Description:

From Publishers Weekly

Weaving together a variety of subtly interrelated narratives, British author Hill (Air and Angels) embeds a thoughtful reflection on alternative medicine into a taut and suspenseful mystery, the first of a new crime series featuring Chief Insp. Simon Serrailler. Having transferred to the small cathedral town of Lafferton from London's "Met," police detective Freya Graffham explores her new community and becomes fascinated by Serrailler, her enigmatic superior. Though she fits well within the local police force, she finds herself unable to let go what seems like a routine missing persons report on a middle-aged spinster. When yet more townspeople turn up missing, her hunch is verified and a serious police search begins, bringing her into closer proximity with Serrailler at the same time it exposes her to danger. A dark but entirely convincing ending may startle some readers, but Hill's fine writing and nuanced insight into human nature should appeal to fans of such masters of the psychological thriller as P.D. James, Elizabeth George and Ruth Rendell, who provides a blurb. (Apr.)
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Review

'Susan Hill has always been able to tell a good story... and we should be delighted that she has turned her formidable talent to crime writing. This is the first of what promises to be a splendid series.' Daily Mail 20050617 This book must be judged as a potential successor to the great sequences of detective writing by PD James and Ruth Rendell...excellent Daily Telegraph The novel is not only a gripping whodunit but a subtle study of the mind of a psychopath Daily Mail She has the priceless ability to construct a solidly-researched narrative that keeps the reader turning the pages Independent