I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Vintage for an advance copy of A Change of Circumstance, the eleventh novel to feature Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler, set in the fictional English town of Lafferton.

The death of a drug addict in the neighbouring village of Starly gives Simon pause for thought and the need to examine what appears to be new methods of drug distribution.

I quite enjoyed A Change of Circumstance, even if illegal drug distribution is way outside my area of interest and comfort zone. This is definitely not a comfortable novel as it chiefly deals with the county lines method, which involves coercing children and vulnerable adults into the supply chain. The author chooses to contrast Simon’s investigation with the experience of two such children, Olivia and Brookie. This is extremely well done, being explicit on how it works and heartbreaking in the situation they find themselves in. The manipulation made it difficult for me to read, possibly because it is so realistic.

The investigation is quite lacklustre, lacking any real focus or, more importantly, conclusion. I understand that this is the reality of policing and particularly when drug gangs are involved, but it’s not immensely satisfying for readers. The author prefers to concentrate on the unintentional casualties of the county lines model and the personal life of Simon and his family. It’s all going on there with plenty of developments and change. None of it is overly dramatic, just the general highs and lows of family life. I think I might find it boring and a distraction from the investigation if I weren't invested as a long standing reader.

A Change of Circumstance is a good read that I can recommend.

Susan Hill’s Simon Serrailler series is a well-known police procedural that has been on my radar for a very long time. But unfortunately other than the extremely chilling The Woman In the Black, I haven’t had a chance to read any other book by this author.

A change of circumstance is book #11 in the renowned series. I was sure going in that I am at disadvantage for getting to this series so late. It is never about the crime or the drama that forms the story but always the personal history of the lead character that may feel out of focus if you begin a series midway. This can be easily read as a stand-alone except that the reader is left to figure out the various relationship threads that revolve around Simon. His sister Cat and her family, a past relationship of Simon, all are central to the plot behind the drug trafficking crime thriller.

A Change Of Circumstance feels like an ‘interim’ story in Simon Serrailler’s life where he begins to acknowledge the changes in his life, both personal and professional. He is brooding his lonely status and his past mistakes while professionally he realizes the extent of the drug trouble that haunts his sleepy county. The investigation into the death of an addict opens his eyes to the menace that dogs the streets and the feeble and the worthless effort of catching the criminals in the lower rung of the ladder.

The way the author makes one feel for 11 yr old Brooklyn and the 14 yr old Olivia is exemplary. The helpless situation that they are lured into without knowing the consequences was chilling. The aspects of the story that shows Cat and her medical concerns, honestly speaking, I was left with a feeling to never get old. Susan Hill brings out the vulnerability of the young and the old thru the drug trade and the always packed to the hilt hospitals.

A Change of Circumstance will be a comfortable read for fans of the series as it is akin to revisiting one’s old family and knowing more about the status of Simon, Cat, Keiron, Sam, etc but for others, as the story does not offer any ‘thrills’ with the investigation, there is no unveiling or reveal that happens, it may feel lacklustre.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK, Vintage, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Book Bub, Medium.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

I haven't read any of the previous books in this series but found it a good standalone book. This is a Police Procedural which starts with the death of a young drug addict. I really liked DCS Simon Serrailler and I also enjoyed the Family life he enjoys with his sister Cat. This is a harrowing story about drug running and County Lines
a very well written and enjoyable read. I look forward to reading the next book in the series .Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review .

An excellent book as always, written by Susan Hill. The storyline was very good, i couldn’t put it down once I’d started it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for a review. I will put this review on Amazon too.

A Change of Circumstance is badged as a “Mystery & Thriller” and whilst the main character, Simon Serrailler, is a police officer and the main storyline concerns drugs the book and series is so much more with the stories of a number of the regular supporting cast adding to the overall enjoyment of reading this book.

The author, Susan Hill, writes beautifully with every word and phrase meaning something without the book ever getting stuck or not moving along at a good pace.

As you have probably realised this is one of my favourite series and even as book number 11 is reached the law of diminishing returns has not even started to raise its head.

Definitely highly recommended

I'm a big fan of Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler series but unfortunately this book didn't quite hit the mark for me. I've tried to pinpoint exactly why and I think it's a couple of things. Firstly, the crime and its solution wasn't really looked at. It all felt somewhat 'airy-fairy' and nebulous. Secondly, Simon Serrailler himself, always a difficult person to warm to, has become I'easier to dislike. So whilst we still had the hook of Cat and her family they are the group I am interested in. Simon Serrailler feels like an arrogant narcissist who needs a slap and to learn that the world doesn't revolve around him. Obviously every series has a strongest and weakest book, and I'm sure this one will recover from A Change of Circumstance.

A skilful blend of detective story and family saga. Serailler is led into the drugs world in his neighbourhood . Young people are being groomed to deliver drugs with catastrophic results. In addition a local chemist has been enveigled into the corruption but is this part of a bigger set up with the strings being pulled from further afield? You feel at home with the main characters as their lives play out surrounded by the police problems in the area

The latest book in the series by Susan Hill is more a drip drip of problems and stories than an explosion of a one off drama. Contains murder, mayhem, intrigue but also highlights the futility of it all in the face of the modern scourge of life being a parent. Mix of police and family dramas makes for a goodish read

Well-written character-driven crime that is always current and thought-provoking. I am not sure that I particularly like Simon Serrailler but I like his sister and her family and enjoy the insights to life as a GP, as a Police Detective, as a child trying to cope with pressure. This deals with some dark stuff and I found the ending a bit sort of drifting but its a good read.

I can usually be guaranteed to give five stars to books in this wonderful series but this time the main characters all seem a bit too introspective and "stuck" in their own memories.
County Lines is probably the most important ongoing police operation in the country just now. It will take a miracle to break into it with any significance. A novel is not the place to try to dive deep.
When it comes down to it people read for pleasure.

The body of a junkie is found above a Chinese pharmacy. Vulnerable young children are drawn into county lines drug dealing by a weaselly thug. So runs the crime backdrop to the latest book in the Simon Serrailler series. As usual there's a strong family element too. Simon's sister Cat is leading a pressured life as a private GP. Her son Sam is at a personal and career crossroads...

I hesitated when rating, because I found it a bit unsatisfying, but it's just so well written. The storylines flew along, I was drawn in and stayed up into the early hours to finish it.

For fans of the series. It could also be read standalone, but I'd recommend starting at the beginning with The Various Haunts of Men.

I’m a big Susan Hill fan; I love her creepy, shiver-inducing, but never gory, horror stories. I also love crime fiction, so many years ago I read an earlier book in her Simon Serrailler series. It was good; I enjoyed it. So I was very disappointed when A Change of Circumstance failed to live up to my expectations.
This wasn’t a crime story, it was a domestic, kitchen-sink tale where the main character just happened to be a police officer – I wouldn’t even call it a drama it was so plodding (no pun intended). The case that was taking up Simon’s working hours this time was so unoriginal that I think it’s already been done by every one of the TV soaps. The only puzzle was whether Simon would make his mind up about the domestic affairs which seemed to be occupying his mind for far more time than finding any villains.
If you’re a committed reader of this series, then you’re probably invested enough to care about Simon’s domestic circumstances, his sister’s kids’ careers and love lives, and the endless ‘will he, won’t he’ saga of his own commitment issues, but I’m not and I didn’t.

Really enjoyed this...It has been a while since I read any Susan Hill so went back and re-read to two previous books to this to remind myself what had happened to Simon/Kat/Sam et al. but as soon as I had it was like coming home to good friend and read within a day (being couped up unable to move helped). Love the description, which sometimes can be a bit graphic but really sets the seen. Wish they would make this series of books into a TV series as I think that it would go down very well....now we need another to see what happens with Rachel ;)

A drugs overdose leads Chief superintendent Simon and his team on a county lines enquiry where they learn that vulnerable young children are being used to transport and courier drugs with the gang leaders knowing that they are young enough to be under the radar of the police

An interesting insight into the reality of drug kings and the ways they work and a gripping read to boot

A Change of Circumstance is the eleventh book in Susan Hill’s reliable series concerning DSC Simon Serrailler and his sister, Dr Cat Deerbon. Whilst I approached this having read and enjoyed most of the preceding novels, I think it would be possible to start and savour the series here.

This time round, DSC Serrailler uncovers the sophisticated drug network in operation on his patch, involving the use of young children to transport the drugs between dealer and clients. Dr Deerbon, meanwhile, receives a visit from her son, unsure as to whether midwifery is the correct choice for him...

I would suggest that this book, like its predecessors, is not one to approach purely as a crime novel. Although the case at the centre of the novel is a captivating one, much of the actual police work and investigation is done off-screen. As a result, the plot is relatively simple and concludes rather abruptly. That isn’t to say that the crime element of the book is without merit – the character of Brookie, one of the child drug carriers, is movingly and credibly portrayed. As ever with this series, at least half the book is devoted to the squarely middle-class dealings of the Serrailler and Deerbon families, none of which particularly caught my interest this time round.

A solid addition to the series which fans of Susan Hill will enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, Random House UK, Vintage, Chatto & Windus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I always look forward to another book about DCS Simon Serrailler and his sister Dr. Cat Deerbon. This time Simon realises they have a drugs problem in his area that includes the sophisticated county lines and they are involving young children to deliver drugs by enticing them in with small gifts.

11 year old Brooklyn is being groomed and his father realises something is wrong and goes to Simon for help and offers to assist in anything he can do to bring the dealers to justice.

Cat is overworked as a private GP and her eldest son Sam comes back from his course, training to be a midwife, with doubts about his career choice. The family’s beloved dog goes missing and her new husband and Simon’s boss, Kieron, injures his leg adding to her worries.

Simon is thinking about moving out of the flat he has rented for many years in the centre of Lafferton and trying to rekindle a relationship with an ex girlfriend. He’s found a large house in the country, not far from Lafferton and Cat’s family home.

I gave the book 4 stars as I felt it was rushed towards the end and so many strands of the book that needed finishing. I presume there will be a 12th book in the Serailler series and I look forward to reading it.

SUSAN HILL – A CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCE ****

I read this novel in advance of publication through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is the latest in the Simon Serrailler detective series and is bang up to date in its theme: the country lines drug industry.

Life in post-Brexit Britain is changing rapidly, with empty shelves in supermarkets and the cost of food rising fast. Children of poorer families, wanting material possessions - trainers, phones, bikes - are an easy target for these ruthless gangs.

Within a detective story, this novel delves into the destruction behind the headlines; the children forced into doing things they don’t want to do; their parents attempting to extricate them; and an old-fashioned detective struggling to hold back the tide of filth that is about to submerge all that he loves. This story successfully explores ruined lives, features multiple deaths, and a charming English village-style way of life threatened to disappear for ever.

Susan Hill is one of our greatest and most celebrated novelists and short story writers. Though I prefer her one-off novels, which have more depth, nothing she writes can be mundane. This latest in the Serrailler series demonstrates how skilled she is in this genre.

Easily recommended.

Good sotry, enjoyed following on the series and finding out what happens next to all the characters.

‘A Change of Circumstance’, the latest in Susan Hill’s long running detective series involving DCS Simon Serrailler and his family, is firmly focused on the horror that has become known as county lines. When the body of a young drug addict is found in a nearby village, Serrailler begins to appreciate that vulnerable local children are being targeted and then blackmailed to deliver drugs – the very bottom and easily dispensable rung of an extremely crooked ladder.
The Serrailler novels are successful, in part, because Hill often taps into society’s current concerns. This story is no exception. However, not all of the circumstances are entirely believable. Brookie, one of the carriers, and his family are portrayed in a very credible way: single parent, lots of children, very little money, easy target. Not so the other. Olivia’s mother is not too busy for her; her daughter wants for little, she is bright, has supportive friends and knows she is loved. Throughout the scenes when she is being bullied and blackmailed by local dealer, Fats, I kept on wondering how she had managed to get in this situation. And that question isn’t answered.
The narrative is split pretty evenly between a focus on the drugs crimes and the emotional lives of Simon and his relatives. Hill’s exploration of their relationships is not particularly interesting. It all comes across like a rather disappointing episode of Radio 4’s ‘The Archers’. From the novel’s conclusion, it’s clear that there are plenty of threads not yet tied up. Not sure I’ll be coming back for more.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

I hadn’t read any of the Simon Serrailler series before and was pleased to find this could be read as a stand alone book with enough background mentioned to follow the personal lives of the characters without it being too repetitive for fans of the family.
The detective story covered the contemporary issues of county lines drug running in a realistic storyline and didn't shy away from harsh realities.
I found it hard going to start with, I often found the dialogues confusing however all of a sudden the story line grabbed me & I couldn’t put it down. I was disappointed when it ended so I will definitely be looking out for the next in the series