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lazygal's review against another edition
5.0
I'd seriously wondered where the author was taking Simon after the pretty horrific events in The Soul of Discretion and finally, after five years, I found out. This was a perfect winter's day read.
Setting this on both a remote Scottish island and in Lafferton and toning down the action, focusing more on relationships and identity was a good move. We see Simon, Cait, Cait's new husband and son Sam, and their Simon and Cait's father all searching for what's next in their lives, with a little light mystery in between. The Scottish mystery also centers on identity, while the Lafferton one is slightly more complex and violent.
With luck, it won't be another five years before we head back to Lafferton.
eARC provided by publisher.
Setting this on both a remote Scottish island and in Lafferton and toning down the action, focusing more on relationships and identity was a good move. We see Simon, Cait, Cait's new husband and son Sam, and their Simon and Cait's father all searching for what's next in their lives, with a little light mystery in between. The Scottish mystery also centers on identity, while the Lafferton one is slightly more complex and violent.
With luck, it won't be another five years before we head back to Lafferton.
eARC provided by publisher.
bgg616's review against another edition
3.0
This Serrailler novel opens with Simon in the hospital after being gravely injured in a police operation. He needs time to recover and rehabilitate and goes off the a Scottish island (with a fictitious name), a place he has known for much of his life. While there, he gets caught up in a local murder. In the meantime, there are problems with his estranged father, and his nephew, son of his sister Cat. He also manages to reopen a cold case murder among other things, all while he is supposed to be on medical leave
I did not like this Serrailler novel as much as those I read in the past. I suspect that the format of short (sometimes very short) chapters that jumped from location to location, story to story, made it hard to follow on audiobook. I probably would have liked it better as a read rather than listened to book. I would have enjoyed more details about the Scottish island and especially more details about the murder victim, who was killed for an intriguing reason.
I did not like this Serrailler novel as much as those I read in the past. I suspect that the format of short (sometimes very short) chapters that jumped from location to location, story to story, made it hard to follow on audiobook. I probably would have liked it better as a read rather than listened to book. I would have enjoyed more details about the Scottish island and especially more details about the murder victim, who was killed for an intriguing reason.
nonna7's review against another edition
4.0
This is the the most recent book in this series. My obsession has been shelved until October when the next book comes out. I wandered into the series by accident and decided that I just HAD to read the series from the beginning.
Simon is recovering from his near fatal death after his undercover work. He has lost his arm and is using a temporary prosthesis. The book opens with him back on the remote Scottish island where he goes to get away from it all. Unfortunately, this time a murder takes place and he is forced to deal with that.
The book is really all about loose ends which is real life. However, that may not be satisfying for some readers who prefer a series that has a straightforward
beginning, middle and end.
One of the loose ends is Rachel, the woman with whom he had been living before he went undercover. He was head over heels in love with her until she moved in with him. Then she had the audacity to make a few change in his apartment which is his place of refuge. White walls, white sofas, elm floors, floor to ceiling book cases. When Rachel throws a couple of colored throws on his white sofas, that seems to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. He’s almost relieved to go undercover. Now he’s recuperating. The reader is over half through the book before Rachel is even mentioned. Simon is a solitary and self contained man. He’s happy to interact when it suits him, but ONLY when it suits him. That doesn’t make for good relationships.
While he is on the island, the Chief Constable who is also now Simon’s brother in law, asks him to look at a five year old cold case. He does it with his usual thoroughness. The police have always suspected that a convict serving a life sentence for murder also murdered the young woman in the cold case, but there was no proof, and he denied that he did it and still denies it. Simon discovers that there was sloppy police work in the case. He wraps up the case in Scotland when Police Scotland relieve him of the case and heads home. While he is there his nephew, Sam, surprises him by visiting him. He is out of school an unsure what he wants to do.
This is a very introspective and thoughtful book. Solving crimes is what Simon does, but this is really more about relationships at work and at home wherever that happens to be.
nocto's review against another edition
3.0
Simon Serrailler back after what seems to have been a long break. One where I enjoyed catching up with the characters but quickly forgot what the mystery was.
evapalhay's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
gawronma's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of my favorite series. Although there may be less of an actual mystery the books present the mystery of getting through the every day lives of the characters.
rhonaea's review against another edition
3.0
Nice thriller leading on from #8, and to some extent tidying up loose ends. I like the continual thread of the Serrailer family, although how they don’t choke Richard I don’t know. The Delphine scenario lacked credibility. New strands were a missing person cold case, serial arsonist (so if he was a ‘known arsonist how come no one solved it with one search of the databases?) and the drowned trans. I’m sure this’ll be a popular read for followers of the series.
snazzybooks's review against another edition
4.0
Book reviews on www.snazzybooks.com
A new Simon Serrailer novel is always one to look forward to, and with such a long gap since the The Soul of Discretion (4 years, although there were some novellas inbetween), it is definitely highly anticipated. It also felt, to me, like a bit of a different offering.
For one thing, there felt like there was way less police procedural and detective work - although the plot consists of various crimes, because of the situation Simon is in, he's not right 'in the action' so to speak, so this felt very different to the rest of the series. Definitely less dramatic, but not necessarily less enjoyable.
There's a noticable absence of darkness or grit, which I did miss, but instead the story focuses on characters and their relationships to one another, and for me this made up for it. In The Comforts of Home the reader learns a lot more about various characters and for me that meant that the story was still well worth reading. I don't want to give too much away but from the synopsis it's clear that Simon is 'away' recovering and this is the main reason for the change in pace, so it all makes sense.
I don't want to give much away but I definitely still enjoyed this novel, perhaps not as much as the earlier books in the series, but still to the point that I didn't want it to end. Looknig forward to what future books in this series have to offer!
(3.5 bumped to 4/5 stars)
Many thanks to Vintage Publishing for providing a copy of this book on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.
A new Simon Serrailer novel is always one to look forward to, and with such a long gap since the The Soul of Discretion (4 years, although there were some novellas inbetween), it is definitely highly anticipated. It also felt, to me, like a bit of a different offering.
For one thing, there felt like there was way less police procedural and detective work - although the plot consists of various crimes, because of the situation Simon is in, he's not right 'in the action' so to speak, so this felt very different to the rest of the series. Definitely less dramatic, but not necessarily less enjoyable.
There's a noticable absence of darkness or grit, which I did miss, but instead the story focuses on characters and their relationships to one another, and for me this made up for it. In The Comforts of Home the reader learns a lot more about various characters and for me that meant that the story was still well worth reading. I don't want to give too much away but from the synopsis it's clear that Simon is 'away' recovering and this is the main reason for the change in pace, so it all makes sense.
I don't want to give much away but I definitely still enjoyed this novel, perhaps not as much as the earlier books in the series, but still to the point that I didn't want it to end. Looknig forward to what future books in this series have to offer!
(3.5 bumped to 4/5 stars)
Many thanks to Vintage Publishing for providing a copy of this book on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.
onioons's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5