Simon Serrailler in love at last — in the third crime novel about Susan Hill's fictional Detective Chief Inspector.

Simon Serrailler's story began in The Various Haunts of Men (about a serial killer against a background of alternative medicine) and continued with The Pure in Heart (about a kidnapped schoolboy against a background of the "innocence" of children and the handicapped). Susan Hill is not afraid to tackle difficult issues, or face up to the realities of stress in a busy police station.

Her third crime novel, The Risk of Darkness, equally compulsive and convincing, follows up the child abduction and explores the crazy grief of a widowed husband, a derangement that turns to obsession and threats, violence and terror. Meanwhile, handsome, introverted Simon Serrailler, whose cool reserve has broken the hearts of several women, finds his own heart troubled by a feisty female priest with red hair.

The Risk of Darkness is packed with action and adventure. Like Various Haunts, it hinges on a terrific twist that comes as a complete surprise to the reader.