Spend Some Time in Scotland With These 3 books!

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received these books, free of charge,from Open Road Media,via Netgalley,  for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about them, all opinions are my own.


So you're still on that 'Staycation' this Summer?

No worries, this set of books can take you to England and cooler temps!

Continuing to look at the 16 books in the Luke Thanet series, here are books 3-5!

puppet for a corpse cover

Puppet for a Corpse- Book 3 in the Series

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, money in the bank, a beautiful new wife, and a baby on the way. But when Inspector Thanet learns that Pettifer’s wife had taken a lover, he begins to suspect her—only to find that nothing about the death of Dr. Pettifer is as obvious as it may seem.

Review:

Very reminscent of an Agatha Christie novel, this books takes the idea of an apparent suicide and questions some oddities at the scene, turning what appears to be simple into a complex mystery, that vexes all the officers involved. Add in contrary memories from his close associates and family, and you almost have a closed room mystery! This one was fun and a real page turner, as the reader attempts to figure out if it was, or wasn't, a suicide too! I think was my fav of the 3 here today!


close her eyes cover

 Close Her Eyes- Book 4 in the Series

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 for a break. But when a young girl goes missing, it’s all hands on deck. Thanet will move heaven and earth to bring Charity Pritchard home alive. But do her parents even want her found?

Charity’s family belongs to a strict fundamentalist religious order, and they insist that the investigation of her disappearance be left up to God. But when the holy approach fails tragically and Charity is found brutally murdered, Thanet and his partner, the impetuous young Mike Lineham, will tear the church apart to find her killer.

Review:

Much like Puppet for a Purpose, this book also gives the reader a mystery that is NOT what it seems. Once again, things are NOT what they seem. This was actually the first Thanet book I ever read, and one that got me hooked on Thanet as an interesting leading character! Lots of red herrings abound in this book, and you might think you know for sure who the killer is, only to be surprised at the end! But once you look at the facts, it all makes sense and you see where you went wrong. This one is more of a Fall read to me, due to the subject matter, but it's a good look at the evolving team of Thanet and Lineham, and not to be missed  if you are into this series!

last seen alive cover


Last Seen Alive- book 5 in the Series

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 again. But two decades later, Alicia comes home to start her life over in the country village where she was born. No one knows what drew her back, and no one has a chance to ask—because less than a day after her return, Alicia is murdered.

Her body is found in the Black Swan hotel, and all signs point to strangulation. Inspector Thanet is shocked by the death of someone he knew, and to find Alicia’s killer, he’ll have to dig deep into their shared past. Someone in Sturrenden has a secret, and Thanet must uncover it before the killer strikes again.


Review:

If you've been to your high school reunion, you know how much people tend to change. But what if someone hasn't? And then suddenly their secrets come out, and you realize you really never knew the person? This book takes that premise and makes a case for how secrets in our lives can affect us every day, and how trauma in the past, can come back and haunt the future, sometimes in unimaginable ways. I have to admit I saw who the suspect was early, but I didn't have all the pieces til past midway in the book, so it was interesting to read and see how the story played out. This one of the three book is probably the best of the three for a Summer read, and highly recommended!


About the Author:



Dorothy Simpson (b. 1933) was born and raised in South Wales, and went to Bristol University, where she studied modern languages before moving to Kent, the setting for her Inspector Thanet Mysteries. After spending several years at home with her three children, she trained as a marriage guidance counselor and subsequently worked as one for thirteen years before writing her first novel. Says Simpson, “You may think that marriage guidance counselor to crime writer is rather a peculiar career move, but although I didn’t realize 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 counseling.”

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