When a series of flash floods throughout Lafferton exposes the skeleton of a teenager who went missing 20 years earlier, Simon Serrailler investigates the girl's tragic family story and uncovers bizarre complexities and dangers.

A particularly unpleasant murder, that of a very old woman in a housing project, rocks the town of Lafferton. The murderer has left a distinctive "sign" on the body and at the scene of crime. A couple of weeks later, a similar murder occurs, and a month or so later, so does another. Initial investigations discover that the mysterious "sign" left on the body was the calling card of a suspect who was charged with several murders in the northwest of...

"From the outside, the cathedral town of Lafferton seems idyllic, but in many ways it is just like any other place. It suffers from the same kinds of crime, is subject to the same pressures from a rapidly changing world, and has the same hopes and fears as any number of towns up and down the land. When Simon Serrailler is called in by Lafferton's new Chief Constable, Kieran Bright, he is met by two plainclothes officers, who ask him to take the principal...

Susan Hill's third crime novel, after The Various Haunts of Men and The Pure in Heart, is perhaps even more compulsive and convincing than its predecessors. It explores the crazy grief of a widowed husband, a derangement that turns into obsession, threats, violence and terror. Meanwhile handsome, introverted heartbreaker Simon Serrailler finds his own heart troubled by the newest recruit to the Cathedral staff: a feisty female Anglican priest with...

"Investigating a cold case while recovering from a near-fatal injury, Simon Serrailler finds his personal and professional lives intertwining in unexpected ways when his constable brother-in-law suffers a setback at the same time an arsonist begins a deadly rampage." --

A painting of masked revelers at the Venice carnival has a secret: to stare into the painting is to play dangerously with the unseen demons it hides, and become the victim of its macabre beauty.

Marley's family takes extra care in getting their blue-ribbon pumpkin to the fair, but with a dog like Marley around, being careful isn't always enough.

When Ruby Raccoon wants to share a perfectly sunny day with her busy woodland friends, she discovers that perfect days can be spent all by yourself.

"Spider-Man is on the lookout for his friend Harry's father when a new villain glides by. Can Spidey find Harry's dad with the Green Goblin close behind?"--P. 4 of cover.