The Pure in Heart

Simon Serrailler 2

By: Susan Hill

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler, first introduced in The Various Haunts of Men, is on a painting holiday in Venice when he is summoned home by a telephone call. He has family problems to face, and the stress and grind of running a busy police station. When a little boy is snatched as he stands with his satchel at the gate of his home, waiting for his lift to school, an ordinary community realises that terror and evil are in their very midst.©2006 Susan Hill (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Unfinished business

Totally enjoyed this second book in the series, particularly after I realized that the unfinished business would be clarified in book number three. The narrator is exceptional, his interpretation of characters is spot on. Anxious to read the next book to find out what happens next!

This book draws you right in.

From the beginning you can just visualize this story as it unveils and the reading of Spacey couldnt be any more perfect.

Enjoyable

If you are looking for a crime novel the books in series may not be for you. While I love the writing, the central family and the narrator I find the crime secondary to Serallier Family. It gets a little melodramatic at times. Having second that I do enjoy them and off to purchase my third now

Susan Hill is a brilliant writer..

This series is a jewel: the writing is wonderful, the characters are complex and well defined,
and the storyline is compelling. This is not a simple 'who dun it,' but complicated and
thoughtful and provocative. Warning: the mystery is not solved in this book, but it lays
the groundwork for a 'follow up' in a next book. Do not let it throw you...
I think this book and the next were one volume, and the editors felt it would be
too long, and had the book divided into two volumes.
Nonetheless, it's a wonderful read..

Where's the Rest?

I picked this series because I'm a huge fan of Steven Pacey. He's easily my favorite narrator and he doesn't disappoint here. I think Susan Hill's writing is very good but this book left me feeling like the last 1/3 of the book was missing. I'm fine with the main plot line ending as it did but none of the other 3 or 4 other sub-plots were resolved either. I literally went back checking to see if I had accidentally skipped a few chapters. But nope, that was everything.

The story kept me captivated throughout though and I'll probably give the next book a try especially since I enjoyed the first book so much. I have a small problem with the way Ms. Hill writes her male and female characters. The female characters are, almost without fail, sympathetic people who are put upon by their male counterparts. Even Simon Serrailler is somewhat of a cad.