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The Pure in Heart

Simon Serrailler 2

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The Pure in Heart

By: Susan Hill
Narrated by: Steven Pacey
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Detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler, first introduced in The Various Haunts of Men, is on a painting holiday in Venice when he is summoned home by a telephone call. He has family problems to face, and the stress and grind of running a busy police station. When a little boy is snatched as he stands with his satchel at the gate of his home, waiting for his lift to school, an ordinary community realises that terror and evil are in their very midst.

You should listen to Susan Hill's brilliant Simon Serrailler trilogy in the correct order which is as follows:

  • Book 1: The Various Haunts of Men
  • Book 2: The Pure in Heart
  • Book 3: The Risk of Darkness
©2006 Susan Hill (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction
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I had already read the book but found revisiting it this way excellent.The reader is superb with just enough change of voice to keep the listener interested. Although I have also read the next book it will be my next one to listen . Can be thoroughly recommended for good writing and a cracking storyline Susan Hill is a master of the understated menace and surprising twist.

The pure in heart

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Beautifully written and wonderfully read - second in the series and the characters are starting to feel like old friends! Just off to download No 3!

Very enjoyable!

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I really enjoy Susan Hill books ,I was a little disappointed by the end a few loose ends, so will be reading book three soon to see what happens.Narration is perfect.

Susan Hill

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Gripping drama , really enjoyed this.Off to buy next book in series, Susan Hill well done.

fabulous !

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This is the second book in the Simon Serrailler series and, as in the first, author Susan Hill continues to invoke the character not only of the title lead himself but also of his family and others of the small cathedral town in which he lives. Simon, an artist of talent as well as the local police Detective Chief Constable, is recalled home from his holiday in Venice by his fzther: his younger sister, Martha, is in hospital and not expected to live longer than a few days. Meanwhile, his other sister, a GP, is about to give birth to her third child, an old girlfriend will soon reappear in his life, a young man, vowing to never go back, has just been released from prison. And a child is missing, a boy, aged nine, never arrived at school after last being seen waiting for the car which was supposed to drive him there that morning. This is the story of interacting lives within a community far beyond a simple police procedural. It is told from varying perspectives. And, like real life, it can be both joyous and sad and sometimes surprising.

Steven Pacey narrates with skill. He needs to do so to bring out the characters of the numerous protagonists. This be does without exaggerated expression but with careful use of intonation and varied voices unique to each character. It is an excellent performance adding greatly to the already well developed text.

As previously noted, this is a police procedural with cases headed by the main protagonist DCI Serrailler, but it is far more than simple police work. Because of this ongoing picture of a community, it is important to read this series in the order in which they appear. An unusual story, slow moving perhaps, but very satisfying. And recommended.

"Thin leads and hopeless hunches."

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