THE VOWS OF SILENCE

A master planner, expert gunman and lovelorn loner becomes a serial killer.

DCI Simon Serrailler (The Risk of Darkness, 2008, etc.) is taxed to his emotional limit. His adored mother has gone to her death after undertaking a mercy killing of his youngest sister. His widowed father has emerged from his grief with a new companion. His brother-in-law has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. And Jane, who ran away from him rather than share a serious relationship, is back in Lafferton. These domestic traumas would be quite enough for anyone to deal with. In addition, however, Serrailler must stop the serial killer who’s targeting women and dispatching them with an ease that suggests careful planning. As DS Whiteside bullies his way through suspect interviews without success, a further complication arrives with the collapse of a ride at the Jug Fair that kills nine people. A royal wedding that Charles and Camilla plan on attending approaches, and everyone is terrified they may wind up in the gunman’s sights. Can Serrailler ferret out the killer’s motive, prevent further havoc and still find the time to console his bereft sister and her kids, not to mention reestablish himself with Jane?

Hill tackles Val McDermid territory with a bit more subtlety and a close look at love—how it begins, persists and ends—that may have readers turning to their significant others for a reassuring kiss.