The Benefit of Hindsight is the says it's the tenth in the Simon Serrailler series by author Susan Hill. I think it's the eleventh - I counted books very carefully on the website www.bookseriesinorder.com, which has not failed me yet.

Whichever book it is, it is a very good book with interesting crimes not yet solved. Hill often leaves mysteries unsolved, which of course lures the reader into buying or borrowing the next in the series. This author's trick also adds realism to the books, as crimes don't usually get solved easily in real life, or within the 300 or so pages that Hill generally writes. This time we're looking for a professional burglar as well as a murderer. The homes of wealthy people are being staked out, items valued ahead of time, and sadly, murders committed when those rich people come home too early and interrupt the burglars at work. It's a sad story, this one, with all kinds of Hill's usual sidelines all in turmoil.

I discovered, when counting books online, that another Simon Serailler book has been published. I can't wait to read it. Hill's books are my favourite crime series by far. ( )

One of my favorite series. Simon is ... very insular and private. He tends to hurt himself with it, but he has a strong family that supports him regardless.

Great characters and difficult situations to consider. ( )

4.5 stars. Love this series. ( )

Another good volume in this great series, though I confess I was confused about some of the subplots, which I hope will resolve themselves in future installments. ( )

Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

I am so annoyed at myself. So I like most of Susan Hill books so I saw this on NetGalley and went gimme without realizing this is part of a series. I really wish that NetGalley would let you send books back. Totally my fault, and for now on I am going to cross-reference books on Goodreads to just check for things like that. That all said, I can't really help here at all. Since this is book # 10 I was totally confused about past events and who was what and why things were important. I loved the cover though! Seriously though this dragged for me at times and I found myself rushing through it.

"The Benefit of Hindsight" follows DCS Serrailler after he has has returned to work after losing one of his arms. With crime rates down, Lafferton has been quiet, until one night when two men open 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.

So Serrailler seems like an okay character. I don't know what to say here since this is the first book starring him I have read. All of the characters seem fine and have past and current connections. I did like that Serrailler messes up and the book follows through on the theme on in hindsight what could he have done better.

I did like the writing and thought the flow was fine. I just was not engaged since I came into this series at book #10 and did not care about the characters in the same way I would have if I started off with book #1. Because of this, I am going to go back and read this series and will update this review after I finish books #1-9. ( )