Dead on Arrival
Dead on Arrival by Dorothy Simpson Open Road Integrated Media Mystery & Thrillers Pub Date 06 Jun 2017
Review
Dorothy Simpson’s Dead on Arrival is an intriguing mystery, but the victim is almost too easy to hate. Steven Long makes it his business to make everyone miserable, from his half-siblings to his wife. His self absorption and self pity is so great that he takes absolutely no responsibility for his actions. I hated hIm so much that part of me wanted to put the mystery aside. That his twin Geoff had positive things to say about him was suspicious from the very beginning. Everyone had a reason for wanting him gone. I felt for DI Thanet and his sergeant having to investigate the murder of such a horrible fellow. I enjoyed the interactions between Thanet and his family. You could easily see the affection he has for his wife and children. It makes a startling comparison to Long’s lifetime of destructive self absorption. I anticipated one of the two major twists - it was almost too easy. Still I enjoyed the lead characters, and Simpson’s writing is excellent. I will definitely try another of her novels.
4 / 5
I received a copy of Dead on Arrival from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
-Crittermom
Description
A British detective must find the killer of a much-despised villager in this mystery from “a modern-day version of Agatha Christie” (Booklist). 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? A troublemaker with enemies wherever he went, Long was loathed by everyone in town, from his long-suffering ex-wife to the man whose family he killed in a driving accident. To find the culprit, Thanet will have to get to the bottom of a lifetime of hate.
