I can’t believe I’ve not read any of this series before. I’m totally hooked and ordered the second book before I’d even finished this one. The plotting, the warmth of the characters, the shock death!! I'm already a little in love with Simon myself, so can’t wait to see if he gets ‘netted’ by anyone. Also, the sense of place is amazing, I feel as if I know the town already. Totally brilliant all round, this is a must read for crime fans.

Susan Hill brings to life a true policewomen doing her job against the odds but relying on skill and judgement. A serial killer runs amoke only our policewomen seems to understand what is going on. A gripping tale that twists and turns until the final death scene, first book in series and not to be missed.

Having read the most recent addition to Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler series, I decided to reread the first in the series, feeling that through time that the series had changed, and whilst this is true to some extent, there is also so much that still feels so familiar. I have to say that I am still not particularly enamoured of Serrailler as a personality, although he remains a minor presence, we grasp more of who he is through the eyes of others, such as GP sister, Cat. DS Freya Graffham has the opportunity to begin life anew after troubling times in London, and she is settling in well. There a number of disappearances, disappearances that begin to consume her. There is a serial killer at large, and it takes some time for Serrailler to be convinced that the missing are something to be worried about. This was a mixed bag of a read, with pacing that shifted through the narrative. I was particularly not a fan of that horror of a ending!! Many thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to reread this.

Simon Serrailler #1

A lonely woman vanishes while out on her morning run. Then a twenty two year old girl never returns from a walk. An old man disappears too. When fresh-faced policewoman Freya Graffham is assigned to the case. she runs the risk of getting invested - too involved - in the action. Alongside Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler, she must unravel the mystery before events turn too gruesome.

This is the authors first attempt into writing about crime/mystery and what a good job she has done. Although Simon Serrailler is the main character in this series, we don't hear or see much from him but we do learn a lot about him. Freya has a crush on Simon. The pace starts off slow in this lengthy book, but half way through the pace picks up. We hear from the killer early on but we don't know who they are. There are parts of this book that are quite obvious while full of twists in others. I did not like hoe the book ended.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #RandomHouseUK #Vintage and the author #SusanHill for my ARC of #TheVariousHauntsOfMen in exchange for an honest review.

Thoroughly enjoyable book with so many twists and turns I didn't know what was going to happen! Som ebig shockers in but excellent reading!

Not my first Serrailler book,and probably not my last.
It was quite a lengthy look at alternative medicine,that at times went beyond creepy... especially as its legal.
I've enjoyed the characters of Simon and Cat before,and this was no different.
Builds up the tension nicely,but then felt to me line a blink and you'll miss it ending.
Definitely left me thinking I should read more.

The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill.

This was a re-read of a book I had forgotten I'd read previously.
This story is riveting and full of unusual characters.
I found it annoying however as some characters, key at the beginning, lost prominence. I understand there will be others in the series but there needs to be more in the first novel about these characters in order to surpass the notion that you are being set up for future series. I did not read any further in the series from memory.

A rich crime thriller.

When Vintage Books invited me to read and review Susan Hill’s latest novel in this series, they recommended that I read this, the opening novel in the series, first. Having read it, I shall now review it, even though an awful lot of other people will have done so before me.

Set in a fictional rural corner of England, as if Ely or St Edmunds Bury Cathedral was near both Glastonbury and the housing estates of Stevenage or Houghton Regis, this opening novel in the “Simon Serrailler” series revolves around that character at a distance and the Detective Chief Inspector is seen mostly through the eyes of his General Practitioner sister and his new Detective Sergeant, Freya Graffham. In this story it is not just the criminals who are elusive, so are the crimes. The local drug dealers are proving difficult to even identify, let alone pin down, as is a gang stealing newly-delivered white goods. So when apparently-unconnected individuals disappear without trace, it’s hard for Freya Graffham to even be sure herself that she’s investigating a crime worthy of her precious time: convincing her immediate superior is beyond her and even DCI Serrailler only concedes that there “might” be something in the disappearances.

All of the missing, however, are missed by someone and the pain of these tragedies is well depicted.
As is the joy which Freya Graffham finds in her new life, away from London and her controlling ex-husband in a new community, where she can sing in the cathedral choir and make her own choices again. Matters of the spirit and alternative medicine are addressed at several levels and in varying shades of light and dark. The ending has a lot of impact, but is not completely dark.