The Simon Serrailler Mystery Series by Susan Hill

Though I have sold Susan Hill’s books for many years I had not read them until recently. I have to say they are excellent, and I have very much enjoyed my time with Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler.

The Various Haunts of Men is the first in the series. Here we meet a woman who is both friendly and reliable in her life and her work – but a woman who no one really seems to know much about. When she disappears without a trace it is difficult to determine if she left of her own free will, or was abducted. It is some time before there are any answers and meanwhile there are other cases demanding attention from the local police force. We meet for the first time, Simon’s family, his parents and siblings. We meet his sister Cat, at home and at work. She is a doctor with a family practice, a woman who cares deeply about her patients. She is very concerned about a patient, and friend, who is turning to alternative treatments after a cancer diagnosis. There may be a link between the missing woman and a community of practitioners of alternative medicine, some who may be harmless and some not.

The second in the series, The Pure in Heart, begins with Serrailler on holiday in Venice, the place he loves most – after his sister’s home, and his own in Lafferton. Simon sometimes wonders if he could give up his home and work and stay in Venice, painting, living the life of an artist instead of a policeman. His holiday is interrupted when he is called back to England, where his younger sister is very ill and not expected to live. Martha Serrailler was born with multiple disabilities and does not speak or walk, though she is now a woman in her twenties. She lives in residential care but is never neglected by her family, who all visit regularly and love her dearly. We are then introduced to a man who is, after some years, being released from prison. We witness his attempts to re-integrate into the community, and witness his struggle to find meaningful work, and his risk of being drawn back into criminal activity.

Then, a young boy goes missing, the son of a doctor, a family known to Simon’s sister and her husband. There seems to be no reason why this particular child has, apparently, been abducted. All resources are put on to this case, with additional personnel from other jurisdictions.

I think what I like most about these books is that they are not predictable. While reading The Pure in Heart there were several times I thought I knew what would become of a particular character – and I was wrong – the expected did not happen. Of course, this is much more realistic, and more usual in real life, than in fiction – a refreshing change from so many mystery novels. I also like the intelligent secondary characters in these novels, especially Simon’s sister, Cat, a very busy family practice doctor and mother of three. She is happily married, messily, busily happy in her home and work, meeting the challenges of life as they come, while ferociously guarding those she loves. In each novel we learn more about the Serrailler family, the secrets they each keep, the sadness and joy that is shared, and their deep love for one another.

Simon Serrailler is a complicated, and not always kind, man. He appears to have difficulty in his relationships with women, and is, in fact, quite cruel in his dismissal of a woman who loves him. What he is very good at, is his job. A determined and persistent investigator who gets results, and one I look forward to spending more time with in Susan Hill’s long series of mystery novels.