The Betrayal of Trust

August 29, 2011
Quality-of-life issues figure prominently in Hill’s thought-provoking sixth procedural featuring Chief Supt. Simon Serrailler (after 2010’s The Shadows in the Street). Skeletal remains unearthed by a torrential rainstorm that floods the English city of Lafferton are quickly identified as those of Harriet Lowther, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who disappeared 16 years earlier after last being seen at a bus stop. Serrailler must conduct the subsequent cold case murder inquiry with limited staffing. As he grinds through old interview reports and seeks out living witnesses to Lowther’s actions on the day she vanished, he meets a married woman whose husband is debilitated by Parkinson’s. Meanwhile, a patient of his physician sister contemplates suicide on learning of a fatal diagnosis, and another local grapples with finding a suitable facility for a loved one subject to increasingly violent outbursts. Fully realized characters and efficient prose more than compensate for an unconvincing twist.

October 15, 2011
DCI Serrailler reopens an investigation of a missing girl when her body is found. The quiet Cathedral town of Lafferton is hunkered down for a storm whose hard rains uncover bones that have been hidden for years. DCI Simon Serrailler discovers that the bones belong to Harriet Lowther, a teenager who went missing nearly 15 years ago. While he tries to determine who would hurt a perfectly harmless schoolgirl, the investigation must be reconsidered in light of the discovery of a second set of bones in the same area. Meanwhile, Si's sister, Dr. Cat Deerbon, is settling into a new routine after the loss of her husband while providing steady support to longtime patients like Jocelyn Forbes. Just as Simon trusts his instincts when it comes to interviewing suspects, Cat has a second sense about what may be ailing Jocelyn, and the news isn't good. Blended with these stories is the thread of Lenny Wilcox and her longtime life partner Olive, who's been kicked out of yet another care home. Olive's dementia and temperament make her impossible for Lenny to live with. Will Dr. Fison's new facility offer Olive a more permanent home? Actions build to a never-quite-realized climax whose incompleteness is the only flaw in this otherwise compelling story. Though the many threads of the tale never fully come together, each throws new light on the ethics of death and dying. Fans and newcomers to Hill's series (The Vows of Silence, 2009, etc.) will appreciate the characters' deep humanity.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 15, 2011
In the sixth installment of Hill's series starring the artistic Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler, set in a picturesque yet embattled English cathedral town, a massive storm unearths two sets of bones, both dating back to 1995 and apparently belonging to young females. For one of the sets, the identification is fairly easy: a 15-year-old schoolgirl has been missing just the right amount of time. The second skeleton is more of a puzzle, since there is no record of a second young female having been reported missing at the time. In his investigation, Serrailler must reopen the wounds of town residents. If you're a follower of this very popular series, the updated plotlines of the cathedral town's residents will be part of the fun attached to watching Serrailler and his crew solve the two mysteries. However, Hill provides very little backstory, making this an unwelcoming read for the newcomer. Still, this series has many devotees, who find in the enigmatic Serrailler the same appealling mix of intelligence and sensitivity that characterizes P. D. James' Adam Dalgliesh.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)