What do you think?
Rate this book
Lorraine Hunt/Seahills #1
Run For Home
It's 1985. A man is hunted down and killed by a woman assassin known as 'The Head Hunter'. Sixteen years later, his body turns up and Detective Inspector Lorraine Hunt is called in to investigate
423 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
4 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
About the author
Sheila Quigley
25 books51 followersSheila Quigley started work at 15 as a presser in Hepworths, a tailoring factory. She married at 18 and had three daughters: Dawn, Janine and Diane and a younger son, Michael. Recently divorced, she now has eight grandchildren, five boys and three girls, and every Saturday and Sunday can be found at a football match for the under tens and under fifteens. Sheila has lived on the Homelands Estate (at present with her son and two dogs) at Houghton-le-Spring near Sunderland for 30 years.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 17, 2015
I bought this book when the author Sheila Quigley did a book-signing in my local Waterstones and I am so glad I discovered this gem of a novel. The plot is elaborately split between various characters, all of whom are fully explored and combine together to create an exciting, dynamic storyline. As somebody from the North East of England where the book is set, I cannot recommend it enough!
June 13, 2013
Nice story, intriguing and captivating to read for the average person.
The use of foul language, dialect and too much swearing plummeted it to a horrible one-star on a scale of one-to-five.
The use of foul language, dialect and too much swearing plummeted it to a horrible one-star on a scale of one-to-five.
November 16, 2012
Sheila Quigley's Run for Home was the Q in my A-Z of authors. I'd never heard of the author, but the plot sounded intriguing so I thought I'd check it out.
To start with, we meet Kerry Lumsdon a sixteen year old girl, who is training to be a professional athlete, she lives on a council estate with her alcoholic mother and a variety of brothers and sisters from different fathers.
Kerry is not a very sympathetic character. The first time we meet her she is stealing milk from the doorstep of a blind old lady, before chucking the empty bottle over into her garden to smash. She has a go at anyone and everyone for no particular reason. It seemed a bit unrealistic to me and I couldn't care less what happened to her.
The other characters seemed to be a bit soapish. With six children, and all their friends it's hard to keep track of everyone. The police searching for Kerry's missing sister Claire and mainly detached from this, but we constantly hear their thoughts about how much they fancy each other. I just wish they'd stick to their job, if I'm honest. Lorraine, the central police figure is a likeable character. Again, she has unnecessary family introduced just to add to the confusion, but you feel on her side. She has a lot on her plate. As well as searching for Kerry's sister, she also has headless bodies turning up left, right and centre. Despite being a strong police woman, she seems a bit feeble in her personal life. I wanted to give the character a shake of the shoulders and tell her to pull herself together.
One thing I did love about this book was the way Sheila Quigley wrote dialogue. It's set in Sunderland, and she writes her characters with an accent. I could hear their speech very clearly in my head, which I love. It does bring the characters to life more, even if there were too many of them.
Overall, an okay book, but I probably wouldn't read another of hers. There were good points and bad points, but it was a bit too melodramatic for me.
To start with, we meet Kerry Lumsdon a sixteen year old girl, who is training to be a professional athlete, she lives on a council estate with her alcoholic mother and a variety of brothers and sisters from different fathers.
Kerry is not a very sympathetic character. The first time we meet her she is stealing milk from the doorstep of a blind old lady, before chucking the empty bottle over into her garden to smash. She has a go at anyone and everyone for no particular reason. It seemed a bit unrealistic to me and I couldn't care less what happened to her.
The other characters seemed to be a bit soapish. With six children, and all their friends it's hard to keep track of everyone. The police searching for Kerry's missing sister Claire and mainly detached from this, but we constantly hear their thoughts about how much they fancy each other. I just wish they'd stick to their job, if I'm honest. Lorraine, the central police figure is a likeable character. Again, she has unnecessary family introduced just to add to the confusion, but you feel on her side. She has a lot on her plate. As well as searching for Kerry's sister, she also has headless bodies turning up left, right and centre. Despite being a strong police woman, she seems a bit feeble in her personal life. I wanted to give the character a shake of the shoulders and tell her to pull herself together.
One thing I did love about this book was the way Sheila Quigley wrote dialogue. It's set in Sunderland, and she writes her characters with an accent. I could hear their speech very clearly in my head, which I love. It does bring the characters to life more, even if there were too many of them.
Overall, an okay book, but I probably wouldn't read another of hers. There were good points and bad points, but it was a bit too melodramatic for me.
June 13, 2017
This book was okay but I can't muster much excitement. The central characters - the Lumsdons - were well-enough written and seemed believable (if not especially likeable most of the time). The borderline-poverty, crowded household on a rough estate seemed to ring true and I had an inkling the author may have some real-life experience with this but the sections that focused more on the investigating DI seemed less convincing and not necessary - the book could have stayed with the Lumsdons throughout. The actual investigative abilities of the police was laughable, only following leads when the older Lumsdon children first uncovered the clues. Plus everything was too neatly tied up by the end to make it feel truly plausible.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I like a happy ending but really: a teenage girl is kidnapped and due to be sold into slavery but rescued in the nick of time, her sister is shot but survives, their brother is being bullied into buying drugs but his tormentor is stopped before things get too hairy, the alcoholic mother is hospitalised and suddenly manages to dry out, the sadistic crime lord known as The Man who happens to have an unhealthy desire to harm the Lumsdons doesn't manage to harm any of them . . . what a lucky bunch! Also, the coincidences are a little hard to swallow: the young man Kerry Lumsdon bumps into and starts to date just so happens to be the son of The Man and there just so happens to be a photo in their house of a woman who just so happens to be the spitting image of Kerry's Mum, even though it isn't her. The Man just so happens to keep the heads of his victims in a concealed room that just-so happens to be wide open when the police arrive. The knife that was used by the assassin to cut off the victim's heads just-so happens to be singularly unique and on display in their home. Too much!
SPOILERS AHEAD
I like a happy ending but really: a teenage girl is kidnapped and due to be sold into slavery but rescued in the nick of time, her sister is shot but survives, their brother is being bullied into buying drugs but his tormentor is stopped before things get too hairy, the alcoholic mother is hospitalised and suddenly manages to dry out, the sadistic crime lord known as The Man who happens to have an unhealthy desire to harm the Lumsdons doesn't manage to harm any of them . . . what a lucky bunch! Also, the coincidences are a little hard to swallow: the young man Kerry Lumsdon bumps into and starts to date just so happens to be the son of The Man and there just so happens to be a photo in their house of a woman who just so happens to be the spitting image of Kerry's Mum, even though it isn't her. The Man just so happens to keep the heads of his victims in a concealed room that just-so happens to be wide open when the police arrive. The knife that was used by the assassin to cut off the victim's heads just-so happens to be singularly unique and on display in their home. Too much!
October 9, 2014
This modern day crime series is a gritty look at how police endeavour to keep law and order on a council area near Sunderland, in England, where unemployment is rocketing and prospects are few.
Crimes range from the usual break-ins and car thefts, to drugs but that's the background and in the foreground we get a personal case to bring us closer to some of the characters, which involves a murder.
Nice to see a female police officer in charge. We also get a good look at some local families, who are only trying to survive and lead decent lives on minimal welfare. For instance a man who rents a house from the council, but illegally sub-lets it to other families at a profit, reckons that he is doing everyone a favour because the people he is housing do not qualify for council housing. Men know the goods they buy in the pub are stolen, but they don't see any other way to afford Christmas presents.
I think what stops this series from being great, is that there is a total immersion in the atmosphere. While a Council estate series is itself a contrast with many English crime novels, there is little or no contrast within each book. Therefore they all get to feel the same.
Crimes range from the usual break-ins and car thefts, to drugs but that's the background and in the foreground we get a personal case to bring us closer to some of the characters, which involves a murder.
Nice to see a female police officer in charge. We also get a good look at some local families, who are only trying to survive and lead decent lives on minimal welfare. For instance a man who rents a house from the council, but illegally sub-lets it to other families at a profit, reckons that he is doing everyone a favour because the people he is housing do not qualify for council housing. Men know the goods they buy in the pub are stolen, but they don't see any other way to afford Christmas presents.
I think what stops this series from being great, is that there is a total immersion in the atmosphere. While a Council estate series is itself a contrast with many English crime novels, there is little or no contrast within each book. Therefore they all get to feel the same.
January 23, 2013
This is a brilliant book. I loved the Lumsdon family and all of their past has come back to haunt them in this book. It's definitely worth a read.
October 29, 2015
I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK BY SHEILA QUIGLEY RUN FOR HOME PLENTY OF PLOTS LOVED IT FROM THE FIRST PAGE RIGHT TILL THE END WELL DONE X
September 1, 2018
Got about 100 pages in to this and then decided to give up. There were way too many characters introduced in a short period of time to be able to make sense of who they all were. The mother has six (six!!!) children, they have friends, there's a police officer, there's neighbours, there's the bad people. I couldn't keep them all straight. The dialogue was with the accents the characters have, but they all talked exactly the same way (ex. saying "our Claire" when referring to a character). The plot wasn't enough to keep me going so I'm moving on to the next book!
December 7, 2017
Not much to say about this other than it's a good entertaining read. As I think I've said before about this author, her writing style reminds me of Martina Cole but with a lot less aggression & violence though still with quite a lot of swearing (so if you don't like to see the "F" word in print it's not a book for you!) though unlike Cole's characters Quigley's are likeable. A good read & a series I continue to follow.
August 11, 2018
The first of a series of the Seahill Estate books. It's just great as I live in Houghton le Spring so know all the locations mentioned in the book. Seahill Estate is fictional but the characters are gritty and tough they have depth and find humour in the word t situations. In my opinion a great read i could not put the book down. Looking forward to reading the next one.
January 28, 2022
I’m not a fan of excessive swearing and local dialect in books but I persevered and tried to ignore it and the story is actually good, I guessed who “the man” was about halfway through but there were lots of other bits to discover
May 10, 2017
Not one to be promoted by the Sunderland Tourist Board as it paints a picture of the area as one of virtual urban collapse.
June 5, 2020
Not for me . Foul language and dialect just detracted me from the story .
June 28, 2022
Actually based in the North East of England where I live. I can actually relate to the characters.
Such a good book
Such a good book
November 5, 2023
A decent, fast-paced thriller, I would say. It features an intriguing plot and two interesting protagonists. While there were no goosebump moments, it did keep me at the edge of my seat at times. There was nothing particularly special about this book. Despite it being a good thriller, I won't be returning to this author.
June 19, 2012
I had never read (or heard of) Sheila Quigley until it was recommended to me. I brought the first book as, although debuts are not always the authors best, they certainly give you a feel for the sort of writer they are.
This book I eventually got round to, and I have to say I am very pleased that I did. The story starts by the reader meeting the Lumsdon family. The main characters seem to be the eldest daughter Kerry, but we also meet all the brothers and sisters, as well as their mother.
When a body is found on the infamous Seahills Estate Detective Inspector Lorraine Hunt joins the story. In addition to the body, Kerry's younger sister Claire goes missing and pretty soon Lorraine is trying to solve both crimes.
The writing and characters I thought were great. Before reading this book I had read other reviews and found that some readers didn't like the use of the word "yer". I was a little baffled by this as I take it as a way of the author putting across the kind of characters in the story. I found it was no different to reading books where characters have a cockney accent and letters are frequently missing from words used.
I liked character of Lorraine but found it a little harder to warm to Kerry; having said that, I still enjoyed the book a great deal. The crime element of the story covers the murky world of kidnap and as the story came towards the end, it sped up and we reached what I thought was a pretty good ending.
I would probably say that as a debut this is a cracking book, but I am also guessing that like many authors her work has got better the more she has written. I have already ordered book two in the series and look forward to reading the next one.
This book I eventually got round to, and I have to say I am very pleased that I did. The story starts by the reader meeting the Lumsdon family. The main characters seem to be the eldest daughter Kerry, but we also meet all the brothers and sisters, as well as their mother.
When a body is found on the infamous Seahills Estate Detective Inspector Lorraine Hunt joins the story. In addition to the body, Kerry's younger sister Claire goes missing and pretty soon Lorraine is trying to solve both crimes.
The writing and characters I thought were great. Before reading this book I had read other reviews and found that some readers didn't like the use of the word "yer". I was a little baffled by this as I take it as a way of the author putting across the kind of characters in the story. I found it was no different to reading books where characters have a cockney accent and letters are frequently missing from words used.
I liked character of Lorraine but found it a little harder to warm to Kerry; having said that, I still enjoyed the book a great deal. The crime element of the story covers the murky world of kidnap and as the story came towards the end, it sped up and we reached what I thought was a pretty good ending.
I would probably say that as a debut this is a cracking book, but I am also guessing that like many authors her work has got better the more she has written. I have already ordered book two in the series and look forward to reading the next one.
December 15, 2012
Not bad for the first one in the series. There were several different story threads and I did get a little bit confused at times as there are lots of characters to keep track of.
The story revolves around the Lumsden family, Vanessa (an alcoholic) and her six kids, Robbie being the eldest followed by Kerry - who's an excellent runner, Darren, Claire, Suzy and Emma. Robbie's never been able to hold down a job and he basically keeps the family going by the careful use of the local shoplifters.
Robbie's dad disappeared when he was very little, and Robbie is plagued by knightmares of someone pointing a gun at his head.
The problems begin when Claire goes missing and a headless body (one of six) is found which has been buried for 16 years, Vanessa's reaction to the body is full blown panic attack, as she knows who the body belongs to - the past is resurfacing.
What happens to Claire is very disturbing, but strangely gripping - as you hope she can find a way out of her terrible situation.
In the midst of all this you have the police, Lorraine Hunt is in charge for the search for Claire while also trying to get to the bottom of the headless bodies. She's also looking for her husband who's MIA (the scene in the gay-bar was fantastic).
This book is set in the north of England so the dialogue could be tricky for some, I liked it and have already ordered the next in the series.
The story revolves around the Lumsden family, Vanessa (an alcoholic) and her six kids, Robbie being the eldest followed by Kerry - who's an excellent runner, Darren, Claire, Suzy and Emma. Robbie's never been able to hold down a job and he basically keeps the family going by the careful use of the local shoplifters.
Robbie's dad disappeared when he was very little, and Robbie is plagued by knightmares of someone pointing a gun at his head.
The problems begin when Claire goes missing and a headless body (one of six) is found which has been buried for 16 years, Vanessa's reaction to the body is full blown panic attack, as she knows who the body belongs to - the past is resurfacing.
What happens to Claire is very disturbing, but strangely gripping - as you hope she can find a way out of her terrible situation.
In the midst of all this you have the police, Lorraine Hunt is in charge for the search for Claire while also trying to get to the bottom of the headless bodies. She's also looking for her husband who's MIA (the scene in the gay-bar was fantastic).
This book is set in the north of England so the dialogue could be tricky for some, I liked it and have already ordered the next in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2011
What I liked most about Run For Home is that it wasn't set in some posh little village with a manor house and an overly suspicious butler. The settings were everyday and the characters were down to earth and believable. I could relate to it. The dialogue in this respect was also believable. I liked the fact that it focused not just around the police but around a family. There were nice touches of humour that worked well as the characters interacted together.
A Great novel and a very enjoyable read.
A Great novel and a very enjoyable read.
September 25, 2015
I read this when it first came out, because I'm a sucker for local writing of any genre and I'd just finished all of my Rebus books.
A refreshing and sinister interpretation of the crime genre, I can still remember every little bit. It had characters you could really relate to and she gave them substance and depth.
A refreshing and sinister interpretation of the crime genre, I can still remember every little bit. It had characters you could really relate to and she gave them substance and depth.
October 23, 2015
Sheila Quigley was recommended to me by a friend. This was the first book of hers that i read. It follows policewoman Lorraine Hunt and the residents of the Seahills Estate. Run for home follows Kerry Lumsdon and her family as the past comes back to haunt them. I loved the book and couldn't wait to read book 2.
August 7, 2014
Easy to read didn't take too much concentration to follow the rather predictable plot . Characters rather thin and blended into one another. Dumbed down as if to prove that council estate folk can all not speak without swearing. At times thought i was reading a script from Grange Hill.
June 28, 2016
I love the Lorraine Hunt series, set in the North East of England where I live - which just adds to the enjoyment of reading it. Sheila captures everything about the area and twinned with a great storyline this makes a brilliant read. Would recommend all Sheila Quigley books!
September 6, 2008
A page-turner of Olympic proportions. Fast-paced and very enjoyable.
November 6, 2008
The 1st book in the Detective Lorraine Hunt series
I enjoyed this book too and would recommend Sheila Quigley, she is similar to Martina Cole
I enjoyed this book too and would recommend Sheila Quigley, she is similar to Martina Cole
July 19, 2011
fantastic
July 29, 2011
This is one of the best books i've read in ages, it kept u in suspense
Read
August 12, 2011couldnt put this book down what a great read .
December 1, 2012
I adored this book. Was a total blast from start to finish. I honestly could NOT put it down. Hope it get made into a drama/film sometime soon !
December 13, 2012
I enjoyed it and for a first book it was excellent. A little far fetched but hey...it had a happy ending so pleased me.
March 30, 2013
fast pace dark crime thriller keeps you reading on
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews