The Various Haunts of Men is a damn good warning to us all to be wary of alternative therapies. I will not go into detail here, suffice to say we should do our homework first and discuss any ailments minor or otherwise, with a General Practioner first. Great writing as usual, and my all time test for a good book is fast page turning, and Ms Hill had me doing this. To read a book and feel a chill down the spine at the same time as a character is really good writing. Also set in England, in a cathedral town, with very ‘real’ characters who are easy to adopt. What shocked me was that one of the good characters gets killed, I was absolutely gobb-smacked and wondered if I need continue reading (and this is from a person who always reads to the bitter end) so “nice” author had a sting in the tale!
Such as the sting was though, I got over it and decided lightening only strikes once – and read The Risk of Darkness. Another great read, suspense, tension, good characters, pace etc etc and this one involves children so for those readers who get a bit sqirmish – be warned. But once I got past the whole ‘missing child’ thing, I had placed my faith in DCI Simon Serrailler and was on my way. Lightening does strike more than once, another character from the previous book was written off. How Ms Hill has the heart to take out these people I do not know – will I read another Hill book involving Serrailler knowing she could chop another down like the others, – Yep. I couldnt help but read on, and Serrailler and his sister are not just run of the mill characters Hill uses like puppets to tell a story – I just hope she doesnt go for ’Cat’ next, Simon’s sister??
I rate both these books 5 stars out of 5.
