Angleterre, début du XXe siècle. Par un mois de novembre froid et brumeux, Arthur Kipps, jeune avoué londonien, est dépêché dans le nord du pays pour assister aux funérailles d'Alice Drablow, 87 ans, puis trier ses papiers en vue d'organiser sa succession.À Crythin Gifford, village où Kipps pose ses valises, les habitants lui battent froid dès qu'il prononce le nom de feue Mme Drablow, unique occupante du Manoir des Marais, demeure isolée, battue par les vents et située sur une presqu'île uniquement accessible à marée basse.Lors de l'inhumation, dans une église quasi déserte, Arthur remarque la présence, un peu en retrait, d'une femme tout de noir vêtue, le visage émacié, comme rongée par une terrible maladie. Il l'aperçoit ensuite dans le cimetière, mais elle s'éclipse avant qu'il ait le temps de lui parler...Cette femme en noir, Arthur la verra de nouveau aux abords du manoir, une fois qu'il s'y sera installé pour commencer son travail. Mais se produisent alors nombre de phénomènes mystérieux qui ébranleront le jeune homme et feront vaciller sa raison...Comme il l'apprendra peu à peu, une malédiction plane sur ces lieux...
A gunman is terrorising young women. What links these seemingly random murders? Is the marksman with a rifle the same person as the killer with a handgun? Or do the police have two snipers on their hands?Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler is in charge of the case, but is struggling to cope with a tragedy at the heart of his family. The pressure is mounting...
Celibate, irreproachable and distinguished, Thomas Cavendish is in his mid-fifties and the obvious man to become Master of his college. But, walking by the river, Thomas sees a young girl standing on the bridge. It is an apocalyptic vision, one that alters Thomas's life irrevocably and tragically, but with the beauty and joy of a love never previously imagined.
A terrifying ghost story by the author of The Woman in Black...One dark and rainy night, Sir James Monmouth returns to London after years spent travelling alone. Intent on uncovering the secrets of his childhood hero, the mysterious Conrad Vane, he begins to investigate Vane's life, but he finds himself warned off at every turn. Before long he realises he is being followed too. A pale, thin boy is haunting his every step but every time he tries to confront the boy he disappears. And what of the chilling scream and desperate sobbing only he can hear? His quest leads him eventually to the old lady of Kittiscar Hall, where he discovers something far more terrible at work than he could ever have imagined.
Children are vanishing.The village of Lafferton is shattered.There are no witnesses and no leads - just a kidnapper at large.Then Detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler receives a call: a child has been snatched in Yorkshire. Has the abductor struck again? And will they find this child alive?'Not all great novelists can write crime fiction but when one like Susan Hill does the result is stunning' Ruth Rendell
Two local prostitutes are found brutally strangled. Serrailler is called back urgently from his sabbatical but by the time he reaches Lafferton another girl has vanished. Then the wife of the Dean at the Cathedral goes missing - has the killer widened their net or is there more than one murderer at large?
PEOPLE ARE GOING MISSING. ONLY ONE THING LINKS THEIR CASES. THEY ALL DISAPPEAR ON THE HILL.A woman vanishes in the fog up on the Hill in Lafferton. The police have one lead - a pair of expensive cuff-links found in her flat, with a mysterious note attached to them.Then a young girl, an old man and even a dog disappear in quick succession in exactly the same place.Young policewoman Freya Graffham and Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler are given the task of unravelling the mystery. But can they find the Hill killer before he strikes again?'Not all great novelists can write crime fiction but when one like Susan Hill does the result is stunning' Ruth Rendell
The Classic English Ghost StoryArthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the sole inhabitant of Eel Marsh House. The house stands at the end of a causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but it is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose.
A young school boy visiting his aunt's country house finds company and friendship with the gentle beekeeper and begins teaching the man to read, so that it seems nothing can ever intrude upon their closeness. A young country girl fights against becoming a downtrodden domestic skivvy like her dead mother, while another young girl reaches a delicate understanding with an elderly blind man as they walk along the beach together. On another beach a more sinister plot unfolds as a gang of boys plans the most wicked deed.
A little boy is snatched at the gate of his home while he waits for his lift to school.An ex-con struggling to go straight finds himself drawn back into a criminal ring.A young woman hovers between life and death.Detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler is called in to investigate. But with dead-ends mounting up and time running out, has he taken on a case so complex it threatens to defeat him?'Not all great novelists can write crime crime fiction but when one like Susan Hill does it the result is stunning.' Ruth Rendell
Tommy Carr was a kind man; Eve had been able to tell that after half an hour of knowing him. There had never been a day when he had not shown her some small kindness and even after the tragic death of their young daughter, their relationship remained as strong as before. Grief takes its toll however, and it's not surprising that by the following Christmas, Tommy is a shadow of his former self, with the look of death upon him.But what happens next is entirely unexpected, not least for the kind man...
Colin. May. Frank. Berenice. The Prime children grew up in a bleak country farm house called The Beacon. Colin and Berenice married locally. May went to university in London, but came home within a year and never left again. Only Frank, quiet, watchful Frank, got away. He left for Fleet Street and a career in journalism but its the publication of a book about his childhood that brings the fame and money he craves - and tears his family apart.
Two sisters are distressed and disturbed by their father's display of 'desperate, choking, terrified devotion' to their mother as she lies dying in her bed. Time begins to heal the wounds inflicted by the loss, yet the sisters fear that their father may never recover. But as the ghost of his grief finally begins to relinquish its hold over the family home, the sisters are surprised to find that it is they who are totally unprepared for their father's first steps into an unforeseen future.Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read
In 'Need', Biddy longs to escape the noise and claustrophobia of the travelling circus she calls home, the chaotic family she shares her cramped quarters with, and the teasing, intimidating presence of Little Midge - the neighbour boy who spies on her. The lack of a plan and her attachment to the frail fortune-teller Rosa, is all that prevents Biddy from leaving. But when tragedy strikes, Biddy finds comfort in an unlikely figure. In 'Moving messages', Didi is afflicted by a curious condition: 'poetic tinnitus', which causes poetic snippets to ricochet around her mind at all moments. Despite this, she feels content with her lot, living in the country and making quilts to forge a living. She is happy - or is she? When Didi visits a glamorous old school companion in London, her self-doubt flares up, but she soon begins to see the cracks beneath the perfect veneer of her friend's life. Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in the collection The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read.
On a deserted beach battered by rain, a group of boys plot a wicked deed. 'We'll shoot the crucifix,' Deano declares, but it is Mick who will carry out the act of vengeance and bear the consequences, for it was Mick's brother Charlie who suffered a horrible accident , leading to his death, whilst in the care of the priests at their school. Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read.
In 'Sand', sisters Clara and Lizzie recall an extraordinary childhood trip to the beach with their surly mother who, coming across a wailing boy, had calmly handed him her handkerchief; the sacred relic which she kept in her purse at all times, and which had belonged to her beloved late father, which she had - until that moment - guarded with her life. In 'Elizabeth', 'There's a world beyond yourself you must break through to,' Elizabeth's mother chides, lest her only daughter inherit her own ill-fate: doomed to scrape by on the bottom rung of society, married to a feckless man who would put his own sense of adventure before his wife's ill-health. Timid Elizabeth is initially terrified by the thought of leaving her insular existence, but when tragedy strikes her family, she resolves to follow her mother's advice and break free. Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in the collection The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read.
Rima treasures the weekly routine she shares with her blind uncle; their walks along the beach, followed by cosy meals in a local cafe. Impressed by her uncle's intelligence and dedication to his work, most of all Rima is awed by his ability to hide his blindness from others, to live a normal life thanks to his strict routine. However, when her uncle confides in her a devastating change in his circumstances, Rima can only watch as his strictly-governed world crumbles, and a more vulnerable figure is revealed. Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read.
After arriving in the cold, grey city of Vldansk, a lone Englishman spends his days battling hunger, unable to stomach the greasy local 'delicacies' - that is, until he discovers Antonyin's. But his joy at having found the inviting cafe is tarnished when he is haunted by a strange, unattractive woman who comes in nightly, seeking him out. When she finally puts forward to the man a startling proposition, he is repulsed and appalled; yet it prompts an unshakeable idea to take root in his mind. Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read.
After just a year of close, loving marriage, Ruth has been widowed. Her beloved husband, Ben, has been killed in a tragic accident and Ruth is left, suddenly and totally bereft.Unable to share her sorrow and grief with Ben's family, who are dealing with their pain in their own way, Ruth becomes increasingly isolated, burying herself in her cottage in the countryside as the seasons change around her. Only Ben's young brother Jo, is able to reach out beyond his own grief, to offer Ruth the compassion which might reclaim her from her own devastating unhappiness.The result is a moving, lyrical exploration of love and loss, of grief and mourning, from a masterful writer.
Heavy rain falls on Lafferton. As the rain water slowly drains away, a shallow grave - and a skeleton - are revealed.
It doesn't take long to identify the remains as those of missing teenager, Harriet Lowther, who was last seen sixteen years ago.But a cold case isn't a priority: if Detective Inspector Simon Serrailler is to solve the case, he will have to do it alone.
At the far end of the long white gallery is a painting of a woman, in pale flowing clothes and lying on a sofa beside an open window. The muslin curtains billow out towards her like clouds. There is a touch of brilliant red, the ribbon on her hat. The rest is white, cream, palest grey. It is a painting which leads Flora on, beckoning her away from her childhood, her complaining, clinging mother, pert younger sister, and the confines of a small community, to a proud and self-reliant future. But later, this image is to prove the catalyst for the most signicant event in her life. Isolation, separation, solitude, betrayal. The shocks of life. The consolations and the beauty of death. A few piercing moments of absolute joy and perfect understanding. THE SERVICE OF CLOUDS is about these things, and also about love, loyalty, friendship, growing up and growing old.
Introducing Detective Simon Serrailler... in the first two cases in Susan Hill's gripping crime seriesIn The Various Haunts of Men Detective Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler and a new member of the station, Detective Sergeant Freya Graffham investigate the disappearance of a local woman from the peaceful cathedral town of Lafferton. As more people vanish, Simon and Freya are forced to embark on a complicated mission to unravel the mystery and enter the mind of a killer.In The Pure in Heart Simon Serrailler is nursing a broken heart while trying to deal with a new and worrying case: the kidnapping of a young boy on his way to school. As the family of the missing boy falls apart, and more children are taken, the station - and Simon - begin to lose hope...
How do you catch a killer who doesn't exist? One snowy night in the cathedral city of Lafferton, an old woman is dragged from her bed and strangled with a length of flex.DCS Simon Serrailler and his team search desperately for clues to her murderer. All they know is that the killer will strike again, and will once more leave the same tell-tale signature.Then they track down a name: Alan Keyes. But Alan Keyes has no birth certificate, no address, no job, no family, no passport, no dental records. Nothing. Their killer does not exist.'As addictive as Rankin' Scotsman
'Powerful... Poignant, bleak and haunting, this is a small masterpiece' Sunday MirrorBrother and sister, Ted and Rose Howker, grew up in Mount of Zeal, a mining village blackened by coal. They know nothing of the outside world, though both of them yearn for escape. For Rose this comes in the form of love, while Ted seizes the chance of a job away from the pit. But neither can truly break free and their decisions bring with them brutal consequences... 'Gripping all the way to its unexpected end' Spectator
