Basic OverviewThe Various Haunts of Men centers on a series of disappearances in the English town of Lafferton. The first to disappear is a spinster who leads a quiet, regimented life ... but leaves behind one out-of-character clue in her sterile, empty home. Although Freya Graffham -- the talented young policewoman assigned to investigate the case -- believes there is more to this disappearance than meets the eye, she is hard-pressed to convince her superiors that this is anything but a routine missing persons case. Then a troubled young woman disappears in the same area of Lafferton -- The Hill. Freya begins to search for connections between the two cases. Then a dog goes missing on the Hill. And an elderly woman seemingly disappears into thin air after attending a seance. Are these disappearances related? Is there a serial killer working in Lafferton? As Freya struggles to connect the dots and get the resources she needs to fully investigate these missing persons cases, she begins to have feelings for her enigmatic superior -- the handsome, talented heartbreaker Simon Serrailler. And as the layers of the mystery begin to unpeel like the layers of an onion, the reader is drawn deep into the lives of Lafferton residents -- and the evil living among them.My ThoughtsThis is not your average, run of the mill mystery. It is beautifully written and all the characters -- including the town of Lafferton -- are fully developed. You live for a little bit inside the minds of each one of the victims as they move inevitably to their doom. You get a glimpse into the mind of the killer (a transcript of a confessional tape telling the killer's story is introduced in the very first chapter). You follow along with Freya as she tries to unravel the mystery, makes her adjustment to life in Lafferton, and tries to fight off her powerful attraction to Simon Serrailler. Although Simon himself remains distant and almost unknowable, you begin to learn about him and his family via his sister-- the town doctor Cat Deerborn, who is fighting her own battle against New Age health practitioners who are preying on the bereaved, depressed and sick of Lafferton.Reading this book is like living in the town of Lafferton for a bit. You get a feel for the town and its residents. I found it amazing how effortlessly and seamlessly the author moved from one character to another. I never found these transitions confusing, and I enjoyed the story being told from various points of view. Now I must confess that I am never one of those people who can figure out who the murderer is early on, and I thought Hill did a good job of not revealing too much, too soon. And I was stunned at the ending -- not so much about the who as how she chose to deal with the fates of several of the characters.This is the first book in a series of Simon Serrailler mysteries, and quite an introduction it is! I'll definitely be reading the rest of this series, and I'm interested to see how the character of Simon is further developed -- as well as what else happens to the residents of Lafferton I've come to know and love.Final ThoughtsIf you are a fan of well-written and intelligent murder mysteries, this book is a must for you. Although Susan Hill has written several other novels, non-fiction books and children's books, The Various Haunts of Men was her first venture into mystery and crime writing. The blurbs on the book compare this book to the works of Ruth Rendell and P.D. James, so if you are a fan of their books, you will probably like this series as well. Although I'm not a die-hard fan of mysteries, I really enjoyed this book and plan to continue reading this series. Bottom line is that this is a well-written, fully developed and carefully plotted mystery from a writer who really knows how to write. Worth checking out!
Okay..SO wanted to give this book the five star rating it deserved as I tore through this book in days and was thoroughly entertained..however I felt the ending was flat..Back it up to the story, it begins in a sleepy, comfortable town of Lafferton, I believe it is in England but let me also preface this retelling by again stating no one does mystery better and more detailed than our English/British author friends, what rich enveloping stories they tell..Okay back to the plot in Lafferton there are several seemingly unrelated odd occurrences when a quiet, somber elderly woman, an agile mountain biker and a depressed, overweight girl disappear without a trace. The story is told in fragmented viewpoints switching (rather rudely) without warning from the victims, the detectives, outside characters and the sinister villain through a series of confession type letters to his despised mother. Okay so we have a possible great novel here and I love the back stories, the character profiles and the subplots. Like I stated earlier I hated that they switched characters and you had to reread and remain lost for a few sentences until you figured out who was speaking/thinking but it worked somehow and kept my interest..however I did not like the surprise, the climax, the "ah ha--it was him/her all along"..I thought it was weak and unsupported..also and again I realize how morbid I really can be, there were no descriptions of really what was done with the bodies..I mean they were abducted and blah blah dont want to tell too much but honestly there could have been more in depth chapters on the murdererer so that when its revealed its not so much of a let down..overall though I loved the writing, some characters (the deeply mysterious and impossible impenetrable and sexy Simon Serrailer) were totally overdrawn and a little farfetched but I will rock with it if the endings have more zip..will look into more in the series maybe...
Do You like book The Various Haunts Of Men (2007)?
Whilst The Various Haunts of Men figures is the first of Susan Hill’s DCI Simon Serrailler series of mystery stories, the principal character is Freya Graffham, a young woman DS, who solves the series of murders that have been committed in the small cathedral city of Lafferton. Freya has been seeking a quiet place to recover from the stresses of a bad marriage and working for the Met. In Lafferton she finds a place in in the cathedral choir, a number of new friends, as well as finding herself in
—Bill Kupersmith
This is the first in the Simon Serrailler detective series. Interestingly, he is hardly in this book at all which I thought was a clever idea. Instead, Hill gives us Freya Graffham - a new young policewoman in town who has a crush on Simon and sees him as an almost mythical figure. We learn a lot about him through her eyes but he always stays a little removed, intriguing, and seductive - the desire to know more means the second book in the series is already in my TBR pile ready to go. Hill isn't writing your usual mystery. She focuses mostly on character, developing even the minor players with personalities, motivations, and back stories. Everyone has a little something going on - some of it is linked to the plot and but some of it just adds richness to the people we are starting to care about. The mystery is here but it feels secondary and doesn't kick in for quite some time. That was ok with me but I could understand if a reader was frustrated with the pace. I actually thought the mystery is the weakest part of the book with an interesting premise but an underdeveloped conclusion. Even so, this was a book that I raced through and really enjoyed.*semi-spoiler*Base on other reviews, there is a twist at the end. Frankly, I didn't think it was a twist - I saw it as the only way to end this story and would have been disappointed if Hill went with a more conventional route. It was necessary and gave the book more gravitas.
—Jennifer
It has taken me a while to complete the reading of this. At first I thought it was my laziness but looking back I can see now it is the book itself at the start that does not draw you into it. I find a when I read a good book I am drawn into it and you forget what is going on elsewhere or even the time. You want to read on but sadly this was not one of those books.The idea and the story itself are good. People are going missing in an area and no one knows why or even where they have gone. There are no bodies for a murder enquiry. That though is the best I can say for the book.It is disjointed to start with as each chapter is seen from a different person in the book, be it the detective searching, the person who goes missing, the doctor who knew them as patients etc etc. and while this is different and gives a different view perhaps it unfortunately continually breaks up the story and stops you being drawn in. In fact for me it almost had me thinking if I wanted to go on. The other problem I had was the lack of possible suspects which for me made it obvious who was the culprit. It meant there were no red herrings to throw you up a blind alley or make you think is it him or could it be....instead it became more than a little sterile for me with little suspense.As the book proceeded on it does pick up pace a little but from being dead slow that does not take much. It is reasonably well written but for me on the basis of this book Ms Hill is not a thriller writer however in fairness this is the first of the Serrailler books so it is to be hoped they do improve from this. Three stars from me but that is for the idea more than the book itself.
—David Gooch
