Dorothy Simpson

The Hippocratic oath binds medical professionals to a lifetime of helping fellow human beings. For a doctor to kill himself is not just to renege on that pledge, but to betray all mankind. When Dr. Arnold Pettifer is found dead from an overdose of pills and alcohol, Det. Inspector Luke Thanet's first reaction is disgust. His second is suspicion: This, he thinks, is murder. Nothing in Pettifer's life would point to suicide. He had a prospering practice,...

There's no shortage of suspects when a body turns up in a charming English village in this mystery starring mild-mannered Detective Inspector Thanet. Det. Inspector Luke Thanet is pulling into his driveway, anticipating a long, lazy evening at home, when murder intervenes. A village so lovely it seems straight out of a fairytale, Ribbleden is far from the main roads and Thanet's usual beat. When the inspector pulls into town, the quiet country streets...

A compelling British police procedural starring the mild-mannered Detective Inspector Thanet from "a modern-day version of Agatha Christie" (Booklist). Change is coming to the Sturrenden police station. After twenty years at the helm, the superintendent has retired, and Det. Inspector Luke Thanet is now reporting to a brusque, ambitious upstart recently promoted from Cardiff. A new chief means turf wars and bureaucratic infighting. With the station...

Winner of the CWA Silver Dagger: A troubled woman returns to her peaceful English village after twenty years-and is murdered within twenty-four hours. When Det. Inspector Luke Thanet was a young man, Alicia Parnell was one of the most popular girls in Sturrenden: beautiful, charming, and brilliant. But her perfect life was shattered when her teenage boyfriend killed himself. Alicia's family left town soon after, and Thanet never expected to see her...

A mystery about a missing girl and a secretive church in a small English village from an author known for "character and psychological insight" (The Washington Post). On a blistering summer weekend, as all of England rushes to the seashore, Det. Inspector Luke Thanet is looking forward to a few days off to putter around his garden and forget the stresses of his job. A famously soft-hearted detective, Thanet takes every crime personally, and he's overdue...

A quaint English village's summer gala is interrupted by murder in this award-winning mystery series starring the mild-mannered Detective Inspector Thanet. The Thaxden Fête is one of the highlights of the Sturrenden social calendar, and this year it promises to be better than ever. Local celebrities have descended on Thaxden Hall to raise money for the town hospice. The food is exquisite, the music lovely, and the company divine. Det. Inspector Luke...

Det. Inspector Luke Thanet's stomach clenches up as soon as he hears the phrase "head bashed in." Even after countless homicides, the mild-mannered country cop has never gotten comfortable with murder, and his latest case is particularly upsetting. The dead man is found in bed, apparently the victim of a single blow with a blunt object. When the corpse is identified as Steven Long, the question is no longer who wanted to kill him, but who didn't?...

Close Her Eyes: When a teenage girl from a strict fundamentalist religious order goes missing, her parents insist that the investigation of her disappearance be left in the hands of God. But when Charity Pritchard is found murdered, Inspector Thanet and Sergeant Lineham vow to tear off the church's veil of secrecy to reveal her killer. Last Seen Alive: When Luke Thanet was a young man, Alicia Parnell was one of the most popular girls in Sturrenden-until...