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

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.

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.

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.

Against all the odds, Dolly Rawlins and her gangland widows managed the impossible: a heist their husbands had failed to pull off - at the cost of their lives. But though they may be in the money, they're far from easy street. Shocked by her husband's betrayal, Dolly discovers Harry Rawlins isn't dead. He knows where the four women are and he wants them to pay. And he doesn't just mean getting his hands on the money. The women can't keep running. They have to get Harry out of their lives for good. But can they outwit a criminal mastermind who won't hesitate to kill?

When an eccentric widow claims she is being stalked by her former lodger, Detective Jack Warr is the only person who believes her wild claims. Days later, she is found brutally murdered in her home. When the investigation uncovers an international drugs operation on the widow's property, the case grows even more complex. And as the hunt for the widow's lodger hits dead end after dead end, it seems that the prime suspect has vanished without a trace.

Jack Warr is a young DC with the Metropolitan Police. Charming but aimless, Jack can't seem to find his place in the world - until he's drawn into an investigation that turns his life upside down. In the aftermath of a fire at a derelict cottage, a badly charred body is discovered, along with the burnt remnants of millions of stolen, untraceable bank notes - the hidden legacy of Dolly Rawlins and her gang of Widows. Jack's assignment to the case coincides with an investigation into his own past.

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.

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.

After serving a lengthy sentence for the murder of her husband, Dolly Rawlins is free from prison. And she's only got one thing on her mind: the diamonds she stashed before the police caught her. But there are people waiting for Dolly on the outside ­- tough ex-prisoners who know about the diamonds, and they all want a cut. Also waiting for Dolly is DS Mike Withey. He holds her personally responsible for the death of his sister in the diamond raid 10 years earlier. And he wants her back inside. Dolly Rawlins has other plans.

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 a prostitute is found murdered in her bedsit, the Metropolitan police set to work finding the perpetrator of this brutal attack. DNA samples lead them straight to known-criminal George Marlow. The police think they've found their man, but things are not quite what they seem....

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.

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 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 derelict house is being demolished when workmen discover the remains of a young girl. Detective Superintendent Michael Walker is far from happy at being assigned the 17-year-old murder case. When more skeletons are discovered, however, Walker suddenly finds himself in charge of one of the biggest investigations in years. But when a secret has been buried for 17 years, the path to justice is more tortuous than ever. Can Walker and his team dig up the truth behind one family and their shadowy past? Or is the truth buried too deep?

Escaped criminal Eddie Myers has been presumed dead until he is discovered in Spain by ambitious young police officer, Larry Jackson. Jackson's attempt to capture Myers quickly spirals into an obsession. When a nerve-wracking extradition sees Myers back on English soil, he finally agrees to talk - but only to the officer that brought him in. Myers' deadly charm soon brings Jackson into his web, forging a friendship that wreaks havoc on his life and soon leads to fatal consequences...

Sir William Benedict, a working-class man turned entrepreneur, has everything money can buy, including an island paradise in the Caribbean. The only thing he is missing is acceptance from society's elite. When he begins to fund Andrew Maynard MP, a rising political star, he has what he has always wanted within reach. But political scandal soon erupts, and William finds himself an outcast once again. Desperate, he turns to Andrew's ex-lover to plot his retribution. Soon his island goes from paradise to the backdrop for revenge.

When a woman is snatched from a wood, Inspector Superintendent Pat North seizes control of her first major enquiry - one that appears to be over before it begins, when a local sex offender quickly confesses. With no body and inconsistent statements, North and her team are not convinced. They investigate a strange family of musical geniuses - each with their own motive. But if the man who confessed isn't the perpetrator - who is? And how far will they go to evade capture?

If you want to know what criminal investigation is like in real life, then get ready for a podcast that puts YOU at the crime scene. This series will look at the latest developments, the famous cases and how the forensic scientists are meeting the challenge laid down by a criminal who is forensically aware. Lynda La Plante has always been fascinated by criminality and the people that solve crime. Her books are celebrated for their authentic depictions of crime scenes and police procedures – something she achieves through meticulous research with her colleague, CSI Cass Sutherland. Over six ...

Detective Jane Tennison made a bad choice. She was the one who put in a transfer to the quiet local police station in Bromley, keen to escape the relentless pressure of her former West End department. Now she regrets her decision. The tedium of petty crime investigations even makes her question remaining in the force. But then a complicated domestic assault case lands on her desk - one that might still result in a murder charge if the victim dies of his injuries.