Best Susan Hill Audiobooks

Susan Hill occupies a rare position in British fiction — equally at home conjuring dread and dissecting the procedural. The Woman in Black is her landmark achievement, a ghost story of almost unbearable atmospheric tension that reads like the English countryside itself has turned malevolent. Her Simon Serrailler crime series, beginning with The Various Haunts of Men, is quieter but no less unsettling — Hill writes police work with a melancholy realism, more interested in the weight grief places on communities than in puzzle mechanics. Her prose is lean and weather-worn, every scene saturated with place. Readers who want cozy crime will find Serrailler too bleak; readers who want pure horror will find it too restrained. That in-between space is exactly where Hill excels — and where her most loyal readers live.

Where to Start with Susan Hill

Best entry point → The Small Hand
Best standalone → The Woman in Black
Start the Simon Serrailler series → The Various Haunts of Men
What fans keep coming back to → The Pure in Heart
Highest rated by listeners → The Shadows in the Street (Simon Serrailler #5)

15 audiobooks in collection

★ 3.86 avg ABR rating

Horror, Thriller, Mystery

Best Audiobooks | All Audiobooks | Top 25 Ranked List

Best Susan Hill Audiobooks

1

The Woman in Black

by Susan Hill, John Lawrence

Narrated by Paapa Essiedu

★ 4.22 ABR Score (84.9K ratings)

★ 3.76 Goodreads (83.2K) ★ 4.51 Audible (1.7K)

5h 25m listening time • Released 2022

Arthur Kipps encounters a vengeful spirit while handling a deceased client's estate in the isolated Eel Marsh House. Paapa Essiedu's atmospheric reading heightens Hill's Victorian-style ghost story with elegant restraint.

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Arthur Kipps encounters a vengeful spirit while handling a deceased client's estate in the isolated Eel Marsh House. Paapa Essiedu's atmospheric reading heightens Hill's Victorian-style ghost story with elegant restraint.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
2

The Shadows in the Street

Simon Serrailler • Book 5

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 4.11 ABR Score (7.0K ratings)

★ 4 Goodreads (6.6K) ★ 4.4 Audible (466)

11h 59m listening time • Released 2010

Detective Serrailler returns from sabbatical to investigate strangled prostitutes, but when respectable women start disappearing, Lafferton erupts in fear and anger.

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Detective Serrailler returns from sabbatical to investigate strangled prostitutes, but when respectable women start disappearing, Lafferton erupts in fear and anger.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
3

The Soul of Discretion

Simon Serrailler • Book 8

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 4.06 ABR Score (5.4K ratings)

★ 4.17 Goodreads (5.0K) ★ 4.42 Audible (467)

9h 53m listening time • Released 2014

Chief Constable Bright assigns Serrailler to a case requiring absolute secrecy, but some investigations refuse to stay buried — Pacey's measured delivery suits Hill's psychological complexity.

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Chief Constable Bright assigns Serrailler to a case requiring absolute secrecy, but some investigations refuse to stay buried — Pacey's measured delivery suits Hill's psychological complexity.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
4

The Vows of Silence

Simon Serrailler • Book 4

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 4.01 ABR Score (6.7K ratings)

★ 4 Goodreads (6.3K) ★ 4.45 Audible (338)

10h 3m listening time • Released 2011

Detective Serrailler hunts a sniper terrorizing young women while questioning whether one or two killers are at work. Steven Pacey's performance builds tension around the marksman's unpredictable pattern.

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Detective Serrailler hunts a sniper terrorizing young women while questioning whether one or two killers are at work. Steven Pacey's performance builds tension around the marksman's unpredictable pattern.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
5

A Question of Identity

Simon Serrailler • Book 7

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 4.00 ABR Score (6.5K ratings)

★ 3.99 Goodreads (6.1K) ★ 4.42 Audible (446)

10h 28m listening time • Released 2013

Three murders bearing identical signatures plague Lafferton, but the original killer died in prison years ago. Pacey's performance balances procedural detail with the psychological tension of a case that shouldn't exist.

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Three murders bearing identical signatures plague Lafferton, but the original killer died in prison years ago. Pacey's performance balances procedural detail with the psychological tension of a case that shouldn't exist.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
6

The Risk of Darkness

Simon Serrailler • Book 3

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 3.97 ABR Score (7.4K ratings)

★ 3.96 Goodreads (7.0K) ★ 4.4 Audible (360)

11h 21m listening time • Released 2011

Child abduction and a widower's dangerous obsession converge in Simon Serrailler's latest case. Steven Pacey captures both the detective's cool reserve and the raw emotion driving the story's multiple threads.

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Child abduction and a widower's dangerous obsession converge in Simon Serrailler's latest case. Steven Pacey captures both the detective's cool reserve and the raw emotion driving the story's multiple threads.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
7

A Change of Circumstance

Simon Serrailler • Book 11

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 3.95 ABR Score (3.8K ratings)

★ 4.01 Goodreads (3.6K) ★ 4.49 Audible (135)

9h 41m listening time • Released 2022

Simon Serrailler confronts a sophisticated drug network targeting his town of Lafferton in Hill's eleventh crime installment. Pacey's familiar voice guides listeners through the inspector's most personal case yet.

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Simon Serrailler confronts a sophisticated drug network targeting his town of Lafferton in Hill's eleventh crime installment. Pacey's familiar voice guides listeners through the inspector's most personal case yet.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
8

The Comforts of Home

Simon Serrailler • Book 9

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 3.94 ABR Score (4.7K ratings)

★ 3.97 Goodreads (4.4K) ★ 4.41 Audible (249)

9h 38m listening time • Released 2019

Simon Serrailler's peaceful Scottish island recovery gets interrupted when he's pulled into a murder inquiry involving a beloved newcomer's perplexing death. Steven Pacey captures both the island atmosphere and urban arson investigations.

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Simon Serrailler's peaceful Scottish island recovery gets interrupted when he's pulled into a murder inquiry involving a beloved newcomer's perplexing death. Steven Pacey captures both the island atmosphere and urban arson investigations.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
9

The Betrayal of Trust

Simon Serrailler • Book 6

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 3.91 ABR Score (7.1K ratings)

★ 3.95 Goodreads (6.6K) ★ 4.32 Audible (486)

11h 40m listening time • Released 2012

Flash floods expose a sixteen-year-old grave containing missing teenager Harriet Lowther's remains, forcing Serrailler to dig into a cold case.

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Flash floods expose a sixteen-year-old grave containing missing teenager Harriet Lowther's remains, forcing Serrailler to dig into a cold case.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
10

The Pure in Heart

Simon Serrailler • Book 2

by Susan Hill, Yolande Ligterink

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 3.81 ABR Score (9.0K ratings)

★ 3.92 Goodreads (8.3K) ★ 4.18 Audible (667)

11h 38m listening time • Released 2006

Child abduction, a disabled woman fighting for life, and an ex-con's struggle to go straight converge in this psychological crime study. Steven Pacey's narration captures the complex character motivations.

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Child abduction, a disabled woman fighting for life, and an ex-con's struggle to go straight converge in this psychological crime study. Steven Pacey's narration captures the complex character motivations.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
11

The Small Hand

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Cameron Stewart

★ 3.70 ABR Score (7.8K ratings)

★ 3.47 Goodreads (7.6K) ★ 4.23 Audible (146)

3h 32m listening time • Released 2011

An antiquarian bookseller encounters a ghostly child's hand at an abandoned house, and Cameron Stewart's atmospheric reading amplifies every supernatural chill.

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An antiquarian bookseller encounters a ghostly child's hand at an abandoned house, and Cameron Stewart's atmospheric reading amplifies every supernatural chill.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
12

The Various Haunts of Men

Simon Serrailler • Book 1

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 3.69 ABR Score (16.7K ratings)

★ 3.84 Goodreads (15.2K) ★ 4.06 Audible (1.4K)

14h 44m listening time • Released 2011

Detective Freya Graffham won't let go of a missing person case in the cathedral town of Lafferton, even as more residents disappear. Steven Pacey creates distinct voices for Hill's ensemble cast.

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Detective Freya Graffham won't let go of a missing person case in the cathedral town of Lafferton, even as more residents disappear. Steven Pacey creates distinct voices for Hill's ensemble cast.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
13

Hero: A Simon Serrailler Short Story

Simon Serrailler #8.6

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 3.58 ABR Score (1.0K ratings)

★ 3.67 Goodreads (902) ★ 3.96 Audible (129)

A rookie cop's reckless act kills a man but earns him hero status—years later, receiving a bravery medal forces him to confront that night. Steven Pacey captures the weight of past choices in this introspective crime short.

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A rookie cop's reckless act kills a man but earns him hero status—years later, receiving a bravery medal forces him to confront that night. Steven Pacey captures the weight of past choices in this introspective crime short.

Start Listening → Get the Book →

Start Listening → Get the Book →
14

A Breach of Security

Simon Serrailler #8.5 • Book 8

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 3.48 ABR Score (2.3K ratings)

★ 3.62 Goodreads (1.4K) ★ 3.54 Audible (843)

1h 28m listening time • Released 2014

Simon Serrailler hunts neo-fascist attackers while securing a military memorial service, but anonymous threats suggest larger conspiracies at work.

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Simon Serrailler hunts neo-fascist attackers while securing a military memorial service, but anonymous threats suggest larger conspiracies at work.

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Start Listening → Get the Book →
15

Printer's Devil Court

by Susan Hill

Narrated by Steven Pacey

★ 3.47 ABR Score (2.5K ratings)

★ 3.21 Goodreads (2.4K) ★ 4.03 Audible (69)

1h 42m listening time • Released 2015

Dr. Meredith's stepson discovers a manuscript revealing the country doctor's haunting experiences as a young trainee near Fleet Street. Steven Pacey handles the atmospheric Gothic elements with skill.

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Dr. Meredith's stepson discovers a manuscript revealing the country doctor's haunting experiences as a young trainee near Fleet Street. Steven Pacey handles the atmospheric Gothic elements with skill.

Start Listening → Get the Book →

Start Listening → Get the Book →