Order of Book Series
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Dorothy Simpson Books in Order

Dorothy Simpson has written 17 books, published between 1980 and 2020. The first book is The Night She Died (1980) and the newest is Valiant Doctors in the Frontier West (2020). Publication order is the reading order below. 15 of the 17 books listed here are in the Inspector Thanet series, which has its own page: Inspector Thanet books in order.

Books
17
Published
1980–2020
Confirmed
3 of 17 titles
Pages on record
3,721 in 16 of 17 books
Reading time
62–93 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,721 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 16 of 17 titles with a page count on record.

See all 17 books in order Printable Dorothy Simpson checklist

Inspector Luke Thanet, an English police detective, appears throughout Dorothy Simpson's mysteries. Simpson (1933-2020) wrote police procedurals, and took a Silver Dagger Award from the Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain for Last Seen Alive (1985). The series opens with The Night She Died (1980) and runs through Puppet For A Corpse (1982), Close Her Eyes (1984), Dead on Arrival (1986), Suspicious Death (1988) and Doomed To Die (1991). The 1980s were Simpson's heaviest decade, at a median of 238 pages a book.

How many Dorothy Simpson books are there?

Dorothy Simpson has 17 books, released between 1980 and 2020. 15 of them belong to the Inspector Thanet series.

Dorothy Simpson Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 17 Dorothy Simpson books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Night She Died by Dorothy Simpson, book 1 of the Inspector Thanet series (1980)
  2. Cover of Six Feet Under by Dorothy Simpson, book 2 of the Inspector Thanet series (1982)
  3. Cover of Puppet For A Corpse by Dorothy Simpson, book 3 of the Inspector Thanet series (1982)
  4. Cover of Close Her Eyes by Dorothy Simpson, book 4 of the Inspector Thanet series (1984)
  5. Cover of Dead on Arrival by Dorothy Simpson, book 6 of the Inspector Thanet series (1986)
  6. Cover of Element of Doubt by Dorothy Simpson, book 7 of the Inspector Thanet series (1987)
  7. Cover of Suspicious Death by Dorothy Simpson, book 8 of the Inspector Thanet series (1988)
  8. Cover of Dead By Morning by Dorothy Simpson, book 9 of the Inspector Thanet series (1989)
  9. Cover of Doomed To Die by Dorothy Simpson, book 10 of the Inspector Thanet series (1991)
  10. Cover of Harbingers of Fear by Dorothy Simpson (1992)
  11. Cover of Wake the Dead by Dorothy Simpson, book 11 of the Inspector Thanet series (1992)
  12. Cover of No Laughing Matter by Dorothy Simpson, book 12 of the Inspector Thanet series (1993)
  13. Cover of Dead and Gone by Dorothy Simpson, book 15 of the Inspector Thanet series (1999)
  14. Cover of Valiant Doctors in the Frontier West by Dorothy Simpson (2020)
  1. 1
    The Night She DiedInspector Thanet #11980 · 267 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1980267
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Six Feet UnderInspector Thanet #21982 · 192 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1982192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Puppet For A CorpseInspector Thanet #31982 · 224 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1982224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Close Her EyesInspector Thanet #41984 · 208 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1984208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Last Seen AliveInspector Thanet #51985 · 220 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1985220
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Dead on ArrivalInspector Thanet #61986 · confirmed 3/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Element of DoubtInspector Thanet #71987 · 231 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1987231
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Suspicious DeathInspector Thanet #81988 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1988256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Dead By MorningInspector Thanet #91989 · 277 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1989277
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Doomed To DieInspector Thanet #101991 · 235 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1991235
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Harbingers of Fear1992 · 240 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1992240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Wake the DeadInspector Thanet #111992 · 250 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1992250
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    No Laughing MatterInspector Thanet #121993 · 262 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993262
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Day for DyingInspector Thanet #131995 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1995288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Once Too OftenInspector Thanet #141998 · 224 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1998224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Dead and GoneInspector Thanet #151999 · 247 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1999247
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Valiant Doctors in the Frontier West2020 · 100 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2020100
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Dorothy Simpson series in order

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.

Dorothy Simpson books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Standalone books

2 books

2 Dorothy Simpson titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Dorothy Simpson books in order?

You only need to read Dorothy Simpson books in order within the Inspector Thanet series, which holds 15 of the 17 Dorothy Simpson books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Dorothy Simpson

Start with The Night She Died (1980), the first Inspector Thanet book. It is also the earliest catalogued title.

What is the newest Dorothy Simpson book?

Valiant Doctors in the Frontier West (2020) is the newest Dorothy Simpson book released so far.

Is there a new Dorothy Simpson book coming?

No next Dorothy Simpson book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Dorothy Simpson at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Dorothy Simpson title on record dates from 2020, 6 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Dorothy Simpson books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
3,721 pages across the 16 of 17 books with a recorded length, a median of 238 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Dorothy Simpson books, 9 of 17, were published in the 1980s.

What the Dorothy Simpson books are about

15 of the 17 Dorothy Simpson books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: luke thanet (fictitious character) is tagged on 9 of 15. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

Other Mystery authors

Each link below opens a reading-order page with every book in publication order.