SUSPICIOUS DEATH

by Dorothy Simpson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 21, 1988

Detective Inspector Luke Thanet and eager sidekick Lineham on their usual Sturrenden village turf (Dead on Arrival, etc.)--this time confronted by the drowning death of Marcia Salden. A local gift reared in poverty and violence, Marcia moved away, made good, and then returned two years ago as: the mistress of Telford Green Manor; the wife of rich, low-keyed Bernard Salden; and a successful entrepreneur in her own right. But snubbed by the villagers in her new role, Marcia became abrasive and demanding, providing plenty of reasons for fear and dislike. Her decision to evict Harry Greenleaf--a disfigured, harmless loner living in a hut on the manor grounds--angered the locals; her peremptory threat to fire secretary Edith Phipps; and her connivance at the seduction of young beautician Josie Trimble by much older Douglas Lomax--all are topics of gossip, especially since Lomax could have been influential in swinging a town commit. tee decision Marcia's way, in a development scheme she was planning. All in all, there are many possible motives for murder--and, as usual, it's Thanet's finely honed intuition that saves the day, even in the midst of a domestic crisis of his own. Fans of the series will know just what to expect, and there are no surprises here: broadly brushed village characters and the nitty-gritty of routine police work in a slow-paced, quietly competent story that's standard Simpson.

Pub Date: Nov. 21, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION