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  • The Comforts of Home

  • By: Susan Hill
  • Narrated by: Steven Pacey
  • Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (802 ratings)

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The Comforts of Home

By: Susan Hill
Narrated by: Steven Pacey
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Summary

Recovering on a remote Scottish island, his peace doesn’t last long. He is pulled in to a murder inquiry by the overstretched local police. A newcomer, popular with the islanders, has died in perplexing circumstances. The community's reactions are complicated and fragile.

It’s good to be back on the job. And when Simon returns to Lafferton, an arsonist is on the rampage and a woman whose daughter disappeared some years before is haunting the police station seeking closure. She will not let it rest, and Simon is called in to do a cold-case review.

At home, Simon is starting to get used to having a new brother-in-law - in the form of his Chief Constable Kieron Bright. His sister Cat has embarked on a new way of practising medicine, and his nephew Sam is trying to work out what to do with his life. And then their tricky father, Richard, turns up again like a bad penny.

In this gripping new Serrailler thriller, Simon's personal and professional lives intertwine in more complex and demanding ways than ever before.

©2018 Susan Hill (P)2019 Audible, Ltd
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What listeners say about The Comforts of Home

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Mixed bag

I’ve read all the Simon Serrailler stories, usually twice. This one has been anticipated for a while and I get the impression that Susan Hill made many starts on it because there are so many disparate threads that sit uneasily together. The narration moves restlessly between various locations to feature mini stories, none of them particularly gripping.

Some important characters do inexplicable things: Cat marries the Chief Constable out of the blue with virtually no run up. What’s that all about? Simon is seriously injured at the start of the book but we’re not told much about the circumstances. A cold case review leads to an unfortunate outcome but not much detail to wrap that up either.

Part of the story features Simon on a Scottish island investigating a suspicious death - just thrown in the pot and unrelated to anything much in the overall scheme of things.

This isn’t up to the usual Susan Hill standard and, like me, you might feel a bit disappointed at the end. Only 4 stars for this one, sorry.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Cosy

Diverting enough, if you’ve heard enough of this series it’s like a comfy sweater. I’ve missed a few but it doesn’t matter. This one lacks tension and intrigue but the story is competent and the characters believable.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant as always

Love Susan Hill. great writer and Simon Serailer is a great character.
great reading. so easy to listen to

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Pains me to say it........disappointing

I love the Simon Serrailler books and love Susan Hill’s style of writing them. Having read and listened to the others (including the short stories) I waited eagerly for this new chapter. We left Simon in a bad state after a hellish time in the last book and I hoped for a new case to reinvigorate him but what we got was some small cases that he was and wasn’t really involved in with no follow through and no real story to tell. I can see what Susan Hill was going for but I was surprised when it ended as not enough seemed to have happened. Hopefully it was a blip and the next one will be back to form!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Family, friends, cops and prisoners keep up the pace.

Stephen Pacey’s performance was faultless, especially his ability to depict several characters, including women and children.
Susan Hill’s story gradually unfolded but nonetheless kept a good pace so that I wanted to continue listening. There being several threads, it kept swapping venues and people but I found I could keep track of all of them.
I think this story would appeal to a wide audience but particularly to those who like police procedures, mild threat of harm and family and friends. It might not obviously be a choice for teenagers but there is no need to keep it away from them. I think I wouldn’t read it to small children but mostly because of the complexity of the story.

An enjoyable ‘read’.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good follow on

Felt as if it finished suddenly, as if the author suddenly decided she didn’t have anything else to add in.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

Not the usual standard . Weak crime story compared to the other 7 books. May it was to ease back the character into the book. Having said this I will still eagerly await the next book in the series

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Poor Narration

I really enjoyed the story and I have read all of Susan Hills books. The only thing I did not like about it was the person who was reading the story had a very gravelly voice which really spoilt my enjoyment of the book. I would recommend the book but not on Audible

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Love Scottish stories

Loved the voice. Loved his return to the island. Got a bit confused with the different story lines -- not something I'm at ease with.
However all in all q good listen.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

I enjoy this series,but a bit disappointed in this one. Not much happens slow moving, has a couple of mini plots. All in all enjoyable enough for treadmill walking/listening. Pleasant book well read but is slow.

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