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Simon Serrailler Books in Order

Part ofSusan Hill Books in Order

See the Simon Serrailler books by Susan Hill in order, with short summaries, series background, and clear tips on the best place to start.

Last updated: June 7, 2026

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Publication Order

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15 books

1

The Various Haunts of Men

by Susan Hill

2004

A woman vanishes on the Hill above Lafferton, and more disappear in the same place. Detective Simon Serrailler and newcomer DS Freya Graffham follow a trail that leads far beyond a simple missing-persons case.

2

The Pure in Heart

by Susan Hill

2005

Spring in Lafferton is shattered when a little boy is snatched on his way to school. As Simon Serrailler and Freya Graffham dig in, the case tangles with a second, quieter tragedy on the town’s edges.

3

The Risk of Darkness

by Susan Hill

2006

A troubling new investigation pulls Simon Serrailler into Lafferton’s hidden corners, where neglect and obsession can sit side by side. As he closes in on the truth, he has to decide what justice looks like when the damage is already done.

4

The Vows of Silence

by Susan Hill

2006

When violence touches Lafferton’s cathedral close, Simon Serrailler follows clues into tight-knit institutions where people keep their own rules. The investigation exposes what can be hidden behind respectability, and what it costs to speak up.

5

The Shadows in the Street

by Susan Hill

2010

A brutal crime on a quiet street unsettles Lafferton, and pressure for an easy explanation rises fast. Simon Serrailler and his team look past scapegoats, while fear and rumor threaten to do their own damage.

6

The Betrayal of Trust

by Susan Hill

2011

When someone the police should have been able to protect is harmed, Simon Serrailler faces a case that tests public confidence and his own judgement. The investigation widens into a tangle of secrets, loyalty, and hard choices.

7

A Question of Identity

by Susan Hill

2012

A new case in Lafferton begins with uncertainty over who a victim really is. As Simon Serrailler pieces together the story, stolen histories, family ties, and lies kept for years rise to the surface.

8

A Breach of Security

by Susan Hill

2014

A shorter Simon Serrailler case that focuses on a single disturbing incident in Lafferton and the ripple effect it has on victims, witnesses, and police. Hill keeps the spotlight on atmosphere, motive, and ordinary lives cracking open.

9

The Soul of Discretion

by Susan Hill

2014

Lafferton faces another shock, and Simon Serrailler’s investigation cuts through family drama, private shame, and public anger. With Freya beside him, he follows small details that reveal how easily a town’s calm can break.

10

Hero

by Susan Hill

2016

In this Simon Serrailler novella, a seemingly small event pulls the Lafferton police into a case about reputation and what people call bravery. Simon’s careful approach clashes with the story the town wants to believe.

11

Old Haunts

by Susan Hill

2018

A short Simon Serrailler story that looks back at old places and old grudges in Lafferton. When the past refuses to stay buried, Simon follows threads that lead from routine to something quietly menacing.

12

The Comforts of Home

by Susan Hill

2018

A death in Lafferton draws Simon Serrailler into a case that moves between polished homes and precarious lives. As his team works, Simon also faces pressures at home, where duty doesn’t end when the shift does.

13

Revenge

by Susan Hill

2019

A short Simon Serrailler story about a case where resentment has had years to ferment. As Simon follows a thin thread of evidence, he sees how a desire for payback can twist ordinary lives, and how one act can echo.

14

The Benefit of Hindsight

by Susan Hill

2020

A new investigation forces Simon Serrailler to revisit earlier decisions and see familiar people in a new light. As the case tightens, hindsight becomes both a tool and a trap, revealing what was missed and what cannot be fixed.

15

A Change of Circumstance

by Susan Hill

2021

A young man is found dead in a flat above a Chinese medicine shop, and no one knows who he is. Simon Serrailler follows the faint trail into Lafferton’s drug trade, where small choices can turn lethal.

Series background & context

The Simon Serrailler novels are Susan Hill’s slow-burn, character-first crime series, set in the fictional cathedral town of Lafferton. The cases are serious and often unsettling, but the books aren’t built around flashy tricks. They’re built around people, place, and the way trouble ripples through a community that likes to think it knows itself.

Simon Serrailler is a thoughtful, methodical detective, the kind who listens more than he talks and notices the small inconsistencies other people skip past. He works closely with a team that includes DS Freya Graffham, who arrives in Lafferton as an outsider and quickly becomes essential. Around them, Hill keeps returning to colleagues, families, and local institutions, the cathedral close, schools, doctors, social services, and the quiet streets where everyone has an opinion.

A big part of the series is the Serrailler circle beyond the police station. Simon’s sister, Dr Cat Deerbon, is a local GP, and Hill follows the pressures of work, marriage, and family alongside the crimes. That blend is part of the point: in Lafferton, the professional and the personal keep bumping into each other, and no one gets to shut off the outside world at the front door.

Most of the books start with something that looks contained, a disappearance, a death that doesn’t sit right, a frightening act that seems to come from nowhere. Then the story widens. Hill is interested in what people hide in plain sight, what they tell themselves to get through the day, and what can happen when someone vulnerable meets someone persuasive. The opening novel, The Various Haunts of Men, sets the tone: procedural work on the surface, a deeper emotional current underneath.

The mysteries don’t unfold at a sprint. Instead, Hill builds momentum through interviews, observation, and the slow accumulation of uneasy detail. The result feels closer to living in a town during a crisis than watching a neat puzzle click into place. When violence arrives, it rarely stays contained to a single victim or a single household.

Although each investigation has its own shape, the series reads best in order because the personal stories keep moving. Relationships shift. Family pressures build. People make choices that don’t disappear just because a case is solved. Lafferton changes too, sometimes subtly, sometimes in ways that are impossible to ignore.

The tone is grounded and often quietly bleak, but it’s not cynical. Compassion matters here, even when it’s complicated. These books spend as much time on aftermath as on action, on who is left behind, who is believed, and what “normal” looks like after a shock.

Alongside the main novels, Hill has also written shorter Simon Serrailler stories, including A Breach of Security, Hero, Old Haunts, and Revenge. They work as extra slices of Lafferton life, and they fit naturally when you’re reading the series in order.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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All 15 Simon Serrailler Books in Order (Complete List 2026)