WHEN you have followed a groundbreaking policewoman’s high-flying
career in the tough territory of the London Met, travelling back to see how it
all began was always going to be a winner...
And when that police officer is the legendary Jane Tennison
– star of the hit Prime Suspect TV series and a whole raft of detective novels –
and you know that this is her swansong outing, it makes the reading pleasure
even more special.
Yes, Lynda La Plante – the Liverpudlian who became one of
the UK’s most famous crime queens – is back to wow her army of fans with the
final ever Detective Jane Tennison thriller, a heart-pounding prequel which
brings readers right up to the point at which the award-winning Nineties TV
series, Prime Suspect, began.
La Plante (pictured below) is, of course, something of a legend herself having last year added the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association’s Diamond Dagger for a lifetime contribution to crime writing to an array of awards and honours. And who else could La Plante have dedicated this last chapter to but Dame Helen Mirren, the actress who brilliantly portrayed the tenacious detective chief inspector famous for making her way in what was then very much a man’s world.
But despite elbowing her way into an elite team, it’s not
going to be plain sailing for Tennison because her boss is Detective Chief Superintendent
Kernan, a man who thinks women have no place as detectives in the police force,
and allocates Jane a missing student cold case from five years ago as her first
assignment.
Keen to show her mettle, Jane quickly gets to grips with the
case of 17-year-old Brittany Hall who had reportedly drunk too much and was
last seen getting into a car with two men after a night out with friends. The
investigation stalled and the lead detective has since retired so the trail has
been cold for some time.
As she trawls back through reports and arranges to interview
Brittany’s parents and friends, Jane is assigned to another case... an apparent
suicide of a woman which Tennison soon suspects is, in fact, murder. Before
long, she is uncovering explosive evidence while her new colleagues watch like
vultures circling prey. And, one by one, the cases no one else wanted are taken
from her... and the glory along with them.
Vowing that nothing is going to stop her clawing her way to
the top, Tennison is ready for the fight. Tired of the rampant sexism, snide
remarks and undermining, she is going to take what is rightfully hers from
those who have held her back. She just has to do what she does best... find her
prime suspect.
Whole Life Sentence is the perfect ending to this nostalgic early
Tennison series which has opened a window on to the determined detective’s sometimes
faltering, but always fascinating, rise from uncertain raw rookie to the
hard-headed and totally assured detective who runs her police team with a sharp
brain and an iron fist in Prime Suspect.
As always, La Plante’s stunning police procedural, complex, multi-layered plotting, and richly detailed character portrayals, are the best in the business, and her fine line in sardonic humour and no-nonsense Nineties-style policing are the icing on a delicious slice of top-notch crime writing. Here we see Tennison’s police career hanging in the balance as she tackles – with her trademark meticulous attention to detail – two complex cases that have unseen repercussions. It’s a tough call because all eyes are on her management and detection skills and it all boils down to being a single step away from glory... or ruin.
Immaculately researched, with clues, red herrings, mystery
aplenty, and La Plante’s breathtakingly authentic portrayal of time and place,
this is a dazzling sign-off to an unforgettable detective and a landmark
series.
(Zaffre, paperback, £9.99)
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