Susan Hill, born in 1942 and married to the Shakespeare scholar and author Stanley Wells, has written a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction – including I’m the King of the Castle, for which she received the Somerset Maugham Award, and The Woman in Black, which has been adapted as a stage play and running at the West End since 1989. With an ITV television series of her Simon Serrailler detective series in the making, however, her work is soon set to reach an even wider audience. Susan Hill has founded her own publishing company, Long Barn Books, which publishes one novel a year, and is a monthly columnist for The Daily Telegraph.

The Woman In Black Susan Hill

This wonderfully crafted ghost story is short, simple and utterly terrifying. The uneasy atmosphere intensifies steadily throughout the book, from the family sitting around a fire and telling each other ghost stories to the windswept salt marshes that enclose Eel Marsh House. When young Arthur Kipps is summoned as a junior solicitor to the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, he finds himself irrevocably drawn into the tragic secrets of the house – and the intrigue surrounding a mysterious woman dressed all in black. Subtle and chilling, The Woman In Black is a story that will haunt you long after you switch off the light.

The Various Haunts Of Men (Simon Serrailler 1) Susan Hill

Susan Hill turned her hand from literary to detective fiction for the first time with The Various Haunts Of Men. The result is the best of both genres; a beautifully-written, character-driven novel combined with a thrilling and suspenseful mystery. The detail of the writing evokes a rich and thoroughly believable community, making the characters all the more sympathetic and the storyline all the more engrossing. You’ll find yourself half way through before you even notice turning the pages, and the twist will leave you reeling…

The Man in the Picture: A Ghost Story Susan Hill

A chilling, old-fashioned ghost story about a strange and beautiful painting of a Venetian street scene. When Theo, a Cambridge don, relates the curious history of the picture on his wall to his former student, Oliver, Oliver has no idea that the course of his future is now bound inevitably to that of the painting. Brimming with tension, The Man in the Picture tells the horrifying story of picture that has that has the power to influence the lives around it. Perfect to read by the fireside on a dark, solitary winter’s night.

Howards End is on the Landing: A year of reading from home Susan Hill

When searching for her copy of Howard’s End, Susan Hill realises just how many of the books on her landing bookcase she has never actually read. She decides to embark on a literary journey for one year of her life, rediscovering the books that she already owns and acquiring no new books whatsoever.  It is a journey that reunites her with books she has loved all her life, that reawakens some fascinating past encounters with authors, and that leads her to books and authors she has never before read.  Howards End is on the Landing is a wonderful gift for booklovers of all ages.