Snuff

Snuff by Terry Pratchett is about Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. He takes a holiday in the countryside, where he investigates a murder. The case takes him far from his usual city environment.

Snuff is not the last book featuring Sam Vimes. He appears in Raising Steam, which was published after Snuff.

First published on 11 October 2011 by Doubleday. It is the thirty-ninth Discworld novel and the eighth (and final) City Watch book.

While Snuff is part of the Discworld series, it can be enjoyed as a standalone story. It focuses on Commander Vimes and the City Watch, and while recurring characters appear, the plot is self-contained.

Goblins — a species that has been treated as vermin and non-persons under Ankh-Morpork law. Pratchett uses them to examine how the definition of 'person' has been used throughout history to justify exploitation.

Terry Pratchett drew inspiration from various real-world social issues and historical events for the themes explored in Snuff, particularly concerning class, justice, and the treatment of marginalized groups. The narrative often reflects on societal structures and prejudices.

Reader opinion varies. Some consider it a worthy conclusion to Vimes's arc; others find the country setting less vivid than the city environment that defines the Watch books. The goblin storyline is broadly praised for its emotional directness.

Snuff continues the evolution of Commander Vimes's character, placing him in an unfamiliar rural setting which provides a fresh perspective on his investigative methods and moral compass. It delves deeper into the political and social commentary often present in the City Watch sub-series.

Snuff is an extended meditation on the relationship between legal personhood and actual personhood — how societies define who counts as a 'person' worthy of rights, and what happens when that definition is used as a tool of economic convenience.

It works better with the Watch context — the relationship between Vimes, Sybil, and the Watch is enriched by the previous eight books. New readers are better served starting with Guards! Guards!.