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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Disappearances and presumed murders; the investigation reveals a disturbing truth about the perpetrator
Language
Some
Mild language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Mild content
Substance Use
Barely any
Mild content
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The specific dread of disappearances without bodies; the detective's private life as a counterpoint to the investigation's darkness
What this book is about
People have been disappearing near Lafferton's Hill — a moorland walk above the cathedral town where Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler is based. The first to vanish is an aromatherapist; others follow. Susan Hill's first Serrailler novel introduces the series' world — Lafferton, Serrailler's family, the cathedral that gives the setting its atmosphere — and establishes the detective as a man with a rich private life in art and music that sits in complex tension with the darkness of his work. The investigation is quiet and methodical, and the horror is understated.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
first Simon Serrailler novel by Susan Hill
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