New Releases by Susan Hill

A terrifying ghost story by the bestselling author of The Woman in Black. Late one summer evening, antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow is returning from a client visit when he takes a wrong turn. He stumbles across a derelict Edwardian house and, compelled by curiosity, approaches the door. Standing before the entrance, he feels the unmistakable sensation of a small cold hand creeping into his own, ''as if a child had taken hold of it''. At first he is merely puzzled by the odd incident but then begins to suffer attacks of fear and panic, and is visited by nightmares. He is determined to learn more about the house. But when he does, he receives further, increasingly sinister, visits from the small hand.

For fans of Kate DiCamillo and Sharon Creech comes this “both raw and warm in its compassionate telling” (Publishers Weekly) middle grade novel about a young girl, her pet bearded dragon, and the friends who make her summer one to remember. Georgia Weathers’s worry machine has been on full blast since her mom, Blythe, took off in Lyle Lenczycki’s blue sedan. Earlier that same day, Blythe gave Georgia a bearded dragon named Freddy. Georgia is convinced that if she loves Freddy enough, Blythe will come home. Georgia isn’t the only one with family predicaments. Her friend Maria Garcia’s parents have merrily moved out of the house and into a camper in the yard. Roland Park is the new boy in town. As a kid in the foster care system staying with the Farley family, he’s sure his stay is temporary. When the three friends discover an abandoned glass house in the forest, it becomes their secret hideout: a place all their own, free of parents and problems. But glass can be broken. When everything around them feels out of their control, the question becomes what can they hold on to? And what do they have to let go? It turns out, there are some things—and lizards—they can count on.

In this 10th book in Susan Hill’s shattering series, Serrailler must confront his demons as Lafferton experiences a sequence of shocking crimes Susan Hill stuns readers once again in The Benefit of Hindsight, the 10th book in her celebrated mystery series. Featuring the enigmatic and brooding chief police inspector Simon Serrailler, this sophisticated and heart-pounding series follows a collection of grisly crimes in the town of Lafferton—and The Benefit of Hindsight is the most disturbing installment yet. Now recuperated after the violent incident that cost him his arm—and nearly his life—DCS Serrailler has returned to work, though he prefers to spend his spare time sketching the medieval angels being restored on the cathedral roof. With crime rates down, Lafferton has been quiet, until one night when a couple opens their front door to a distressing scene. Serrailler makes a serious error of judgment when handling the incident, and the stress of this, combined with the ongoing trauma of losing his arm, takes its toll, throwing his very future into doubt. In the tradition of the fabulous mysteries of Ruth Rendell and P. D. James, The Benefit of Hindsight is Susan Hill’s best work yet—a superbly plotted, chilling new addition to a highly acclaimed series.

Susan Hill—the Man Booker Prize nominee and winner of the Whitbread, Somerset Maugham, and John Llewellyn Rhys awards—returns with a hair-raising new novel, the ninth book in one of the most acclaimed mystery series of our time. Featuring the enigmatic and brooding chief police inspector Simon Serrailler, this intricate and pulse-pounding series follows a collection of grisly crimes plaguing the city of Lafferton—and The Comforts of Home is the most chilling and unputdownable installment yet.In this gripping new thriller, Simon, eager to be back at work after recovering from a near-fatal injury, takes on a cold-case review for the Lafferton police about a girl who disappeared some years before. Meanwhile, his family adjusts to changes of its own; namely his sister’s marriage to Chief Constable Kieron Bright. But when events take an unfavorable turn for the Chief Constable and an arsonist goes on a deadly rampage in Lafferton, Simon’s personal and professional lives intertwine in more complex and devastating ways than ever before.In the tradition of the fabulous mysteries of Ruth Rendell and P.D. James, The Comforts of Home is Susan Hill’s best work yet—a heart-pounding new addition to a highly-applauded and “elegant†? (The New York Times) series.

“Entertaining and emotionally resonant.” —Kirkus Reviews “Long nails the voice of a kid trying as hard as she can to tackle adult problems on her own when the well-meaning adults in her life fall short.” —Publishers Weekly Josie Bloom is put to the test when she’s confronted by mysterious wads of money, a washed-up baseball player, and a whole lot of squirrels in this hilarious and heartwarming novel in the spirit of Kate DiCamillo’s Raymie Nightingale. Josie Bloom discovers the first wad of money stuffed inside a packet of bologna, and the second hidden between the trash can and the bin liner. That money comes in handy when she finds the PAST DUE notice from the heating company. Seems like Grandpa has been spending more time feeding squirrels than paying the bills. But when a bill arrives that’s too big to handle, Josie’s going to need a plan to get more money—while keeping Grandpa’s odd behavior a secret. Hilarious and heartwarming, Josie Bloom and the Emergency of Life celebrates the lengths family and friends will go to when it looks like the squirrels are winning.

A new Simon Serrailler short story from Susan Hill, throwing Simon into a case like no other: an effigy is hanging in the woods, and soldiers are on the run from demons in their past Simon Serrailler is awoken into a hazy dawn by the sharp ringing of his phone. Called out to the scene, he’s told that there’s a body strung up in tranquil Harnham Woods. But on closer inspection it’s an effigy – a carefully made dummy, stirring in the breeze. Simon knows that this is no practical joke. It’s a message. The gruesome result of the search will show that he was right. And the trail will lead him into a dark history of deceit, subterfuge and the damaged lives of soldiers recently returned from Afghanistan. But the question remains: who has finally got their revenge? If you enjoyed ''Revenge'', look out for the tenth Simon Serrailler thriller, The Benefit of Hindsight in October 2019

Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the sole inhabitant of Eel Marsh House. The house stands at the end of a causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but it is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black – and her terrible purpose.

First published in 1940, Lassie Come-Home has become a cultural phenomenon and one of the best-loved dog stories in the world, inspiring several movies and TV shows. Now, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the original book, comes a picture book with a fresh and appealing commercial look just right for a new generation of dog lovers.

A stunning gift edition collecting together Susan Hill''s spinechilling stories of murder, magic and mayhem.

Mole lives alone deep underground until one fine day he dares to go up. He is shy and afraid of water, but he soon meets a friendly Water Rat who composes a poem as the story progresses. Will Mole run away or face his fears? This reader is the perfect introduction to Kenneth Grahame''s classic The Wind in the Willows, with illustrations by Michael Hague.

A cruel and strange murder confronts detective Simon Serrailler in the 7th novel in this highly successful crime series from international bestselling author Susan Hill. Duchess of Cornwall Close: sheltered accommodation, a mix of bungalows and flats, newly built and not quite finished. Despite the bitterly cold weather, elderly residents are moving in. They don''t notice the figure in the shadows. Someone who doesn''t mind the cold. Then, one snowy night, an old lady is murdered--dragged from her bed and strangled with a length of flex. DCS Simon Serrailler and his team are aware of bizarre circumstances surrounding her death--but they keep some of these details secret, while they desperately search for a match. All they know is that the killer will strike again, and will once more leave the same tell-tale signature. The break comes when Simon''s former sergeant, the ever cheerful Nathan Coates, tracks down a name: Alan Keyes. But Alan Keyes has no birth certificate, no address, no job, no family, no passport, no dental records. Nothing. Alan Keyes does not exist. A Question of Identity introduces a new and chilling element into the Simon Serrailler series: it takes the reader inside the mind of a deranged killer. This is Susan Hill''s most thrillingly imagined crime novel to date.

When Peter Pan meets Wendy, his friend Tinkerbell is jealous. Then Peter loses his shadow. Who will help him find it?

"Inspired by Anna Sewell''s Black Beauty."

We met the enigmatic and brooding Simon Serrailler in The Various Haunts of Men and got to know him better in The Pure in Heart and The Risk of Darkness. The Vows of Silence, the fourth crime novel featuring Chief Inspector Serrailler, is perhaps even more compulsive and convincing than its predecessors. A gunman is terrorizing young women in the cathedral town of Laffterton. What, if anything, links the apparently random murders? Is the marksman with the rifle the same as the killer with the handgun? With the complexity and character study that earned raves for The Pure in Heart and the relentless pacing and plot twists of The Various Haunts of Men, The Vows of Silence is truly the work of a writer at the top of her form.

Half of Lafferton is afloat. A landslip on the Moor has closed the bypass and, as the rain slowly drains away, a shallow grave - and a skeleton - are exposed. The remains are identified as those of missing teenager, last seen 16 years ago.

Early one autumn afternoon in pursuit of an elusive book on her shelves, Susan Hill encountered dozens of others that she had never read, or forgotten she owned, or wanted to read for a second time. The discovery inspired her to embark on a year-long voyage through her books, forsaking new purchases in order to get to know her own collection again. A book which is left on a shelf for a decade is a dead thing, but it is also a chrysalis, packed with the potential to burst into new life. Wandering through her house that day, Hill''s eyes were opened to how much of that life was stored in her home, neglected for years. Howards End is on the Landing charts the journey of one of the nation''s most accomplished authors as she revisits the conversations, libraries and bookshelves of the past that have informed a lifetime of reading and writing.

A lonely woman of fifty-three vanishes in fog; a fat twenty-two-year-old never returns from an early morning walk . . . Experienced policemen know that most missing persons either turn up or go missing on purpose. But fresh young D.S. Freya Graffham won’t drop it — until she discovers what links the people who disappear on “The Hill,” young and old, men and women, even a little dog. Susan Hill writes with compassion, humour and a unique understanding of the details of daily life.

Ruby Raccoon asks her friends for advice on making a cake.

Ruby''s friends are too busy to spend time with her on a beautiful day, so Ruby finds ways to keep herself busy and happy, too. Full color.

A little boy is snatched as he stands with his satchel at the gate of his home, waiting for his lift to school. A severely handicapped young woman hovers between life and death. And an ex-con finds it impossible to go straight. The Pure in Heart is a crime novel arising from character and circumstances, about the psychology of crime, something more enthralling than plain thrillers or whodunits. In Lafferton, Serrailler''s town, Susan Hill has brilliantly created a community with detail so sharp and true to life that readers feel that these people are their own neighbors and friends. But there is terror and evil in their very midst. There are no easy answers in The Pure of Heart, a magnificent novel about the realities of police work and the sometimes desperate humanity of family. Haunting and truthful, gripping and convincing, it is a thrilling achievement.

A young school boy visiting his aunt''s country house finds company with the gentle beekeeper and begins teaching the man to read, so that it seems nothing can ever intrude upon their closeness. A young country girl fights against becoming a dowtrodden domestic skivvy like her dead mother, while another young girl reaches a delicate understanding with an elderly blind man as they walk along the beach together. On another beach, a more sinister plot unfolds as a gang of boys plan the most wicked deed they can conceive of...

Let''s have fun! Stuart Little and his brother, George, can''t wait to go to the amusement park. But if you''re Stuart''s size, how do you keep up with your big brother? By visiting the fun house, of course!

When Stuart Little and Snowbell the cat are left alone for the afternoon, they discover that the game of hide-and-seek can be dangerous.

At first Stuart is afraid of Bookworm the library cat, but they become friends when Stuart says he will help Bookworm learn to read.

Princess Diana as we have never seen her before.

How do children gain literacy? In Phonics, Susan Hill provides a clear theoretical background to the principles of phonics teaching, and shows how this can be applied in a constructive and relevant way in the classroom. Even though English is not a regular phonetic language, it is important for young readers and writers to understand that there is a relationship between letters and sounds. Understanding the alphabetic principle - the idea that spoken language is made up of sounds and that these sounds can be mapped to written letters - can help make learning to read and write easier to achieve for children in their early years of schooling. The book discusses the alphabetic principle and phonological awareness and looks at the different approaches to teaching phonics. It includes practical ideas for phonics instruction such as using everyday print and jingles, raps and rhymes. It also provides methods of assessing children''s use of phonics within real literacy activities. In Phonics, and its companion volume, Guiding Literacy Learners, best-selling author, teacher, and researcher Susan Hill brings perspective and practical solutions to the teaching of early literacy. She discusses the contributions to literacy provided by a range of strategies, and explains the theories behind the practice.