Book Beginnings: The Night She Died

The Night She Died, by Dorothy Simpson (first published 1980). First book in Simpson's Inspector Luke Thanet mystery series. This is the first sentence of Chapter 1:

It was half past nine in the evening and Detective Inspector Luke Thanet was stretched out on the living-room carpet, staring at the ceiling.

About the Book:

Julie Holmes had always enticed men — a famous broadcaster in London, her husband, and now her new boss in Kent. Still, it is surprising that Julie would end up stabbed in the front hall of her own home, cut to the heart right through her tweed overcoat just minutes before her husband returns from evening class to find her dead... or so he says.  

In the first of the series, Inspector Thanet is pointed towards a foggy November evening twenty years ago when the three-year-old Julie may have witnessed a dreadful crime. Did her haunted past return to give her more than the occasional nightmare? (— GoodReads) 

Initial Thoughts:

First thought, of course: why's he on the floor? Well, you find that out pretty quickly — the Inspector has a back problem. Fortunately, it doesn't bother him as much when he's in the midst of an investigation, and the author gets him involved in a case right away. I like that — not too much scene-setting and a mystery that gets started in the first few pages.

I read a couple of the Inspector Thanet mysteries back in the late '80s or early '90s and enjoyed them very much, so I thought I'd go back and see how it all started, with this first entry in the series. So far, I'm liking it just as much as the later books. And since it's relatively short, I should be able to finish it up pretty quickly.

Happy Friday, everyone! And have a lovely weekend.

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Friday.  As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.