Andrew Taylor reviews the fourth novel in Susan Hill’s crime series
The Vows of Silence is the fourth novel in Susan Hill’s crime series. Like its predecessors, it is concerned with murder and its investigation in and around a cathedral city known as Lafferton, and with the lives of those concerned. The central character of the series, Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler, is now working for the Serious Incident Flying Taskforce. Serrailler is a civilised but solitary man who finds personal relationships difficult even with his family — with the exception of his sister Cat, a local GP, her husband and young children. His sense of isolation is increased by the presence of a new colleague whom he finds it hard to like.
The novel opens with a man stalking and shooting a stag, which serves as the prologue for the main business of the plot.
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