Dead and Gone (Inspector Thanet S.) [Paperback]

Dorothy Simpson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 2000 | Series: Inspector Thanet S.

Fifteenth in the series featuring Inspector Thanet and his side-kick Lineham. High summer, and Virginia Mintar, wife of a prominent QC, wanders away from a garden party to cool down in the pool. She never returns - but her body is dredged up from the well next morning. Who was Virginia sleeping with, if not her husband? And what can Gran Mintar possibly have to hide? Thanet's progress is annoyingly obstructed by family secrets - and by fear for his own daughter and unborn grandchild druing Bridget's dangerously complicated pregnancy.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Inspector Luke Thanet (Once Too Often) puzzles over another classic case of murder: a local barrister's wife disappears in the middle of a party at her own house and is found dead. Thanet must figure out which of the many who hated her succeeded in killing her. A sure bet.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Another of the authors literate explorations of life and death in the town of Sturrenden and environs, where Inspector Luke Thanet and his faithful Sergeant Lineham bear the brunt of infrequent murder investigations (Once Too Often, 1998, etc.). The victim now is Virginia Mintaurwife of lawyer Ralph, mother of Caroline and Rachelwhose body has been found at the bottom of the decorative well adorning her prized garden. Virginia had disappeared the previous evening while entertaining neighbors Howard and Marilyn Squires; Rachel and tennis coach Matthew Agon, who have just announced their engagement; and Virginias sister Jane and her boyfriend Arnold Prime. When the postmortem indicates murder, Thanet probes for means and motives. The latter abound as Virginias many extramarital beaux come to light, among them Squires and Agon, with Prime clearly next in line. Theres no love lost, either, between Virginia and Ralphs mother, an acerbic globetrotter who lives in an annex of the Mintaur house. Is there some connection to Carolines elopement four years ago with the gardeners son Dick Swain, whose witchlike mother still lives nearbythe couple unheard from all this time? Malice and mischief, past and present, provide a wealth of motives until Thanet, besieged by family worries of his own, manages to solve more puzzles than one. Straightforward and absorbing, deftly written and adroitly plotted: another quiet winner for Simpson. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Time Warner Paperbacks; 1st THUS edition (April 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0751525251
• ISBN-13: 978-0751525250
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,694,820 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful police procedural, February 4, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead and Gone: An Inspector Luke Thanet Novel (Inspector Thanet Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Scotland Yard Inspector Luke Thannet anxiously worries about his pregnant daughter recently hospitalized for toxemia. He feels blessed that his mind is occupied by a high profile case. Virginia Minitor, wife of renowned barrister Ralph Minitor disappeared during a dinner party at her home. The police searched the Minitor estate but found nothing until the next day when her corpse was discovered at the bottom of a well.

The police treat the death as a homicide with Thannet in charge of the investigation. He questions all the guests of the Minitors only to realize that each one had a motive for killing the deceased who apparently slept with or tried to sleep with every available and not so available male inside her circle of friends. Thannet also knows that each party attendee had the opportunity. Using his skills, he has to ferret out a killer amidst a plethora of viable suspects.

Anyone who enjoys a good old-fashioned police procedural will want to read the latest Inspector Thannet tale. DEAD AND GONE is the fifteenth entry in this absorbing series. Due to Dorothy Simpson,s talent, the current tale retains a freshness and creative feel as if this is the first installment. The enthralling mystery is a maze of twists and turns that requires concentration to solve the puzzle, leaving the reader thinking while desiring novel number sixteen.

Harriet Klausner

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simpson Does It Again!, April 11, 2000

By A Customer

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This review is from: Dead and Gone: An Inspector Luke Thanet Novel (Inspector Thanet Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Having read all of the Luke Thanet mysteries, I didn't think that Dorothy Simpson could get any better, but I was wrong. This is her best effort so far, mingling the dramas surrounding Luke's own family and that of a very complicated local barrister. Simpson continues to hone her craft with each new book. I can't wait for the next installment!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The final Inspector Thanet novel., December 24, 2005

By 

DaviesUK (London, England.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead and Gone: An Inspector Luke Thanet Novel (Inspector Thanet Mysteries) (Hardcover)

"Dead and Gone" is the final novel in Dorothy Simpson's 'Inspector Thanet' series: apparently the onset of RSI forced the writer to abandon writing in 2000.

Unlike many of his fictional contemporaries, Thanet is a family man - and while he suffers secondary problems with his wife and children, these are kept as background matters in the books and his family is basically a well-adjusted and happy one.

The books are set in Kent, England (the author herself residing for a long time in Maidstone, the county town), and take the form of gentle police procedurals (no Val McDermid-style angst and graphic violence here).

This final story begins when the wife of a local Q.C (high-ranking lawyer) disappears following an informal dinner party at which their daughter has announced her engagement to an unsuitable fiance. The development of the plot is quite compelling, and athough the final twist was rather telegraphed, it is a good read for a winter's afternoon, a long journey or a beach holiday.

(And yes, to that other reviewer - I have read the novel!)