The Risk of Darkness (Simon Serrailler Series #3)

by Susan Hill

Overview

Award-winning author Susan Hill’s The Risk of Darkness is a pulse-pounding mystery featuring investigator Simon Serrailler.

“A master storyteller. Hill’s crime novels are engaging and . . . gripping reads.” —Strand magazine

A grief-stricken widower becomes deranged with obsession, spreading threats, violence, and terror. Meanwhile, handsome, introverted Simon Serrailler, whose cool reserve has broken the hearts of several women, finds his own heart troubled by the newest recruit to the Cathedral staff: a feisty female Anglican priest with red hair.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590202906
Publisher:	The Overlook Press
Publication date:	03/02/2010
Series:	Simon Serrailler Series , #3
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	282,318
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Susan Hill’s Simon Serrailler series has sold more than one million copies worldwide. Her novels and short stories have won the Whitbread Book, Somerset Maugham, and John Llewellyn Rhys awards, the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year, and have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. The play adapted from her famous ghost novel, The Woman in Black, has been running in the West End since 1989. The titles in the Simon Serrailler series are all available from The Overlook Press.

Read an Excerpt

03/23/2020

Foster (Driven to Distraction) sparks new romance in the lives of two very different yet equally appealing sisters in this pleasant standalone contemporary. Autumn and Ember Somerset have inherited their grandparents’ animal sanctuary in Sunset, Ky., balancing their newfound responsibilities on the farm with their careers as an interior designer and a builder, respectively. When responsible Autumn’s high school crush, Tash Ducker, now a single father, returns to town, Ember plays matchmaker, setting up an appointment for Autumn to meet with him to discuss designs for a bedroom for Tash’s seven-year-old daughter, Sadie. Autumn instantly bonds with the precocious young girl, who delights in tales of the rescue animals on the Somerset farm. As Tash and Autumn grow closer, their romance is enhanced by the warm welcome of the rest of the Somerset family, who embrace Tash and Sadie wholeheartedly. Meanwhile, free-spirited Ember may have met a match of her own in the farm’s handyman, Mike Brewer. Foster convincingly brings her characters to life against the idyllic backdrop of Kentucky farmland. This down-to-earth romance will especially appeal to animal lovers. Agent: Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Agency. (May)

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for The Risk of Darkness
"An outstanding crime thriller from one of Britain's best writers. Taut, inventive, tragic, intriguing, and full of unexpected twists, it's a must-have for all mystery collections."-Booklist (starred review)

"Hill blends just the right measures of darkness, tension, and human interest...Well-crafted plot and believable characters make this a welcome addition to the series."-Library Journal (starred review)

"An almost flawless novel." -Spectator

Editorial Reviews

Crime fans on the look out for intelligent examples of the genre will enjoy The Risk of Darkness.

Time Out

A page-turner. Watch out for the twist in the tail, it'll take you by surprise.

Choice

This is a crime series that specialises in sidestepping conventions, always to exhilarating effect.

The Independent

Of its sort The Risk of Darknessis an almost flawless novel.

Spectator

A compulsive and compelling story...packed with action and adventure.

At Home

A gritty case of child abduction and serial murder and the obsessive grief of a widowed husband are at the heart of Hill's latest Simon Serailler mystery (after Various Haunts of Men and Pure in Heart). While preparing for a posh London exhibit of his drawings, Simon is called to join a team searching for a number of children who have been abducted near his village of Lafferton. A suspect is quickly detained, but the evidence is scant. As Simon mentors the team through the investigation, violence rattles the village further as a young widower, crazy with grief, takes the new Anglican priest hostage. The handsome and enigmatic detective is instantly attracted to this feisty lady cleric, who ruffles his reserve and just might break his heart. Hill blends just the right measures of darkness, tension, and human interest. Her consistently well-crafted plot and believable characters make this a welcome addition to the series. Highly recommended.
—Susan Clifford Braun

Library Journal

“These books succeed in harnessing all the genre’s addictive power while maintaining a complexity and fascination entirely their own. The Risk of Darkness reminds us that risk-taking, in fiction, as in life, sometimes pays off brilliantly.”
–Independent

“Not all great novelists can write crime fiction, but when one like Susan Hill does, the result is stunning.” Ruth Rendell
“Hill has a genius for tackling controversial issues while paying tribute to the detail of ordinary people’s lives…The Risk of Darkness is an almost flawless novel.”
–Spectator

“For the first time in years P.D. James has serious competition”
–Literary Review

Praise for Susan Hill:
“I loved this book. Masterly and satisfying. The result is stunning.”
–Ruth Rendell

“This book must be judged as a potential successor to the great sequence of detective writing by P.D. James and Ruth Rendell…excellent.”
–Daily Telegraph (UK)

“Gripping…and subtle.”
–Daily Mail (UK)

From the Publisher

The third installment of Hill’s Simon Serrailler series centers on mysterious child abductions. Simon is called in to investigate the disappearance of a boy, allowing narrator Steven Pacey’s strong, British speaking voice to shine through the local police banter. Pacey relies on emotional tones rather than high pitch to expertly flesh out the novel’s female characters, who include a precocious child witness, a terrorized hostage, and Simon’s physician wife, who is treating a demented patient with CJD (mad cow disease). A taut police interrogation scene will have listeners’ palms sweating along with the prime suspect’s. The plethora of interesting characters and divergent subplots provides for hefty listening, and the continued development of the series regulars. J.T. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2011 - AudioFile