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Product Description

The Spectator
`Susan Hill's crime novels are getting better and better... an unexpected but entirely convincing ending'

Eurocrime.co.uk
`full marks to Susan Hill for her ability to face the unfaceable'

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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

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52 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Welcome return for Simon Serrailler, 10 Jun 2008

By	Damaskcat (UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This book is every bit as gripping as its predecessors. A gunman is terrorising Lafferton, especially young women about to get married. Simon has to track down this serial killer before he can do any more damage. The press don't think he is doing enough and his colleagues are frustrated at the lack of meaningful leads. But Simon must also deal with the serious illness of his brother in law and the advent of a new woman into his widowed father's life.
What always grips me about these stories is that Simon is a far from perfect human being. He resents his father's new partner and cannot make up his mind about whether he wants someone in his own life permanently. He rows with his much loved sister Cat, and lets his own feelings colour his relationships with colleagues to the extent he almost misses his chance to unmask the gunman.
As ever, this is a complex story with many sub plots which keep you guessing right to the end. I had my suspicions about the identity of the gunman - which proved to be correct - but this did not spoil my enjoyment of the story. The clues are there but so are the red herrings and there are several possible candidates. Will Helen and Phil find happiness in spite of Helen's disapproving son? How will Cat cope when she has to be doctor and wife and still maintain a normal front for the children? What about the fate of the various young women about to be married and the Royal visitors to the society wedding? Jane Fitzroy also makes an appearance - how will Simon deal with seeing her again?
A well written and thought provoking psychological thriller about human beings with all their faults.

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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars INSIGHT AND SENSITIVITY, 14 Jun 2008

By	Mr. Stephen Morris (Surrey, England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Susan Hill has once again made her latest in the Simon Serrailler series an unstopable read. As a forensic psychotherapist I am amazed and delighted by her insight into the darker aspects of the human condition. So many crime writers depend on the sensational alone and lack awareness of the fact that murderous thinking and acts exist alongside the ordinary and mundane. 'The Vows of Silence' is a wonderful blend of life in the raw from so many rich perspectives of its characters. The depth and reality of each character provides a griping experience which continues long after the last page. I hope we dont need to wait too long before we enter into the lives of Simon and his family again.

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23 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant return of Simon Serrailler, 7 Jun 2008

By	Jo "Adams" (Dorset) - See all my reviews

*****MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*****

It's been quite a long wait for this most recent episode in the life of Detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler but how worthwhile!

Serrailler is back in VOWS OF SILENCE and Susan Hill has yet again provided a book which has to be read at one sitting!

Serrailler has his hands full with a gunman who is picking off, apparently at random, young females. He is methodical, cold and in control and with the victims having no obvious links the case is proving a frustrating one for Serrailler who at one stage admits `he has the upper hand'.

Not only does Serrailler have to cope with the shootings, his brother-in-law Chris, who has just arrived back with the family after 9 months in Australia, is diagnosed with a brain tumour. The resultant family crisis he and his sister Cat have to face is matched only in part (certainly for Serrailler) by the arrival of a new partner for his recently bereaved father - a man Serrailler has never been able to get along with.

Serrailler can't cope with the woman who has taken his beloved mother's place, and his attitude just adds to Cat's trauma of seeing her husband suffer abysmally after surgery and radiotherapy.

This might sound like a depressing book but it isn't, not by a long way. Hill has a remarkable way of interweaving all her characters in a way that cannot help but draw you in - their strengths and their weaknesses are to the fore and she sets the scene for an exciting story that has you guessing to the end - and invariably the perpetrator is quite a surprise!

Simon Serrailler will go down in the history of crime novels as one of the better detectives. There is nothing superhuman about him, he is totally believable as a person, a fine detective and a much needed loving uncle for young Sam.

Fortunately (and with a sigh of relief from Serrailler fans) Susan has now started writing the next, called THE TREE IN WINTER, which will be published in 2009 - not long now!!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, but not detective fiction
There's a high body count in this novel, which might lead you to think that this is an exciting example of detective fiction - but it isn't. Read more

Published 2 months ago

5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfying next installment in series
If you enjoy crime novels like Ian Rankin's Rebus and Colin Dexter's Morse, then you will love this book. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Cyberchick

5.0 out of 5 stars Thriller
Enjoyed every page of this book, whilst holding your attention right to the end the background is gentle and caring

Published 2 months ago by Mrs. P. M. Jones

2.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre
This is the first (and probably the last) Serailler novel that I read. I am sorry if I offend fans of this author but honestly I hate knowing half way through who did it, and... Read more

Published 2 months ago by H. Lacroix

4.0 out of 5 stars Well up to standard
I loved the first three in this series and this one, eagerly-anticipated as it was, didn't disappoint. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Urbangril21

3.0 out of 5 stars Unconvincing on crime procedure
'They had climbed for two hours. Then they had come into the low-hanging curtains of cloud'.

The book opens with the reminder that Susan Hill writes beautifully... Read more

Published 8 months ago by J. Minogue

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the last three...but still excellent!
Everyone has been out with a Simon Serailler at some point (beautiful, intelligent, tallented and yet as insecure as they come). Read more

Published 9 months ago by R. Boden

3.0 out of 5 stars The Vows of Silence
This is a novel about a detective rather than about detection. Enjoyable but more crime and plotting next time please.

Published 10 months ago by Patricia M. Straughan

5.0 out of 5 stars Im in love with Simon .....

I was so excited to receive this book,Ive enjoyed the previous books so much and Im glad to say that I wasnt disappointed. Read more

Published 10 months ago by The Kitten

2.0 out of 5 stars Vows of Silence
I'm really sorry but I cannot agree with these sparkling reviews of Susan Hill's "Vows of Silence" I found the continual trials and tribulations of Simon's family extremely... Read more

Published 12 months ago by G. Ash

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	68% buy the item featured on this page: The Vows of Silence 4.1 out of 5 stars (16) �9.09
	14% buy The Risk of Darkness 3.1 out of 5 stars (18) �5.49
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The Vows of Silence (Hardcover)

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