Publication: 10th November 2011 – Vintage
Heavy rain falls on Lafferton. As the rain water slowly drains away, a shallow grave – and a skeleton – are revealed.
It doesn’t take long to identify the remains as those of missing teenager, Harriet Lowther, who was last seen sixteen years ago.
But a cold case isn’t a priority: if Detective Inspector Simon Serrailler is to solve the case, he will have to do it alone.
I am thrilled today to take part in the blog tour to celebrate 20 years of Susan Hill’s Simon Serrailler detective series and share my review of The Betrayal of Trust.
The Betrayal of Trust is the sixth book in the Simon Serrailler series and, since this is my debut reading this series, I can confirm that it can easily read as a stand-alone. Sixteen years ago, the town of Lafferton was shocked by the sudden disappearance of fifteen-years-old Harriet Lowther, the daughter of a prominent local businessman. After spending the day playing tennis with a friend, Harriet had gone to the bus stop, where she was seen by various witnesses, but no one saw her get on the bus and she was never seen again. Now, the town is flooded with heavy rain that reveals a shallow grave where the remains of Harriet are found. The body of another young woman is also found and Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler is determined to find out what happened to the two girls and if their murders are connected.
As my first Susan Hill’s novel, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The investigation was intense and full of surprises. It is not easy to conduct an investigation when some of the witnesses are either away or dead. Also, it is not easy to find a motive as Harriet Lowther is described as a happy and likable teenager: who would have wanted to harm her? More complicated is the other victim, as she needs to be identified first: who was she and why no one reported her missing? And, as much as the investigation kept me engrossed, I was easily distracted by Serrailler’s personal life, which becomes much more intriguing after meeting a woman during a gala.
Another interesting plotline is the one about a retired woman who, after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease, decides on assisted suicide, against her daughter’s wishes. This created some emotional and thought-provoking moments as the author presents both the perspective of the mother who doesn’t want to suffer and the heartbreak of the daughter (a lawyer who is also conscious that what her mother is doing is illegal) who doesn’t want to lose her mother.
The theme of degenerative diseases is central to the story: one of the characters is married to an older man with Parkinson’s, another has motor neurone disease, and another one takes care of a woman with dementia. Also, Simon’s sister, Dr. Cat Deerbon, is specialized in palliative care and she is head-hunted as the full-time director of a hospice.
I am delighted that I was invited to take part in this blog tour as it allowed me to be introduced to this thrilling police procedural series and I am already planning to read all the other books!
A huge thank you to Carmella and Vintage for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and providing me with a proof of the novel.
Susan Hill has been a professional writer for over fifty years. Her books have won awards and prizes including the Whitbread, the John Llewellyn Rhys and a Somerset Maugham, and have been shortlisted for the Booker. Her novels include Strange Meeting, I’m the King of the Castle, In the Springtime of the Year and The Mist in the Mirror. She has also published autobiographical works and collections of short stories as well as the Simon Serrailler series of crime novels. The play of her ghost story The Woman in Black is one of the longest running in the history of London’s West End. In 2020 she was awarded a damehood (DBE) for services to literature. She has two adult daughters and lives in North Norfolk.
Book After Book 