Showing results by author "Lynda La Plante" in All Categories

Detective Anna Travis is investigating the brutal murder of a young woman whose body was discovered in the Thames, brutalised and severed in half, a red flower in her hair. With the case bearing an eerie resemblance to the famous unsolved murder case of Elizabeth Short—known as the Black Dahlia—media interest intensifies, and fears of a copycat take hold. But with almost no clues, the case is slowly going cold. That is until the killer reaches out to the press.

When her boss, James Langton, is almost fatally injured while pursuing a ruthless gang, Detective Anna Travis must put her own career on hold as she nurses him through his intense frustration and desperation to bring his would-be murderer to justice. Then Anna is assigned to a different case, the vicious murder of a quiet, studious woman whose body was found by her daughter—an attack with no obvious motive or immediate suspect. Until the case becomes unexpectedly linked with that of her boss, and Anna finds herself under threat from those who almost destroyed his career and his life.

Rookie detective Anna Travis has been assigned to her first murder case - a series of killings that has shocked even the most hardened on the force. Over the past eight years there have been six victims - all women from similar backgrounds, all killed in an identical way. Then a seventh body is found, but this one doesn't fit the pattern.

When an ex-police officer from the murder squad is found shot dead in a dank squat, Detective Anna Travis is pulled into the case he was working on—the hunt for Alexander Fitzpatrick, a drug-trafficker with a vast fortune, and one of the most wanted men in the Western world. But there have been no sightings of Fitzpatrick for over a decade. As the body count rises, and with no sign of Fitzpatrick, the investigation takes a horrifying turn. Anna and her team learn that Fitzpatrick, wherever he is, may have access to one of the most lethal drugs in existence. 

Detective Anna Travis is called out to a motorway service station on the M1, where the body of a young girl has been found in a nearby ditch. With no apparent family, friends or connections, this victim is the latest in a string of women who have gone missing in the vicinity, with no one stepping forward to claim them. As the investigation appears to stall, Anna receives an unexpected letter from a man she helped put away. He asks her to visit him in prison immediately, claiming to know who the killer is.

Every legend has a beginning.... During 1974 and 1975, the IRA subjected London to a terrifying bombing campaign. In one day alone, they planted seven bombs at locations across central London. Some were defused - some were not. Jane Tennison is now a fully fledged detective. On the way to court one morning, Jane passes through Covent Garden Underground station and is caught up in a bomb blast that leaves several people dead and many horribly injured.

Detective Anna Travis is up for promotion, but with her boss DCI James Langton accusing her of professional misconduct, this latest case could make or break her. Shortly after the announcement of a tell-all memoir, a young film star is found dead. With careers at stake and secrets to hide, almost everyone has a motive to kill. From jealous ex-flatmates to famous lovers, Langton and his team are confronted with a vast array of suspects, keen to keep their secrets close to their chests. 

When a new lead in a cold case comes to light, Detective Anna Travis faces the biggest challenge of her career. Five years ago, a teenage girl disappeared in broad daylight on a busy street and the mystery has haunted Anna's boss Langton, who led the original investigation, for years. With a confession to this murder and one more besides, Langton believes he finally has his man—but Anna isn't so sure. With a lack of evidence, the confession is critical to the arrest. And when the suspect changes his story, it looks like the case could fall apart. 

A security van heist goes disastrously wrong, and three women are left widowed. When Dolly Rawlins discovers her gang boss husband's plans for the failed hijack, an idea starts to form. Could she and the other wives finish the job their husbands started? As the women rehearse the raid, it becomes clear that someone else must have been involved. But only three bodies were found in the wreckage. Who was the fourth man? And where is he now?

Things can't get much worse for Detective Jane Tennison. Unceremoniously kicked off the adrenaline-fuelled Flying Squad, she now plies her trade in Gerald Road, a small and sleepy police station in the heart of London's affluent Knightsbridge. With only petty crime to sink her teeth into, Tennison can feel her career slowly flatlining. That is until the discovery of the most brutal murder Jane has ever seen: Charlie Foxley has been found viciously beaten to death with a cricket bat - his body dismembered and disembowelled.

Movie mogul Harry Nathan's lonely death in a Beverley Hills swimming pool is the beginning of a trail of lust and conspiracy leading to the darkest corners of the international art world. Private investigator Lorraine Page faces her toughest fight ever as she takes on the case for fading starlet Cindy Nathan, Harry's third wife. Lorraine believes the grieving widow's story. Unlike her ex-colleagues in the police department who have already charged Cindy with murder....

Detective Anna Travis is taking charge of an investigation for the very first time under the watchful eye of her boss. But with only an ominous pool of blood at the crime scene, and no sign of the victim, she cannot be sure whether this is a missing person case or something more. As Anna leads a desperate hunt for a man who has seemingly disappeared without a trace, she becomes obsessed with apparently irrelevant details and her boss fears that she is losing control. With no body and increasing pressure to make an arrest, Anna must catch a break in the case before she breaks down.

In a city as old as London, the discovery is hardly surprising. But when scratch marks are found on the inside of the coffin lid, Detective Jane Tennison believes she has unearthed a mystery far darker than any she's investigated before. However, not everyone agrees. Tennison's superiors dismiss it as a historic cold case and the Church seems desperate to conceal the facts from the investigation. It's clear that someone is hiding the truth and perhaps even the killer. Tennison must pray she can find both - before they are buried forever.

Everybody has a story to tell. Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison has moved up the ranks, fighting every step of the way to break through Scotland Yard's glass ceiling. Now, on her first day as the head of the Vice Squad, a high-profile case threatens to destroy everything she has worked for. When Tennison's latest investigation reveals an influential public figure as her prime suspect - a man with connections to politicians, judges, and Scotland Yard - she's given a very clear message about the direction her investigation should take.

A life-and-death hostage situation at Barfield High Security prison brings Governor Helen Hewitt back to her old stomping ground. But things have changed at Barfield. A new, highly dangerous prisoner poses a threat to the peace, and when discord boils over, the prisoners join forces in an audacious escape attempt. As violence erupts among the officers and the inmates, Hewitt must once again restore order. Before it's too late.

Detective Anna Travis is tasked with reviewing an open-and-shut case when a young man, awaiting trial for robbery, casts doubt on the ruling. A nightclub owner was found dead from a single bullet wound to the head, with the gun held in his hand. It was determined to be suicide, but the young man claims it was murder. Once she wraps up the investigation, Anna's boss promises her a place at the FBI Academy, but the arrival of a senior agent soon ruffles feathers in the team. 

Jane Tennison has worked hard to become the first female detective ever posted to the infamous Flying Squad, or 'the Sweeney'. But the Dirty Dozen is a notorious boys' club, and Jane's new colleagues make it clear that they don't think a woman is up to the dangers of the job. Dealing with some of London's most ruthless armed criminals, who think the only good cop is a dead cop, is no joke. Determined to prove she's as good as the men, Jane discovers from a reliable witness that a gang is going to carry out a massive robbery.

When a body is found in one of London's poorest districts, the coroner's report identifies the victim as young, black and female, but impossibly anonymous. One thing is clear to Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison about this victim - that news of her murder will tear apart a city already cracking with racial tensions, hurling Scotland Yard and Tennison herself into a maelstrom of shocking accusations and sudden, wrenching violence. 

When an eccentric elderly widow claims she is being stalked, Detective Jack Warr is the only person willing to dig into the truth behind her wild claims. Jack soon finds himself embroiled in an international drugs operation, art theft—and a murder investigation. On the back foot throughout, he is forced to play second fiddle to the Drug Squad, confront an old adversary and even fight off accusations of assault.

Lieutenant Lorraine Page once had everything - a devoted husband, two beautiful daughters and an impressive career with the Homicide Squad. It's impossible to believe that she could be thrown out of the police force and end up on Skid Row. Without Lorraine, her colleagues struggle on, as the hunt for a nightmare serial killer spirals into an all-out search for a missing witness: a victim who escaped. But Lorraine Page is about to be brought right back into that world again....