Shadows in the Street

Simon Serrailler 5

By: Susan Hill

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

Simon Serrailler has just wrapped up an exhausting and difficult case for SIFT – Special Incident Flying Taskforce – and is on a sabbatical on a Scottish island when he is recalled to Lafferton. Two local prostitutes have vanished and are subsequently found strangled. By the time he gets back, another girl has disappeared. Is this a vendetta against prostitutes by someone with a warped mind? Or a series of killings by an angry punter? But then one of the Cathedral wives goes missing, followed by another young married woman.

©2010 Susan Hill (P)2014 2014 Audible, Inc.

excellent - nothing else to say really!

over last few months ive listened to ALL the susan hill books in the 'serrailler' series. there are 5 books currently (hope more will be written) crime is my first choice to listen to & these books fit the bill exactly. all i ask is a good story, well written & well narrated which all these books are. really like steven paceys narration - he is excellent. also grown to actually like several of the characters in the stories. can only heartingly recommend listening to all 5 books. you really wont be dissapointed

Excellent story

I've enjoyed a number of Susan Hill's books featuring her interesting and sensitive detective Simon Serrailler. I thought this was the best so far. The main characters are believable and make an impression on ones mind. The book is not only a pacy detective story but also fleshes out the personal and working relationships of Serrailer which adds an extra dimension of enjoyment.

just bliss

I can't rate the combination of Susan Hil and Stephen Pacey highly enough. Her writing is so natural, and the characterisation and dialogue are more important to me than the plots (of which there are always several on the go). His narration is perfect. Each member of the cast has such a distinctive voice that even when a scene opens with dialogue I always know who is speaking.
I have really got to know the characters well over the five books, and Susan Hill is not afraid to kill key members off, in a way which is very lifelike.
I'm just sad that I've reached the end of the audiobooks, though I think she has written at least one more.

A book that takes over your world

Any additional comments?

I had thought that Susan Hill's first book in the Simon Serailler Series was the best I'd read so far this year, but this one ratchets the tension up a notch. Someone is killing sex workers in Lafferton: a cool, driven killer. Simon Serailler is baffled, and his staff are doing a pretty good impression of headless chickens as the body count rises. As she always does so well, Hill runs several gripping plot lines which intersect and interact with the murders. Simon's family limp away from the death of a beloved husband, father, brother-in-law; Simon has to come to terms with an unwanted family incomer; a new Dean at the Cathedral with a troubled wife all but set up a tent and start banging tambourines in the crypt to the distress of the old guard, and a college librarian fantasises about selective homicide practiced upon the cast of The Mikado. Hill handles mental illness, family dynamics and sex work with a light touch. Religion and faith, as always, are key elements, but Hill doesn't preach. I was still struck by the irony of the fact that one person in the book who heard voices was considered to be mentally ill, whereas another group of people who go off to a big building to talk to an invisible person who can apparently read your mind and sometimes grant your wishes are sane, but hey ho, that's the way the world turns.

As good as ever

I always enjoy The Simon Serrailler series as they paint a picture of the community. My only slight quibble was the choice of murderer - I did not think we were given quite enough clues to make it a convinving selection.

Never any background to the murderer!

I really enjoy the intricate and well written characters of the Serrailler books BUT in everyone, there is no attempt at giving a background or motive for the murderer. The denouement for each book is almost an after thought and the reader is left with no understanding of a major part of the story.
The police work is not just secondary but almost incidental and Serrailler as a legendary detective is farcical.
That said, the world of Lafferton is addictive. I just wish the plots could be so much better.

enjoyed every word

I am a great fan of all of Susan Hills work. This one was excellent. the characters are well written and you care what happens to them. You feel truly sorry when one of the main characters disappears and is a victim to the strangler. I did guess who the strangler was just over half way along, but even so it was v enjoyable to see the plot develop.

This was boring

I've read/listened to all the others in the series before this, and was increasingly disappointed but bought this based on the reviews. It was worse than the others - or maybe I'm just bored to death with the characters. I found it overly long and drawn out, the reading irritating, the characters irritating. And why is Simon considered such a great cop? He does zero actual policing in this. I also found the ending unconvincing... I had guessed the killer well before the end but the reason was just rubbish. And the reasons for the behaviour of another main character were never explained (unless I missed it... I was tending to drop off while listening). Now I'm bored of even reviewing it. ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Excellent

Really good listen and well read by Steven Pacey. I will be going onto more in this series.

Another excellent book

But I was disappointed there wasn’t more of Simon in this book. I love his character. Excellent narration as always