- Hardcover: 223 pages
- Publisher: Simon and Schuster (February 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0684845784
- ISBN-13: 978-0684845784
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14.5 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 363 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
Inspector Luke Thanet's latest case involves the suspicious death of a newspaper reporter in the English village of Sturrenden. Suspects include the woman's unemployed battered husband, her estate-agent lover, the lover's angry wife, a reported neighborhood prowler, and others. Thanet's investigation proceeds with satisfying depth as he and Sergeant Lineham debate details of the case, theories about the murderer, and all the permutations thereof, but both suffer personal strain as well. As usual, Simpson (A Day for Dying, LJ 5/1/96) tailors her plot with skill and care, nicely dovetailing all the clues and reserving a special twist for the end. Strongly recommended.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Filled with misgivings about his daughter's upcoming wedding to a much wealthier (but less obviously committed) fianc, Inspector Luke Thanet can only pray that Bridget's marriage doesn't turn out like Jessica Dander's. That longtime Kent Messenger reporter's unhappy union has come to a suitably abrupt end with her fall down the household staircase. Or was she helped into her final flight--by her dispirited, laid-off husband Desmond Manifest; by her brother-in-law Bernard Covin; by her lover, estate agent Adam Ogilvy; or by the unknown figure she felt convinced was stalking her? Despite the bottom of those stairs becoming the place for what turns out to be a surreptitious parade of interlopers as numerous as the crowd of innocents in any Agatha Christie library, reliable Thanet and his sidekick, Sgt. Mike Lineham, close this modest case by uncovering a 20-year-old secret. In his 14th (A Day for Dying, 1996, etc.), Thanet, as usual, deftly unpeels the layers of unhappy deception shrouding the victim, though the result this time is a surprisingly long-winded anticlimax. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well plotted, beautifully written procedural/cozy, July 18 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Once Too Often: An Inspector Luke Thanet Novel (Hardcover)
A fine entry in Ms. Simpson's always-well-written series. The puzzle is carefully crafted and ingenious, with enough red herrings to throw most pursuers off the scent. The characters are pleasantly three-dimensional; Ms. Simpson is a good enough author to realize that, if the reader doesn't care about the characters, there would be no reason care what happens TO them. A thoroughly satisfying book.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The thinking person's mystery, Jan 17 1998
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Once Too Often: An Inspector Luke Thanet Novel (Hardcover)
Inspector Luke Thanet's beloved daughter is getting married in a few days. However, instead of a joyous occasion, the police officer worries that his daughter is making a bad choice. Luke is relieved to be handed a perplexing case to investigate so that he can concentrate on something other than the upcoming nuptials. Newspaper columnist Jessica Dander is dead from a broken neck after falling down the stairs in her home. Luke and his partner Detective Sergeant Mike Lineham need to determine whether the cause of death was an accident or a deliberate act of foul play. An investigation into the deceased's background produces a host of believable suspects, all who disliked the victim. The primary suspect is Jessica's spouse, who has no viable alibi to cover his whereabouts during the time of death. His motive was that of the cuckolded husband, who was also a spousal abuse victim. Besides the spouse, other suspects had solid motives to commit murder. Jessica's lover, who allegedly tried to end their relationship. His wife, who was just outside the murder scene in a car waiting for her spouse to end the relationship. An apprentice hairdresser, who had a deep obsession for the dead person. Luke wants to have this case solved before his daughter's big day so he has one less headache to deal with when his daughter marries.
This fourteenth entry in the Inspector Thanet series is a warm British police procedural wrapped inside a charming cozy. The tale is long on the intellect and short on the gore. The two police officers quietly reason out the sequence of events, discreetly make inquiries, and compare stories without turning into Super-cop. Fans of Jessica Fletcher and Ms. Marple will not only want to read ONCE TOO OFTEN, but all the other entertaining works in this series. Dorothy Simpson gives the audience a tantalizing glimpse into the personal lives of the two officers, thereby humanizing them so that readers will care what happens to them.
Harriet Klausner
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good mystery, July 8 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Once Too Often: An Inspector Luke Thanet Novel (Hardcover)
This is a very well-written mystery. The author has you guessing all the way to the very end and it turns out to be a total surprise! I would reccomend this book to those who love just a great mystery without all the gore.
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