Dead on Arrival [Hardcover]

Dorothy Simpson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1987

One of the novels featuring Inspector Luke Thanet, of which "Last Seen Alive" won the 1985 Crime Writers' Silver Dagger Award. Thanet is anonymously alerted to the murder of a young man, and soon another body is found - that of an elderly prostitute whom he had picked up the night before his death.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Simpson's sixth story about the admirable British Inspector Luke Thanet involves the murder of Steven Long, possibly by Harry Carpenter, whose wife and child have died after Steve caused their car to crash. But the detective's methodical habits lead him to question others with reasons to hate the murder victim: his former wife and her new lover and Steve's younger brothers. Only his twin, Geoffrey, has a kind word for the deceased troublemaker. Although facts on the siblings' background provide Thanet and his partners with diverse avenues to explore, the case is at a standstill until the inspector adds two and two and gets an odd total. There is, in effect, a triple twist in the solution. BOMC selection; paperback rights to Bantam.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 242 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; Second Printing Edition edition (January 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684187329
• ISBN-13: 978-0684187327
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,754,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent English mystery, August 21, 2003

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead on Arrival (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the sixth in a series of mysteries set in Kent, England, and featuring the detective work of Inspector Luke Thanet. In this book, when a young man is found dead in his apartment, killed with a blow from a blunt instrument, it is up to Inspector Thanet to find out who killed him, and why. Examining the comings and goings around that apartment leaves the inspector with no end of suspects. One person did this deed, but who is that person?

As with the other Dorothy Simpson books I have read, this one has a fiendishly complicated plot. There's more than one mystery here, and you are drawn along, all the way to the finale trying to figure out who did it. This is another excellent English mystery, one that I highly enjoyed, and highly recommend to you!

5.0 out of 5 stars Luke Thant has a killer of a case., April 24, 2011

By 

Nash Black "Troubadour" (Jamestown, KY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dead on Arrival (Mass Market Paperback)

Dorothy Simpson's DEAD ON ARRIVAL presents the reader with a complex page turning who done it. Insp. Luke Thant has a victim, Stephen Long with his head bashed in by a blunt instrument. Stephen ranked high on the hit list of everyone who knew him including his own mother.

This traditional police procedural will keep you turning to pages and guessing as Thant wonders and discards suspects only to return them to his list as new evidence against them rises to the surface.

A classic you should take to the beach and enjoy.

Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS.