Dinah Lampitt Books In Order

Publication Order of John Rawlings Books

Publication Order of Reverend Nick Lawrence Mystery Books

Publication Order of Sutton Place Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Deryn Lake Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Deryn Lake Short Story Collections

Dinah Lampitt is a British novelist from Ilford Essex best known for the writing of historical novels set in England. She was born to a Bavarian man that had emigrated to England in between the wars and a Welsh English woman. Her great-grandfather was a professional musician that went by the name Gwilym Lon and was also a nobleman known as the bard of Eisteddfod. Her grandfather claimed that he was a relative of Thomas Hardy, which perhaps explains the writing bug in the family. As a child, Lampitt never did like formal education, was terrible at sports, but very much loved English and History and would frequently read ancient stories to the class. Right from the time she could write, she started writing short stories that she would read to her father and continued right through to her teenage years. During her teenage years her parents moved to sixteenth century house in Chiswick, where she had a lot of fun exploring the river and walking on the Strand on the Green. Since she never knew what she wanted to do with her life, her parents decided to send her to Regent Street Polytechnic, where she undertook a course in journalism. It was while she was working as a journalist that she finally decided she wanted to write after she was assigned to write The Woman etiquette column. She eventually got a job on The Times newsroom and finally The Evening News, where she met Bill Lampitt the assistant editor that would become her husband.

Marriage changed everything for Dinah as she got two children and moved to a large Victorian house in the country. By this time she had effectively given up on her writing career and was immersed into motherhood and local community activities. Unfortunately her husband Bill died of coronary thrombosis in 1982 leaving her devastated. Her husband had always encouraged her to pursue her dreams and when he died she revived her interest in becoming a published author. With the death of Bill she moved to Mayfield Sussex where she got into a relationship with Zak Packham. Zak’s cottage was a country delight with some of the most spectacular views which provided her with the tranquility and enchantment to start writing. She lost Zak to a smoking related complication in 1996 and dove deep into her writing to keep her sanity. Two years later she moved to Devon and despite the lonely and bleak winters produced one of her best ever series the “John Rawlings series”. She currently lives in Sussex close to her two children and spends her time writing and attending social events.

The “Sutton Place” novels are a series of novels that Dinah Lampitt debuted with “Sutton Place” in 1983. The series of novels are a fine mix of fiction and fact that Lampitt obviously drew from her love of history and her experiences living in the English country side. Sutton happens to be a real place in England and all the characters are drawn from real life characters, which makes the stories so interesting. The core of the “Sutton Place” series is the familiar Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn story that is made even more intriguing with a supernatural twist to the tale. In the stories, the families from different generations experience eerily similar happenings on the same dates, which makes them wonder if it is an ancient curse passed down the centuries or just a coincidence. Edward the Confessor’s wife had placed a terrible curse upon Sutton House in the eleventh century, for being spurned by her husband. With such fertile history imagination runs wild as a curse rather than coincidence seems more likely to be the cause of all the bizarre happenings. They are stories of a sad legacy yet are fascinating narratives that tell of curses passed down to the person that inherits the family fortune, making for some great reads.

“Sutton Place” the first novel in the series opens to the story of a curse placed by Queen Edith on Sutton Place, who decrees misfortune for anyone that would ever hold the estate. 500 years later an astute politician and rising star of Henry VIII’s court is awarded the estate and proceeds to build a beautiful country estate on it. What he does not know is that the moment he built on the property his family fell under the curse. His son Francis Weston is sentenced to death for a crime that did not happen – he is accused and found guilty of sleeping with Anne Boleyn. The mysterious Anne and the vivacious Francis had unknowingly made it easy for the accusation to be labeled against them. The much loved court astrologer is determined to halt the dark forces of the curse, but soon finds that they may be too strong even for him. A few centuries later, it is the turn of a media baron, a nobleman named Lord Northcliffe, and billionaire oilman Paul Getty to face up to the dark forces. “Sutton Place” is a great story that combines fiction and fact as it follows the life and times of heirs caught up in a centuries’ old curse.

“The Silver Swan” is the second novel of the “Sutton Place” series of novels set at the Tudor era mansion Sutton Place. Elizabeth Weston has just abandoned her home alongside Melior Mary, her strong willed daughter to go live with Alexander Pope the celebrated poet. It is a scandalous move that is sure to embarrass her husband ,a scion of the proud Westons that have lived at the magnificent mansion for centuries. Could there be dark forces dogging the family or could all this be coincidence? According to local legend, the estate is weighed down by a centuries’ old curse that makes all heirs of the manor susceptible to devastating events. It will soon be the turn of Melior Mary the youthful, mysterious and beautiful daughter of Weston to inherit her father’s estate. It is anybody’s guess as to what fate has in store for Mary. Destiny has in store for her two great loves but whether she will achieve happiness is a matter only the dark and secretive forces can understand. “The Silver Swan” is a skillful combination of great historical characters such as Joseph Gage the 18th century rake, Jacobite spy, and Alexander Pope the poet of the age. It is a historical, haunting, and romantic story that will engage the reader from the first page right to the last.