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A review by profejennifer
The Comforts of Home: A Simon Serrailler Case by Susan Hill
3.0
3.5 stars, would probably have rounded up, but the ending felt uncharacteristically rushed.
I think the best part of this installment of the Simon Serrailler series was the development of Sam's character. I liked that Hill didn't leave him as a one-dimensional troubled teenager, without making his growth seem too hasty or magical. I also liked how Simon handled the case on Taransay, as it showed him caught in the space between human being and cop and how he worked through that tension for himself.
But whereas normally one of the aspects of Hill's writing that I most appreciate is her willingness to leave things unresolved and messy, the ending of this book did one of those "One month later, all of these difficulties the characters have been struggling with are neatly wrapped up and everyone is feeling settled, even though I didn't show you the part where they went from point A to point B." The crime story of this novel was resolved in a similarly hurried fashion. Hill is better than that, as she's proven in so many of her other novels, and I hope the next book in the series reflects that.
I think the best part of this installment of the Simon Serrailler series was the development of Sam's character. I liked that Hill didn't leave him as a one-dimensional troubled teenager, without making his growth seem too hasty or magical. I also liked how Simon handled the case on Taransay, as it showed him caught in the space between human being and cop and how he worked through that tension for himself.
But whereas normally one of the aspects of Hill's writing that I most appreciate is her willingness to leave things unresolved and messy, the ending of this book did one of those "One month later, all of these difficulties the characters have been struggling with are neatly wrapped up and everyone is feeling settled, even though I didn't show you the part where they went from point A to point B." The crime story of this novel was resolved in a similarly hurried fashion. Hill is better than that, as she's proven in so many of her other novels, and I hope the next book in the series reflects that.