New Releases by Susan Hill

Find peace for your heart and joy for your spirit amid the holiday hustle. Has being "merry and bright" and decking the halls left you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted? Set down your to-do list, grab a warm beverage, and cozy up with Be of Good Cheer for 40 days of Advent devotional reflections, Scripture readings, and prayers to bring you back to the beauty of the season. Each entry in this 40-day devotional invites you to reflect on one word that embodies the true meaning of Christmas. A corresponding Bible verse, a cheerful prayer, and beautiful Christmas photos guide your spirit, memories, and longings back to the heart of Christmas. Be of Good Cheer… Calls you to live intentionally this holiday season Provides 40 days of readings for Advent Encourages you to rejoice in a God who cares for you and carries you Inspires you to recover gratitude during Christmas Offers a meaningful and beautiful addition to your bedside or coffee table Makes a thoughtful gift for anyone searching for deeper peace during the holidays Whether you''re busy planning for the church''s nativity play or preparing for the whirlwind of Christmas events, Be of Good Cheer anchors you in the joy, peace, and hope of the holiday season. This is a great gift to share around your Thanksgiving table as you prepare for the Christmas season or an excellent stocking stuffer for a friend, family member, or colleague seeking inspiration as Christmas draws near.

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.

World-changers. Rebels. Rejecters of the status quo. Throughout history, Christians were never meant to have a safe faith. Highlighting 50 people throughout the millennia, this book is a compilation of faith, facts, and art that celebrates the faith lives of spiritual giants and inspires you to grow in your own personal faith. Dangerous Faith is a collection of essays and inspiration about Christians who have changed the world. This four-color gift book features: the exploration of 50 diverse heroes of the Christian faith, including historical figures, cultural icons, political leaders, saints, and martyrs biographical information on the 50 people featured, including Coretta Scott King and Susan B. Anthony portraiture art and an easy-to-follow layout a presentation page for gifting and a ribbon marker This valuable resource is perfect for: men and women interested in learning more about the Christian faith, church history, and spiritual discipline homeschooling families or parents wanting to teach their children about historical Christianity a baptism gift or welcome gift for new church members gifting to loved ones who enjoy biographies and history Be inspired by spiritual heroes from many eras in history up to today and make their strength your own. If you enjoy this book, check out Dangerous Prayers.

In the newest installment of Susan Hill’s electrifying crime series, Simon Serrailler finds himself in devastating new territory as a sophisticated drug network sets its sights on Lafferton In A Change of Circumstance, the eleventh book in Susan Hill’s acclaimed crime series featuring the enigmatic detective Simon Serrailler, Hill yet again raises the stakes. Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler has long regarded drug ops in Lafferton as a waste of time. The small-time dealers picked up outside the local high school can’t or won’t turn in any valuable names, so they’re merely given a fine and the trail runs cold. But when the body of a twenty-two-year-old is found in neighboring Starley, the case pulls DCS Simon Serrailler into the underbelly of an elaborate drug operation that moves narcotics from the cities into the suburbs and right down to villages. The foot soldiers? Vulnerable local kids like Brookie and Olivia, whose involvement gives Simon a bitter taste of this new landscape. It’s a harsh winter in Lafferton, and with struggles both at home and on the job, DCS Serrailler soon learns that even the familiar can hold shocking surprises . . . Dark, page-turning, and rich in mood and character, Susan Hill’s A Change of Circumstance lands brilliantly as another gripping entry to the Serrailler canon, sure to enthrall fans and newcomers alike.

This is the tenth book of the urban legends series of the United States. This book is full of locations, directions, pictures, folklore, legends and personal accounts of those who have come in contact with these legends themselves. Travel to the Ohio valley and visit haunted roads, bridges and homes. Head to Oklahoma and check out portals, cryptids and cemeteries. In Oregon you will find haunted lighthouses and witches. Over in Pennsylvania you can go to Asylums, Goblins and Werewolves. This collection of legends is not just the well known legends but the lore only known by the locals. Find new places to adventure to or just enjoy visiting from the comfort of home.

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

The ninth Simon Serrailler case, from the bestselling author of The Woman in Black His last case put Simon Serrailler in mortal danger and left him confronting a new reality. Recovering on the remote Scottish island of Taransay, his peace doesn''t last long. He must take on a murder enquiry for the local police who are struggling to deal with a massive terrorist incident. It''s good to be back on the job. When Simon returns to Lafferton, an arsonist is on the rampage and a woman whose daughter disappeared some years before, is haunting the police station seeking closure. She will not let it rest, and Simon is called in to do a cold-case review. At home, Simon is starting to get used to having a new brother-in-law - in the form of his Chief Constable Kieron Bright. His sister Cat has embarked on a new way of practising medicine, and his nephew Sam is trying to work out what to do with his life. Their tricky father, Richard, is living in France with a new companion. But things change, as always, and in a way which does not make Cat''s Chief Constable husband very happy. In this gripping new Serrailler thriller, Simon''s personal and professional lives intertwine in more complex and devastating ways than ever before.

One hot summer’s day, an old flame turns up at Lafferton HQ and Simon Serrailler is catapulted back to his days as a fresh-faced PC in the Met. That long febrile summer in the early 1990s, London was reeling from one IRA bomb warning after another. Sirens. Blue lights. Tyres screaming. People running. The army called in. And Simon in the thick of it. Until he’s pulled aside and put on a very different kind of job: his first undercover op awaits. Will the young Simon be able to hold his nerve? Or is he walking into a trap?

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.

When we spend so much of our time immersed in books, who''s to say where reading ends and living begins? The two are impossibly and gloriously wedded, as Hill shows in Jacob''s Room Is Full of Books. Considering everything from Edith Wharton''s novels through to Alan Bennett''s diaries, Virginia Woolf and the writings of twelfth century monk Aelred of Rievaulx, Susan Hill charts a year of her life through the books she has read, reread or returned to the shelf. From beneath a shady tree in a hot French summer, or the warmth of a kitchen during an English winter, Hill reflects on what her reading throws up, from writing and writers to politics and religion, as well as the joy of dandies or the pleasure of watching a line of geese cross a meadow. Full of wry observations and warm humour, as well as strong opinions freely aired, this is a rare and wonderful insight into the rich world of reading from one of the nation''s most accomplished authors.

The twisty-turny journey of a girl searching for her heart’s desire—glimpsed in a magic mirror. Perfect for fans of Rump or Catherine, Called Birdy A foundling girl with a crooked leg and a crutch doesn’t expect life to be easy. Indeed, Maggie’s dearest wish is to simply not feel so alone. So when she spies a man behind bars in a magic mirror said to show one’s truest desire, she feels sure he is the father she’s always longed for—and she sets off on a quest to find him. Along the way, Maggie meets both kindly pilgrims and dastardly highwaymen. She discovers she bears a striking resemblance to the princess Petranilla. Their connection is so remarkable that Petra believes Maggie must be her lost sister who fell from the castle wall and was swept downriver as a baby. What a turn of fate! From reviled foundling to beloved royal! But being the lost princess turns out to be more curse than blessing given the schemes of the current king... And if Maggie’s a princess, then who is the man she spied in the magic mirror? This is a grand middle grade adventure story full of mistaken identities, lost loves, found families, and a tantalizing tinge of magic. "I love this book—an uproarious, thoughtful, touching, absurd, ans altogether splendid adventure." —Karen Cushman, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Midwife''s Apprentice and Catherine, Called Birdy

"Celebrating the 75th anniversary"--Cover.

DC Smith Serrailler is faced with his worst crimes yet, and Lafferton is left reeling. The eighth in the Simon Serrailler crime series. The cathedral town of Lafferton seems idyllic, but in many ways it is just like any other place. As part of the same rapidly changing world, it shares the same hopes and fears, and the same kinds of crime, as any number of towns up and down the land. When one day DC Simon Serrailler is called in by Lafferton''s new Chief Constable, Kieron Bright, he is met by four plainclothes officers. He is asked to take the lead role in a complex, potentially dangerous undercover operation and must leave town immediately, without telling anyone -- not even his girlfriend Rachel, who has only just moved in with him. Meanwhile, Simon''s sister Cat is facing difficult choices at work that will test her dedication to the NHS. But an urgent call about her and Simon''s father, Richard, soon presents her with a far greater challenge much closer to home. To complete his special op, Simon must inhabit the mind of the worst kind of criminal. As the op unfolds, Lafferton is dragged into the sort of case every town dreads. And Simon faces the fight of his life.

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

Tommy Carr was a kind man; Eve had been able to tell that after half an hour of knowing him. There had never been a day when he had not shown her some small kindness. The birth of a daughter, Jeannie Eliza, crowns the young couple''s happiness -- just as her shockingly early death casts them low. But they do not need to talk about Jeannie because she remains with them, and their love does not change. In some ways it is no wonder that one of them falls ill, for grief takes its toll, and one Christmas even Eve''s sister Miriam is remarking that Tommy looks unwell. But what happens next is entirely unexpected, not least for the kind man.

Clem wants a dog for his thirteenth birthday, but what he gets is a miner''s cap. It is the 1920s in Leadanna, Missouri, and Clem must become a man, leaving school and joining Pap in the lead mines--money is tight in the Harding household. Meanwhile, Lindy, whose face bears a scar from an accident that left her motherless, is forced to help her abusive father sell moonshine. As Clem searches for another way to support his family, the two become friends. Then disaster strikes: a death, a mining accident, and then a tornado. In the aftermath, Lindy takes advantage of her chance to flee Leadanna, and Clem is torn between following her and staying behind to help his family. This beautifully written coming-of-age novel shines with true characters, a vivid setting, and heart-felt relationships.

Rebecca was Daphne du Maurier''s most famous and best-loved novel. But what happened next? Married to the sophisticated, wordly-wise Maxim, the second Mrs de Winter''s life should be happy and fulfilled. But the vengeful ghost of Rebecca, Maxim''s first wife, continues to cast its long shadow over them. Back in England after an absence of over ten years, it seems as if happiness will at last be theirs. But the de Winters still have to reckon with two hate-consumed figures they once knew - both of whom have very long memories...

A young school boy visiting his aunt''s country house finds company and friendship 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 downtrodden 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 plans the most wicked deed.

At the far end of the long white gallery is a painting of a woman, in pale flowing clothes and lying on a sofa beside an open window. The muslin curtains billow out towards her like clouds. There is a touch of brilliant red, the ribbon on her hat. The rest is white, cream, palest grey. It is a painting which leads Flora on, beckoning her away from her childhood, her complaining, clinging mother, pert younger sister, and the confines of a small community, to a proud and self-reliant future. But later, this image is to prove the catalyst for the most signicant event in her life. Isolation, separation, solitude, betrayal. The shocks of life. The consolations and the beauty of death. A few piercing moments of absolute joy and perfect understanding. THE SERVICE OF CLOUDS is about these things, and also about love, loyalty, friendship, growing up and growing old.

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

Simon Serrailler’s story began in The Various Haunts of Men (about a serial killer) and continued with The Pure in Heart (about a kidnapped schoolboy). Susan Hill is not afraid to tackle difficult issues, nor to face up to the realities of stress in an ordinary English police station. Her third crime novel, The Risk of Darkness, even more compulsive and convincing, follows up the child abduction and explores the crazy grief of a widowed husband, a derangement which 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 the newest recruit to the Cathedral staff: a feisty female Anglican priest with red hair… The Risk of Darkness is packed with action and adventure. Like Various Haunts, it hinges on a terrific twist which comes as a complete surprise to the reader; and like The Pure in Heart, it deals in depth with complex daily problems.

Simon Serrailler is back in the fifth installment of this extremely popular series. Simon Serrailler has just wrapped up a particularly exhausting and difficult case for SIFT — Special Incident Flying Task force and is on a sabbatical couple of months on a far-flung Scottish island, Tallansay, walking, drawing, relaxing, and having a pleasant no-ties fling with the hotel barmaid, Kirsty. He is called back just before his leave is due to end by Paula Devenish the Chief Constable, when two local prostitutes go missing and are subsequently found strangled. By the time he gets back, another girl has disappeared. So, a vendetta against prostitutes by someone with a warped mind? A series of killings by an angry punter? But then the wife of the new Dean of St Michael''s Cathedral goes missing, followed by another respectable young married woman, on her way to the early shift at the print works. Is this all the work of one serial killer? The murders all take place in and around the canal area, near the footbridge.

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

Ruby Raccoon paints a picture which unexpectedly shows the best feature of her various friends.

At head of title: Spider sense Spider-Man.

Spider-Man takes on two of his most nefarious enemies--the Green Goblin and the Lizard--in these new I Can Read! storybooks. Full color.

Spider-Man is in for a shock! Electro plans to steal the city''s power supply, and he won''t let anything get in his way. Can Spider-Man save the day before it''s too late?