Sat 6 Feb 2021
An Archived Mystery Review by Doug Greene: DOROTHY SIMPSON – The Night She Died.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[6] Comments
DOROTHY SIMPSON – The Night She Died. Inspecto Luke Thanet #1. Scribners, US, hardcover, 1981. Bantam, US, paperback, 1985. Originally published in the UK by Michael Joseph, hardcover, 1981.
Dorothy Simpson’s Inspector Luke Thanet is a recent addition to the sympathetic-British-policeman school of detective fiction. Thus the book is somewhat derivative – Simpson has obviously read Aird, Rendell, and Thompson. – but she handles plot and character well. Especially engaging is her contrast between Thanet’s happy family life and the unhappiness of the suspects.
The plot is about a young woman stabbed to death at her doorstep. It seems obvious that either her husband or her lecherous employer is responsible, but Thanet digs deeper to discover that the victim had witnessed a murder as a child twenty years earlier. Thanet believes that the two murders may be related.
The solution, which is not revealed until the very end, is generally satisfactory, though it might have been explained more fully. Nonetheless Dorothy Simpson is a writer to watch.
Editorial Update: Doug knew well of which he spoke. There are in total 15 books in the series.
February 6th, 2021 at 8:48 pm
I liked Simpson and Thanet, grew a bit tired though never bored, and still wonder why I am not more enthused since both are solid capable fare.
February 6th, 2021 at 9:09 pm
I feel the same way. Her books were always good, but as the old saying goes, never great.
February 7th, 2021 at 8:40 am
I agree, but they were good enough to keep me reading the whole series, and I would have read more had she written them.
February 8th, 2021 at 6:51 pm
Where Simpson and Thanet failed for me is a similar problem I have with many such series. At the point when I can read half the book before recalling whether I have already read it before, I usually drop a series.
I sometimes revisit, I’ve read a few Henry Gammage books lately, but usually I don’t go back. This seems to particularly be true of British mystery series with policemen heroes and has happened with some very good writers who nevertheless proved to be much of the same from book to book despite their skills or my early appreciation.
February 13th, 2021 at 11:00 am
A previous Mystery*File Review of this book: https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=30985
February 13th, 2021 at 11:45 am
Complete with a list of all the Thanet books as well. Thanks, Bill. That review was posted her over six years ago, with the book itself read well over 30 years before that. I knew I’d read a couple of Simpson’s books. I’d quite forgotten I’d posted a review of any of them here.