Whenever I approach a title by prolific author Susan Hill, I immediately call to mind the classic and gothic horror novels she has penned for decades. Most significantly, THE WOMAN IN BLACK has produced both a stage play and the film starring Daniel Radcliffe. When I dive into a mystery novel in the Simon Serrailler series, it always amazes me how seamlessly Hill shifts gears from horror to mystery/thriller without missing a beat. Like all the previous titles in the series, THE SOUL OF DISCRETION pulls no punches and delivers a depiction of the darker side of human nature in an unflinching manner.

What makes this entry so interesting is that there are actually two unrelated storylines at its heart, each of which clearly could have merited having its own individual novel. The primary story involving DC Simon Serrailler finds the new Chief Constable in the English cathedral town of Lafferton, Kieran Bright, presenting him with the most dangerous assignment of his career.

"THE SOUL OF DISCRETION takes us inside some very dark subjects without watering them down for a second. This is far from the typical small town British mystery as the violence and threat of even worse constantly linger around every corner."

The novel opens with a scene of two young men having a drink outside one evening when one of them swears he saw a naked child scrambling in the street. When he chases after the figure, he finds a toddler girl with no clothes on and completely scared. Police are called in and quickly find that what they thought to be a crank call was chillingly real. When another situation arises at a local school where a young girl turns in artwork depicting a child involved in horrific sexual acts, local law enforcement realizes that there is a big problem in the underbelly of their small town.

Further investigation uncovers a sex ring fueled by pedophiles, and the two events depicted above may be only the tip of the iceberg. What Simon is tasked with is a deep cover assignment that will send him inside the walls of a local prison in the guise of a convicted child sex offender. His goal is to befriend some of the other pedophiles who are undergoing therapeutic rehabilitation --- particularly a man named Will Fernley, who is thought to be a key figure that could break the sex ring wide open. Getting close to Fernley as a fellow inmate named “Jonno” is a lot more difficult than Simon imagined. When he is led into a world with some powerful and dangerous people at its heart, this perhaps will end up being the final mission of his career.

As if that weren't enough, the second storyline involves Simon's father, the well-respected Dr. Richard Serrailler. He is accused by the wife of a friend of raping her in an alcohol-fueled moment at a Masonic dinner event. With Simon unreachable during his assignment, it is left to his sister, Cat, to deal with the accusations against her father that could potentially tear their well-respected family apart. The officer assigned to the case is asked to use discretion. She immediately takes offense to this and responds by asking: “Discretion? Cover-up? What's the difference?” This one thought ends up creating the irony that the novel's title is built upon.

THE SOUL OF DISCRETION takes us inside some very dark subjects without watering them down for a second. This is far from the typical small town British mystery as the violence and threat of even worse constantly linger around every corner. Hill’s latest will challenge the reader to tackle some controversial subjects while enjoying crisp prose that will keep the pages turning long through the night.