The Red Dahlia

Anna Travis, Book 2

By: Lynda La Plante

Narrated by: Kristin Atherton

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....

Determined to solve the case, Anna must keep her wits about her before the sadistic killer takes his next victim.

©2022 Lynda La Plante (P)2022 Bonnier Books UK

book review

loved it kept me interested throughout, can't wait to read next in series. but will read first one now

A Terrific British Crime Series

f you liked Ms. La Plante's BBC series "Prime Suspect", you'll love this series featuring DS Anna Travis. This is the second book in the series, and its focus is on a serial killer who obsessively copies the unsolved killing of the Black Dahlia in L.A., California in 1947. Anna's relationship with her boss, DCI James Langton, provides a frisson of sexual chemistry, as well as a professional relationship that works, despite the attempts of Travis and Langton to ignore their strong attraction. This is a well-written page-turner - with a stunner of a resolution!

Her love interest makes no sense.

The stories are engaging except that she's in an abusive relationship with an alcoholic. She's portrayed as a smart detective whose in love with a man with no redeeming qualifications. She doesn't see her tolerance just encourages his abuse. it's a serious flaw. The narration is terrific I just wish she wasn't wasting her talent on such cringe worthy material.

Cookie Cutter and predictable

You can count on all the characters to act as they are supposed to, it becomes irritating. The reader does her best with what she has to work with, but it’s not enough to keep me interested. Contrived.

Good story but exasperating

My problem with this book and the previous one was that Langton, Anna’s boss was such a boorish bloody rude bully yet Anna was hopelessly in his thrall, in love with him. The other problem with both books was the brainless and unprofessional way she spilled the beans on the cases to people who were fishing for information. For an intelligent woman she was pretty clueless. Frankly it stretched credulity. I like Lynda La Plante’s writing but I don’t think I can take another in this series.

The narrator was excellent

The story was unnecessarily long. I’ve read a few books by this author and feel she gets carried away with her writing while not enhancing the plot.