The Shadows in the Street (Simon Serrailler 5)
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The Shadows in the Street is the latest example of crime fiction from the talented Susan Hill. Hill, of course, has shown that she is adept at a variety of literary forms, notably the supernatural story -- where it can safely be said that she has few peers. But crime fans were pleased when she began to write about the detective Simon Serrailler -- pleased, that is, after an initial reluctance to accept that this creator of wonderfully distinctive ghost stories could make a mark in such an overcrowded field of crime fiction. But five books into the series, it is clear that Serrailler (and his well-characterised team) are here to stay.
Serrailler has just put the final touches to a particularly challenging at assignment for SIFT (The Special Incident Flying Task force) and is enjoying a well-earned rest on a sedate Scottish island. But his sabbatical is rudely interrupted when he is called back to Lafferton. Two prostitutes in the area have disappeared; their bodies are subsequently discovered -- both women have been strangled. Is the killer a disturbed individual with a pathological hatred of prostitutes, as was felt to be the case with the most famous serial killer of all, Jack the Ripper? There is, however, more to the town of Lafferton then its red light district -- the Cathedral close holds a very different position in the social strata, but has its own problems -- notably a particularly acrimonious series of ecclesiastical squabbles. As Serrailler desperately tries to track down a vicious murderer, he is all too aware that the clock is ticking. Then a piece of luck moves events along in a very surprising fashion.
Hill's particular achievement in The Shadows in the Street is to maintain two very different narratives simultaneously, while not allowing the more sensational of the two plot strands to overcome the more intimate one. There will always be those (this reviewer included) who would be happy if Hill were to spend the rest of her life producing her superlative ghost stories, but few will be complaining about her forays into the crime fiction field when she turns out books as authoritative as this. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
'Susan Hill's Serrailler novels, with their persuasively-drawn copper and his equally well-rounded family, are real treats' --Daily Express
`There's something reassuringly Victorian about Hill's literary values' --Independent
`Deeply engrossing and enjoyable'
--The Lady
'This is a very good, very addictive read' --The Bookbag
`Intriguing' --Herald
`There's something reassuringly Victorian about Hill's literary values' --Independent
`Deeply engrossing and enjoyable'
--The Lady
'This is a very good, very addictive read' --The Bookbag
`Intriguing' --Herald
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
81 of 85 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Dorothy L Sayers called "Busman's Honeymoon" "A love story with detective interruptions". I am increasingly convinced that Susan Hill's excellent Simon Serrailler series is a family or perhaps a community story with detective interruptions. This is particularly noticeable in this book because the echoes of Trollope which have been present throughout the series become very insistent with the arrival in the cathedral close of ringers for Dr and Mrs Proudie and their tame canon. All ecclesiastical hell is forthwith let loose in the form of the High Church/Low Church antipathy (including the spats over music) so integral to Barchester Towers. But here the extra spice is added not by the problem of who is to be warden of the hospital, but by divisions amongst the church helpers as to how best to deal with Lafferton's emerging and complex prostitution problem. And hence, as two prostitutes are killed, we slide into the detective interruptions; Simon returns from leave to take over the murder enquiry and to welcome two bright new faces to his team (though past form with Hill leaves one doubtful as to whether they will be with us for many books - for her the powerful relationships lie outside the environment of work). The detective elements this time seem generally pretty unrewarding for all involved (which one suspects is far nearer to the truth than many detective novels would have us believe) - some pretty obvious leads are chased up to no great effect, the press have to be kept at bay and the teams motivated while a lot of no progress is made and more women - one even from the hallowed precincts of the Close disappear.
Meanwhile Susan Hill moves us incredibly skillfuly between the progress of Simon's family (Cat in Eleanor Bold mode bridging the gap between High and Low Church, Simon's faltering steps towards a workable relationship with his father's new wife, the family conversations in the kitchens at the farmhouse and Hallam House) and beautifully written vignettes which bring to life the people who will be joining us for this book only - the victims, the suspects, the friends whose paths cross that of the murderer. With the latter group the great skill of Susan Hill is evident in the fact that you let all of them go at the end of the book with regret - they have become real, and one wants to know how they progress, even after the denoument which reveals the perpetrator. And about that denoument - really not even a detective interruption - the solution of the case is not one for which any of the detective team will be able to claim much credit!
So the series remains one which is bound to disappoint those who want a detective novel to be all or even principally about detection, and the police team, but which offers a wonderful read, a nuanced and real story (apart from that body count in Lafferton, which is really getting worrying!) which engages with and debates the difficulties of family and community life. For myself, I think this is all to the good, but I know others think differently!
Meanwhile Susan Hill moves us incredibly skillfuly between the progress of Simon's family (Cat in Eleanor Bold mode bridging the gap between High and Low Church, Simon's faltering steps towards a workable relationship with his father's new wife, the family conversations in the kitchens at the farmhouse and Hallam House) and beautifully written vignettes which bring to life the people who will be joining us for this book only - the victims, the suspects, the friends whose paths cross that of the murderer. With the latter group the great skill of Susan Hill is evident in the fact that you let all of them go at the end of the book with regret - they have become real, and one wants to know how they progress, even after the denoument which reveals the perpetrator. And about that denoument - really not even a detective interruption - the solution of the case is not one for which any of the detective team will be able to claim much credit!
So the series remains one which is bound to disappoint those who want a detective novel to be all or even principally about detection, and the police team, but which offers a wonderful read, a nuanced and real story (apart from that body count in Lafferton, which is really getting worrying!) which engages with and debates the difficulties of family and community life. For myself, I think this is all to the good, but I know others think differently!
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
We have read each of the four previous Serrailler novels but we are also reading a collection of Peter James and Mark Billingham detective novels/books at the same time. Normally Susan Hill's novels are the red wine to James' Stella Artois style - hers smooth and cultured as against James' more brash and shocking approach. The latest Hill piece, however, seems to lack that depth and finish - not sure why but some characters appear, you gain insight, and then they die and disappear, and other potential suspects seem too obviously written out of it too early. Enjoyed reading what feels like an old friend - just feel less moved by the experience than I would have liked.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Susan Hill's Serrailler books are one of the best series currently being written: using the genre of the crime novel as a skeleton upon which to hang her stories, she supercedes the genre in lots of ways which has led to her books being dismissed as disappointing. Strictly speaking, they're books in which a crime takes place, rather than books which pursue the investigation and come to a neat and tidy conclusion. Instead she concentrates on the people touched by the crime, and unpeels the layers of their lives to reveal them to us.
This book focuses on the seamy underside of middle-class cathedral town Lafferton which has not been explored in previous books. It's a fine antidote to the recent rather worrying glamorisation of prostitution in Belle du Jour etc., without ever descending to either to sentimental or the judgemental. Hill is an extremely controlled writer, though she hides it well, and so there are no clumsy insertions of moral or social indignation here, instead these young women are painted just as people: flawed, inept, self-delusional, but also incredibly courageous. Abi, in particular, is an incredibly moving portrait of a woman who is a mother first and a prostitute only second.
Hill, as ever, is an acute observer of character (e.g. Ruth Webber who laughs 'often and loudly' but never smiles), and manages to create vignettes (e.g. Leah) that make us really care about a character in just a few pages. In this sense she is as indebted to Dickens as she is to Trollope, the allusions to whom are more pointed here, as other reviewers have pointed out. And like her predecessors'these are incredibly robust novels which never shy away from pain, death and the sheer sadness of people's lives.
The focus on the Serraillers is still here, of course, and there are some interesting parallels made between Simon himself, the perpetual loner, and the profile of the man responsible for killing the women.
I did feel that the ending was a little too 'crime novel' with the confrontation in the kitchen, and, perhaps, a few too many people with mental illnesses in the same little group but that's a small quibble. It certainly didn't interfere with what is another fine, subtle and perceptive novel - highly recommended.
This book focuses on the seamy underside of middle-class cathedral town Lafferton which has not been explored in previous books. It's a fine antidote to the recent rather worrying glamorisation of prostitution in Belle du Jour etc., without ever descending to either to sentimental or the judgemental. Hill is an extremely controlled writer, though she hides it well, and so there are no clumsy insertions of moral or social indignation here, instead these young women are painted just as people: flawed, inept, self-delusional, but also incredibly courageous. Abi, in particular, is an incredibly moving portrait of a woman who is a mother first and a prostitute only second.
Hill, as ever, is an acute observer of character (e.g. Ruth Webber who laughs 'often and loudly' but never smiles), and manages to create vignettes (e.g. Leah) that make us really care about a character in just a few pages. In this sense she is as indebted to Dickens as she is to Trollope, the allusions to whom are more pointed here, as other reviewers have pointed out. And like her predecessors'these are incredibly robust novels which never shy away from pain, death and the sheer sadness of people's lives.
The focus on the Serraillers is still here, of course, and there are some interesting parallels made between Simon himself, the perpetual loner, and the profile of the man responsible for killing the women.
I did feel that the ending was a little too 'crime novel' with the confrontation in the kitchen, and, perhaps, a few too many people with mental illnesses in the same little group but that's a small quibble. It certainly didn't interfere with what is another fine, subtle and perceptive novel - highly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A good read, but...
I have read all the previous books in Hill's 'Simon Serrailler' series, but haven't found any as compelling as the first one. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Mary May
Up to the usual standard - except the ending
I've enjoyed all the previous Simon Serrailler books, so was looking forward to this one. I was not disappointed. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sussex bookworm
Serrailler soldiers on.
I had read numbers 3 and 4 then was given 1 and 2 in Xmas stocking so started at the beginning and worked through to this - number 5. A very satisfying journey! Read more
Published 2 months ago by Yorkshire exile
Shadows In The Street - Susan Hill - Compelling
The main reasons that I like reading books by Susan Hill is that her characters are believable, some nicer than others, but above all they have depth and flow through the story. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Alessi Lover
Not her best but still better than most...
I came to read the Serrallier several years ago - I'd never heard of Susan Hill before and was immediately engrossed. Read more
Published 4 months ago by LG
somebody has to be the murderer
I enjoyed reading one of the Simon Serrailer thrillers (The Shadows in the Street) by Susan Hill . The characters are believable and three dimensional. Read more
Published 6 months ago by critica
Easy to get into
I have read all the earlier books in this series too, but they do also work well as a stand alone story.
Very enjoyable and hard to put down until finished! Read more
Very enjoyable and hard to put down until finished! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Susie Cornwall
Great Service
The product arrived very quickly and in great condition. It was bought as a gift and was well received. Thanks.
Published 7 months ago by Bexx
Another well written Serailler
As with earlier books in the series, well written, with several layers of story including the ongoing development of the character of Simon Serailler and his family. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Alastair Q
Life in a cathedral city
This is fifth in a series set in a cathedral city called Lafferton. It features many familiar characters who have matured and developed with each new book and a detective element... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Clive A. H. Still
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