Order of Book Series
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Inspector Thanet Books in Order

Inspector Thanet by Dorothy Simpson contains 15 books, published between 1980 and 1999. The first book is The Night She Died (1980) and the newest is Dead and Gone (1999). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
15
Published
1980–1999
Confirmed
3 of 15 titles
Pages on record
3,381 in 14 of 15 books
Reading time
56–85 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,381 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 14 of 15 titles with a page count on record.

See all 15 books in order Printable Inspector Thanet checklist

Inspector Thanet is Luke Thanet, the English police detective at the centre of Dorothy Simpson's traditional mysteries. Fifteen books run from The Night She Died (1980) to Dead and Gone (1999), through Six Feet Under (1982), Close Her Eyes (1984), Last Seen Alive (1985), Dead on Arrival (1986) and Suspicious Death (1988). Police procedure and domestic fiction sit among the subjects, and the series closed in 1999.

How many Inspector Thanet books are there?

Inspector Thanet has 15 books, released between 1980 and 1999.

Inspector Thanet Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 15 Inspector Thanet 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 Wake the Dead by Dorothy Simpson, book 11 of the Inspector Thanet series (1992)
  11. Cover of No Laughing Matter by Dorothy Simpson, book 12 of the Inspector Thanet series (1993)
  12. Cover of Dead and Gone by Dorothy Simpson, book 15 of the Inspector Thanet series (1999)
  1. 1
    The Night She Died1980 · 267 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1980267
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  2. 2
    Six Feet Under1982 · 192 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1982192
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  3. 3
    Puppet For A Corpse1982 · 224 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1982224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Close Her Eyes1984 · 208 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1984208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Last Seen Alive1985 · 220 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1985220
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Dead on Arrival1986 · confirmed 3/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Element of Doubt1987 · 231 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1987231
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Suspicious Death1988 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1988256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Dead By Morning1989 · 277 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1989277
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Doomed To Die1991 · 235 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1991235
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Wake the Dead1992 · 250 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1992250
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    No Laughing Matter1993 · 262 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993262
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Day for Dying1995 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1995288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Once Too Often1998 · 224 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1998224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Dead and Gone1999 · 247 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1999247
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Is there a chronological order for Inspector Thanet?

No separate chronological order is on record for Inspector Thanet, because none of the book listings this catalogue draws on publishes one; the publication order above is the only order given.

Do you have to read Inspector Thanet books in order?

You should read the Inspector Thanet books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Inspector Thanet book also stands alone.

Where to start with Inspector Thanet

Start with The Night She Died (1980), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Inspector Thanet book?

Dead and Gone (1999) is the newest Inspector Thanet book released so far.

Is there a new Inspector Thanet book coming?

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

Inspector Thanet at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Inspector Thanet title on record dates from 1999, 27 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Inspector Thanet books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
3,381 pages across the 14 of 15 books with a recorded length, a median of 241 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Inspector Thanet books, 9 of 15, were published in the 1980s.

What the Inspector Thanet books are about

14 of the 15 Inspector Thanet 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 14. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by Dorothy Simpson

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.