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Inspector Thanet #4-6 omnibus
The Second Inspector Thanet Omnibus: Close Her Eyes / Last Seen Alive / Dead on Arrival
CLOSE HER EYES: When Charity Pritchard goes missing Inspector Thanet's concern deepens when the first thought of her strictly relgious family is to leave the matter in God's hands. Of course, no detective can put much faith in appearance, but it is only after Thanet finds Charity's broken body before he realises just how wrong he can be...
LAST SEEN ALIVE: It was all of twenty years since Alicia Parnell last saw Sturrenden. While she was still a schoolgirl a jilted boyfriend had killed himself, and her parents had tactfully moved away. Nevertheless the old crowd were delighted to welcome her back when she turned up out of the blue one day- but puzzlement at her motive is quickly replaced by shock, when Alicia is found strangled in her room...
DEAD ON ARRIVAL: Life has been rough on Steven Long. Separated from his wife, estranged from his family except his twin brother, he had become a loner. But on the night he died from a savage blow to the back of the head, he'd had an unusual number of visitors. All that was certain was that the murderer had been exceptionally cool and calculated about this particular crime...
LAST SEEN ALIVE: It was all of twenty years since Alicia Parnell last saw Sturrenden. While she was still a schoolgirl a jilted boyfriend had killed himself, and her parents had tactfully moved away. Nevertheless the old crowd were delighted to welcome her back when she turned up out of the blue one day- but puzzlement at her motive is quickly replaced by shock, when Alicia is found strangled in her room...
DEAD ON ARRIVAL: Life has been rough on Steven Long. Separated from his wife, estranged from his family except his twin brother, he had become a loner. But on the night he died from a savage blow to the back of the head, he'd had an unusual number of visitors. All that was certain was that the murderer had been exceptionally cool and calculated about this particular crime...
- GenresMystery
672 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1995
About the author
Dorothy Simpson
36 books117 followersDorothy Preece Simpson writes...
"I was born and brought up in South Wales, went to Bridgend Grammar School and then on to Bristol University, where I read modern languages before moving to Kent, the background of the Thanet novels, to teach French at Dartford and Erith Grammar Schools.
Moving to the Maidstone area on my marriage, I then spent several years devoting myself to bringing up my three children. During that time I trained as a marriage guidance counsellor and subsequently worked as one for thirteen years.
You may think that marriage guidance counsellor to crime writer is rather a peculiar career move, but although I didn’t realise it at the time, of course, the training I received was the best possible preparation for writing detective novels. Murder mysteries are all about relationships which go disastrously wrong and the insights I gained into what makes people tick, into their interaction and motivations, have been absolutely invaluable to DI Thanet, my series character, as have the interviewing skills I acquired during my years of counselling.
I began to write after a long illness in 1975. The success of my first book, a suspense novel called HARBINGERS OF FEAR, gave me sufficient impetus to carry me through the two rejections which followed - very disheartening at the time, but invaluable in retrospect.
It was during this period that I realised that the crime novel is of such diversity that it offers enormous scope to the writer and decided to attempt to lay the foundation for a series of detective novels in my next book. This was the THE NIGHT SHE DIED." This was the first in a 15 book series starring Detective Inspector Luke Thanet. Severe repetitive stress injury caused her to stop writing in 2000.
She is an award winning author, receiving a Silver Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain.
"I was born and brought up in South Wales, went to Bridgend Grammar School and then on to Bristol University, where I read modern languages before moving to Kent, the background of the Thanet novels, to teach French at Dartford and Erith Grammar Schools.
Moving to the Maidstone area on my marriage, I then spent several years devoting myself to bringing up my three children. During that time I trained as a marriage guidance counsellor and subsequently worked as one for thirteen years.
You may think that marriage guidance counsellor to crime writer is rather a peculiar career move, but although I didn’t realise it at the time, of course, the training I received was the best possible preparation for writing detective novels. Murder mysteries are all about relationships which go disastrously wrong and the insights I gained into what makes people tick, into their interaction and motivations, have been absolutely invaluable to DI Thanet, my series character, as have the interviewing skills I acquired during my years of counselling.
I began to write after a long illness in 1975. The success of my first book, a suspense novel called HARBINGERS OF FEAR, gave me sufficient impetus to carry me through the two rejections which followed - very disheartening at the time, but invaluable in retrospect.
It was during this period that I realised that the crime novel is of such diversity that it offers enormous scope to the writer and decided to attempt to lay the foundation for a series of detective novels in my next book. This was the THE NIGHT SHE DIED." This was the first in a 15 book series starring Detective Inspector Luke Thanet. Severe repetitive stress injury caused her to stop writing in 2000.
She is an award winning author, receiving a Silver Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 11, 2018
Wonderful Series
These books are very well written, and the main characters are developed wonderfully. I like the combination of a good murder mystery and the personal lives of the detectives. Each book in the volume is so good and the endings are quite unexpected. I thought I had the last one figured out, but there was a twist I had not anticipated. Good reading. Now I will have to read the rest of the series, staring with the first three books, and then read the rest of the series from book 6 onwards. I don't want to miss a one.
These books are very well written, and the main characters are developed wonderfully. I like the combination of a good murder mystery and the personal lives of the detectives. Each book in the volume is so good and the endings are quite unexpected. I thought I had the last one figured out, but there was a twist I had not anticipated. Good reading. Now I will have to read the rest of the series, staring with the first three books, and then read the rest of the series from book 6 onwards. I don't want to miss a one.
January 19, 2022
Kept me guessing
Clever premise well presented with enough hints but no flashing lights. Continued character development of Thanet and family. Good story.
Clever premise well presented with enough hints but no flashing lights. Continued character development of Thanet and family. Good story.
November 9, 2018
Three stories in this box set, one of which I've already read and reviewed. I'll review them here as I finish each one.
Close Her Eyes:
A young girl is reported missing after several days have passed. When Thanet goes looking, he finds her body in a short-cut alleyway which was on her way home. Her parents and her uncle are members of an extremely fundamentalist sect which apparently believes that anything that gives pleasure is evil. Her best friend from school is hiding something, and various people give conflicting views of the dead girl's personality. The more Thanet finds out about her, the more it seems that she may have brought her death on herself. Thanet's wife is away taking a course for her job, and Lineham's pregnant wife is in the hospital, so they both have a lot on their minds in addition to this case.
Last Seen Alive:
A woman Thanet remembers from his grammar school days is found murdered in a local hotel. Several people from the clique she was a part of in school also live locally or are visiting, including a woman who is very jealous of her, and a man who is now a famous violinist, performing with his fiancee. Thanet and Lineham spend time in London to learn what brought her, but Thanet is sure that the reason behind her murder lies somewhere farther back in her past. And what became of the red folder?
Dead on Arrival:
I had this one as a book on my shelf, and reviewed it in October. Q.V. if interested. I'm rereading it (skimming) just because it's there, but I'm not going to review it again here.
Close Her Eyes:
A young girl is reported missing after several days have passed. When Thanet goes looking, he finds her body in a short-cut alleyway which was on her way home. Her parents and her uncle are members of an extremely fundamentalist sect which apparently believes that anything that gives pleasure is evil. Her best friend from school is hiding something, and various people give conflicting views of the dead girl's personality. The more Thanet finds out about her, the more it seems that she may have brought her death on herself. Thanet's wife is away taking a course for her job, and Lineham's pregnant wife is in the hospital, so they both have a lot on their minds in addition to this case.
Last Seen Alive:
A woman Thanet remembers from his grammar school days is found murdered in a local hotel. Several people from the clique she was a part of in school also live locally or are visiting, including a woman who is very jealous of her, and a man who is now a famous violinist, performing with his fiancee. Thanet and Lineham spend time in London to learn what brought her, but Thanet is sure that the reason behind her murder lies somewhere farther back in her past. And what became of the red folder?
Dead on Arrival:
I had this one as a book on my shelf, and reviewed it in October. Q.V. if interested. I'm rereading it (skimming) just because it's there, but I'm not going to review it again here.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews