Pure in Heart he was about to go on holiday when a call came in to say that a young boy had been reported missing in North Yorkshire in circumstances similar to those of David Angus, the boy missing from Lafferton. His reasons for going to Yorkshire are two fold: it's possible that he might be of assistance to the CID team there, as he knows what's been covered in Lafferton - and there might be some clues which will enable him to discover what has happened to David Angus.
To begin with all the usual dead ends appear but then chance puts a suspect in Serrailler's way and both of them in mortal danger, but is there enough evidence to prove that this is the abductor and killer - even though everyone involved in the cases is convinced? Serrailler's problems in Lafferton haven't gone away either: he's also got to deal with the fallout when a man goes over the edge of insanity after his wife dies from Variant CJD and a young clergywoman, already struggling with uncertainty about her profession, is taken hostage.
Susan Hill's writing is superb and she's a brilliant storyteller. Normally I'm somewhat put off when there's too much of the private life of the investigators included in the story, but I'll confess that I've been completely pulled in by the Serrailler family saga to the extent that I fear that I'm reading successive books to find out what happens to the family next as much as for the police procedural element. If you're not keen on this element then the book - and even the series - might not be for you. On the other hand, if you're happy with it then there's another great story with a stunning, thought-provoking twist.
Rather than reading the book I listened to an audio download (which I bought myself) narrated by Steven Pacey, who's superb as ever. The voices are consistent book to book and there's an excellent range for both males and females. He was the perfect choice for this series - and I've already bought a download of the next book.
For another book which features child abduction and for which an audio download is also available we can recommend Blood Torment (DCI Andy Gilchrist) by T F Muir.
Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler Novels in Chronological Order
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