Wake the Dead — Dorothy Simpson

A quaint English village's summer gala is interrupted by murder in this award-winning mystery series starring the mild-mannered Detective Inspector Thanet.

The Thaxden Fête is one of the highlights of the Sturrenden social calendar, and this year it promises to be better than ever. Local celebrities have descended on Thaxden Hall to raise money for the town hospice. The food is exquisite, the music lovely, and the company divine. Det. Inspector Luke Thanet and his wife are having a wonderful time at the party -- until murder intervenes.
 
The victim is the mother of Hugo Fairleigh, local member of Parliament and organizer of the fête. An elderly woman who suffered a stroke just a few days before, she's an unlikely target for a killer, yet someone saw fit to hold a pillow over her face until she breathed no more. Suspecting the killer came from Fairleigh's own circles, Thanet begins investigating the MP's family, certain of only one thing: This party is over.
 
Written by the CWA Silver Daggerâ€"winning Dorothy Simpson, Wake the Dead is a perfect English mystery novel: at once tightly plotted, understated, and utterly shocking.
 
Wake the Dead is the 11th book in the Inspector Thanet Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.