The Comforts of Home

As part of his mental rehab following the devastating injury he suffered in the last book, Simon retreats to the island of Taransay for some time to consider whether he wants to go back to work once his permanent prosthesis is in place. But work seeks him out, as he is drawn into the investigation of a strange death on the island, and his boss asks him to review a cold case in which a relative of a missing girl is agitating for a re-opening, which there isn't the manpower for. It's late-night page-turning stuff, as usual. At the rather shocking end of the last book, I wondered if Hill knew what she was doing. But that was silly, of course. This one has the kind of ending that could spell the finale of the series, but doesn't HAVE to. show more Recommended if you've been following our man Simon up to this point. show less

Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler is staying on Taransay, a remote and storm-swept island off the Scottish coast, trying to recover from his extremely serious injuries incurred during his last investigation. Indeed, he is trying to decide if he wants to go back to police work at all, or whether he could live in this tiny community full of solid working people. But when one of the islanders is murdered, the Scottish police have no time to investigate due to a major drugs smuggling case, so they ask Simon to do the preliminary work, and as he does so, Simon realises that he has missed that work. Meanwhile, back home in Lafferton his boss Chief Constable Kieron Bright is now also his brother-in-law, having married Cat, and show more *he* is dealing both with a string of arsons and the pleadings of a mother whose grown daughter disappeared five years ago. When Simon returns home, still not ready to return to work full time, Kieron asks him to take on that cold case as a way of easing back into the working world, but Simon soon discovers that it’s far more complex than it seems….This is the ninth novel in the Serrailler series, and it’s been 4 years since the last one, so it’s not surprising that I’d forgotten about the injuries Simon sustained. Even with that length of time between books, it’s very easy to catch up with these characters and in particular to reconnect with the relationships between the main characters, especially Cat and Simon, who as two of three triplets (their third sibling is in Australia) are extremely close. Their lives are all quite complicated and messy, as real life is, which is another plus with this series. I had some quibbles with this entry, however; mainly that it seems to wrap up really quickly after ambling along for quite some time and there are several unfinished threads. For example, was the final death accident or murder? And how did certain characters know each other? It’s not that I need everything to be wrapped up completely, especially in an ongoing series, but those kinds of loose ends just feel a bit sloppy to me. Otherwise, however, recommended. I don’t think that you need to know the previous books, but obviously it helps to flesh out the characters even more. show less

Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler series continues with "The Comforts of Home." After Detective Chief Superintendent Serrailler was seriously injured in the line of duty, his doctors try to save his mangled left arm. Subsequently, Simon takes sick leave and visits Taransay--a remote island in Scotland--where he hopes to clear his head, draw (he is an accomplished artist), and enjoy this invigorating and sparsely populated place. "He loved the solitude, the wildness, the constant shifting of clouds and sea and coarse grass…." Simon, who faces physical challenges he never anticipated, is uncertain that he will continue to work for the Lafferton police force.

Meanwhile, Simon's sister, Dr. Cat Deerborn, is considering a job offer that she show more finds tempting, but she has reservations that prevent her from accepting at once. Another subplot involves Sam, Cat's older son, who is uncertain about his plans for his future. In addition, both Cat and Simon continue to have a strained relationship with their irascible and self-centered father. The author's emphasis is less on crime solving than on how her characters handle hardships and disappointment. Even though Serrailler is not officially on duty, he investigates two cases: One is in Taransay and the other concerns an unexplained disappearance in Lafferton.

Cat’s husband, Chief Constable Kieron Bright, gives Simon the report concerning the latter inquiry, and asks him to read it thoroughly. Serrailler learns that twenty-five-year-old Kimberley Still vanished five years earlier and was never seen or heard from again. Some believe that Lee Russon, who is already serving life in prison, killed Kimberley, but the convict denies it. Marion Still, Kimberley's heartbroken mother, insists that the detectives should not let her daughter's fate remain unresolved. Susan Hill's story shows how messy and distressing life can be. Grown children often ignore their parents' advice; even the best marriages have rough patches; and while good people suffer, villains do not always pay for their crimes. This book is atmospheric, the dialogue and plot are intense and involving, and the author avoids pat resolutions. This is a realistic, heartbreaking, and involving novel that focuses on how troubled men and women deal with loss, uncertainty, conflict, and guilt. show less

Another Simon Serrailler novel by Susan Hill? I admit to excitement at this, the ninth outing for the Lafferton detective. It is three years since the eighth novel, ‘The Soul of Discretion’, and I feared Hill wanted to write about other things and there would be no more. And now, ‘The Comforts of Home’. I saved it to read on holiday, in the same way as a child I saved my favourite chocolate bar from my Christmas Selection Box. To be enjoyed at leisure.
I admit to forgetting how ‘The Soul of Discretion’ ended, so the beginning was rather a shock but also fascinating. After life-changing surgery, Serrailler goes to the remote Scottish island of Taransay to convalesce. The descriptions of this bleak but beautiful place made me show more want to go there. He is quickly accepted into the tight-knit community where mutual support is a necessity, where consequently everyone knows everyone else’s lives in minutiae, but where you know a death is inevitable. As temporary cop-in-charge, given the local force’s short-handedness, Serrailler uncovers a secret no one had guessed.
Serrailler’s injury beings a new layer of damage to his solitary wounded soul, he would rather get up and face the day rather than sit and talk to a counsellor. One of the secrets of this successful series is the combination of crime with the family story of Simon and his sister Cat. Cat is finding locum work unsatisfying and is looking for a new challenge. Her new marriage, to Serrailler’s boss Kieran, is happy and the only shadow on the horizon is the return from France of her irascible father Richard.
Add to this mixture a local arsonist, a mother who presses for the reopening of the investigation of her daughter’s disappearance, a convicted murderer, a rookie detective constable, and Cat’s teenage son Sam who can’t decide what he wants to do with his life, and Hill delivers her clever blend of crime, detection and domestic daily life.
Excellent. A masterclass is how to write a thriller which keeps you reading, makes you love the familiar characters, never tells you what’s happening but let’s you work it out, and poses moral dilemmas.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/ show less

The ninth entry in Susan Hill’s Simon Serrailler crime series starts with a shocking twist: Simon is in hospital recovering from a devastating, life-altering injury received in the line of duty. Once out of hospital and fitted with a temporary prosthesis, he retreats (in typical Simon fashion) to the rough, desolate and sparsely populated Scottish island of Taransay to complete his physical convalescence and consider his future free of emotional distractions and the interference of family and friends. As she’s done before in the series, Susan Hill weaves several narrative threads together into a compelling tapestry. In this novel, Simon’s alone time on Taransay is interrupted when a woman’s body is found and, even though he’s show more on leave, he is called upon to lead an investigation until the Scottish police can send someone out to take over. Back home in Lafferton, Simon’s sister Cat, though still missing her first husband Chris, has married Simon’s supervisor, Chief Kieron Bright. Bright has assured Simon that his job is waiting for him and has an assignment for the DCI: a missing person cold case. In the meantime, Cat and Simon’s father, Richard, returns from France where he’s been living in self-imposed exile following a rape accusation, suffers a health crisis, and imposes himself in overbearing fashion on the newlywed couple. The disparate plot elements blend seamlessly together, with the emphasis falling on the family rather than the procedural side of things. As Simon’s investigations raise questions and the mysteries grow deeper, Hill introduces other characters to help usher the novel toward its conclusion. Susan Hill is a seasoned novelist, and in The Comforts of Home she has written a worthy entry in a stellar crime series. However, the ending seems a bit rushed and perhaps less than totally satisfying. Overall, while certainly a competent and engaging piece of writing, the novel comes across as a transition piece, one that’s providing a bridge from the past we’re familiar with to a future that, once we get there, is going to look very different. But we’re not there yet, and because of that the reader is likely to finish this novel with more questions than answers. show less

The first I'd read of this prolific author and I was impressed. Although this story had a number of the crime clichés, a loner policeman who finds relationships difficult, it also contained some interesting other unusual characters and sub-plots. One of these was Cat, the sister of the main character, a locum GP who was considering private practice to get away from the treadmill of NHS practice - a very contemporary theme. A major sub-plot takes place on Taransay, actually an uninhabited island in Scotland used in the TV series Castaway, but most of the action is in fictional Lafferton. Strong characters and intriguing plots make me want to read more about Simon Serailler and his family.

This is the ninth in the Simon Serrailler mystery series, which consists of books focusing less on the crimes themselves and more on the lives of people who interact with Detective Chief Superintendent Serrailler, whether his family members or those he is investigating.

In this novel, Serrailler is recuperating from an injury incurred on the job in the previous book. He has gone to remote Taransay, an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, and because he is the only available police detective around, finds himself involved in a sticky murder investigation. This helps distract him from the PTSD he incurred after his previous trauma. His time is also taken up by notes on a cold case at home involving a missing girl, a case which the show more Chief Constable has asked him to review during his sick leave.

Back in fictional Lafferton, a Cathedral city in the South of England, Simon’s sister Cat is dealing with a new marriage, a possible new job, and the arrival of her father, Richard, returned from France and needing a place to live. His visit, like always, causes chaos in the lives of his family. In addition, Cat’s oldest son Sam, much like the other characters, is struggling with who and what he wants to be.

In this series, because Cat is a doctor, we also hear a great deal about the medical system, and the problems of treating patients in an era of budget cuts.

While the crimes, both old and new, get solved in the end, one doesn’t read Susan Hill for the mysteries, but rather the ongoing psychological analyses she performs on her characters, and for the realistic nature of their messy lives.

Discussion: This series is not for those who want a fast-paced carnival ride with well-hidden criminals and life-threatening close calls. This book can be read as a standalone, although you will feel as if you are missing some plot threads. The author had several perfectly reasonable opportunities to fill readers in on what transpired before, such as Simon’s injury, but somewhat inexplicably forewent them.

Evaluation: This isn’t a bad series, but it is one I read mainly because I have read many of the books in it already, and so it makes for “easier” reading since I already “know” the characters and the setting. show less