Helpful Score: 1
This book was recommended to me by a fellow swapper as the first in a terrific British police procedural series. I read quite a number of British police procedural series, and I would not place this one anywhere near the top of that list. I found the book overlong, the characters not quite so interesting, and the "crime" story and details very drawn out. Nevertheless, because of Hill's reputation and the glowing reviews her books get, I've started the second in the series last night.
Helpful Score: 1
First Line: Last week I found a letter from you.
Detective Sergeant Freya Graffham has left London and the Metropolitan Police for the small cathedral town of Lafferton. She doesn't miss London a bit and wastes no time in exploring her new home. She fits in well with her fellow officers and is intrigued by Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler. Graffham is a very intuitive person, and there's something about a missing persons case involving an older woman named Angela Randall that she just can't let go. When other people in the area begin to go missing, Graffham senses she really is on to something. Is there a killer preying on the people of this small town?
The Various Haunts of Men moves very slowly and deliberately until the last hundred pages when it really picks up speed. The pacing almost mirrors that of the killer. I knew the killer's identity very early on, but as only a secondary matter of importance, it didn't ruin the book for me at all. Hill's focus was squarely on her characters and setting her stage for the other books to follow in the series.
I try my best to avoid spoilers in my reviews, so I must limit my remarks with regard to this book. Hill's characters were brilliant-- perfect for a character-driven reader like me-- but the weakest of the lot was Simon Serrailler himself. Everyone seemed to put him on such a high pedestal that it's a wonder he didn't get a nosebleed, and he was so enigmatic that it was almost impossible to "read"or like him. I'm tempted to say that I wasn't all that impressed with him, but I have a strong feeling that I was set up by Hill, so I'm reserving judgment until I've read the next book in the series.
Read it (The Pure in Heart) I will because Hill has populated her stage with one of the more intriguing casts of characters I've encountered in a long time. She also has shown right from this beginning that she's quite willing to take risks with them. I definitely want to see what she does next.
Detective Sergeant Freya Graffham has left London and the Metropolitan Police for the small cathedral town of Lafferton. She doesn't miss London a bit and wastes no time in exploring her new home. She fits in well with her fellow officers and is intrigued by Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler. Graffham is a very intuitive person, and there's something about a missing persons case involving an older woman named Angela Randall that she just can't let go. When other people in the area begin to go missing, Graffham senses she really is on to something. Is there a killer preying on the people of this small town?
The Various Haunts of Men moves very slowly and deliberately until the last hundred pages when it really picks up speed. The pacing almost mirrors that of the killer. I knew the killer's identity very early on, but as only a secondary matter of importance, it didn't ruin the book for me at all. Hill's focus was squarely on her characters and setting her stage for the other books to follow in the series.
I try my best to avoid spoilers in my reviews, so I must limit my remarks with regard to this book. Hill's characters were brilliant-- perfect for a character-driven reader like me-- but the weakest of the lot was Simon Serrailler himself. Everyone seemed to put him on such a high pedestal that it's a wonder he didn't get a nosebleed, and he was so enigmatic that it was almost impossible to "read"or like him. I'm tempted to say that I wasn't all that impressed with him, but I have a strong feeling that I was set up by Hill, so I'm reserving judgment until I've read the next book in the series.
Read it (The Pure in Heart) I will because Hill has populated her stage with one of the more intriguing casts of characters I've encountered in a long time. She also has shown right from this beginning that she's quite willing to take risks with them. I definitely want to see what she does next.
I just discovered this British mystery series featuring detective Simon Serrailler. This is the first in the series and it is a satisfying, big fat door-stopper of a mystery. The novel is told from multiple points of view - quite a lot of them in fact, which means you don't get to know all of the characters as well as you might like to. I saw part of the ending coming a few chapters out, but there was still one shocking plot development that I totally did not expect. Overall I really enjoyed it and will try to track down the rest of the series. If you like Elizabeth George's novels, you might enjoy this series.
Excellent crime drama by an English author. I hope to read more in this series.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get into this one. But see for yourself, maybe you'll like it more than me.
Hill writes well, and her ghost story The Woman in Black is a favorite. Although this is well written, too, and interesting, it's fine as a story set in an English town, but if you're looking for a straight-forward mystery, this might not be for you either. It's 562 pages long, by the way, so not for the impatient.
http://2manybooks2read.blogspot.com/2009/02/so-not-elementary.html
