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

In a newly liberated Berlin, two women are inexplicably drawn together—one a pampered Baroness suffering from a mental health crisis, the other a fearless circus performer creating the biggest spectacle of her career. A murder, a police investigation and a search into the past send both women deeper into mental deterioration, and the dark secrets that they have spent decades burying are finally brought to life.

A family under constant scrutiny from both the police and the press as a fifteen-year-old goes missing after a sleepover with a friend; a marriage at breaking point; a father who has seemingly lied about his alibi; and a detective feeling the pressure to deliver an arrest, are thrust together to make for yet another incredibly intricate and dark thriller from Lynda La Plante.

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.

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 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.

Wealthy racing yard owner Edward de Jersey has spent the last few years of his life reaping the rewards of his criminal mastermind past and spending his free time priming his star horse, Royal Flush, for a Derby win. Having successfully pulled off some of the most lucrative heists in history as 'The Colonel', at the height of his activity, he was one of the most prolific criminals of his time. But, when his financial advisor invests his fortune in an internet company that crashes quickly after, he is left with no choice but to return to his old ways.

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 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.

The race to claim the reward for finding Anna Louise Caley - dead or alive - spirals into a deadly voodoo trail in the French quarter of New Orleans. In her desperation to succeed in her first case as a private detective, ex-Lieutenant Lorraine Page is caught in a web of deceit and violence that threatens to drag her back into the murky world she has fought so hard to escape. Continuing the investigation means risking everything.

Newly promoted Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison has elbowed her way into the Area Major Incident Pool, or AMIP, an elite team investigating non-domestic murders. With her new position, she hopes things will change: the rampant sexism, the snide remarks, the undermining. Then she gets her first assignment: a five-year-old cold case of a missing teenager no one else has any interest in investigating, and an assumed suicide Tennison suspects is, in fact, murder. But as Tennison gathers the crucial evidence to secure arrests, her new colleagues watch like vultures circling prey.

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?

In 1973 Jane Tennison, aged 22, leaves the Metropolitan Police Training Academy to be placed on probationary exercise in Hackney, where criminality thrives. We witness her struggle to cope in a male-dominated, chauvinistic environment, learning fast to deal with shocking situations with no help or sympathy from her superiors. Then comes her involvement in her first murder case. No one witnessed the savage beating of a tragic young girl who, the postmortem reveals, was pregnant when she died.

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....

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 ...

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 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.

When Amy arranges a sleepover with a school friend one weekend, neither parent sees the need to be in touch with her. Saturday, Sunday, Monday morning pass before Lena - seething from her first, unexpectedly confrontational, meeting with Marcus's divorce lawyer - phones Amy. Straight to Amy's voicemail. She must be in lessons. Lena sends a text. She waits. No reply, no contact whatsoever.

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.

It was supposed to be a simple case: a young man arrested for armed assault. But it was just the beginning. As Rodney Middleton awaits trial, Detective Jack Warr is warned by his mentor DCI Ridley that they have only scratched the surface of the man's crimes. Then DCI Ridley is suddenly removed from his post. No one is to contact him - and no one will say why.

Barfield Prison is one of the toughest high-security prisons in England, housing the country's most dangerous criminals. And when an inmate is found dead in his cell, a riot breaks out, forcing the authorities to investigate a potential murder. Despite being Barfield's youngest ever female Governor, Helen Hewitt is seen as the best woman for the job. But with a prison full of corrupt and suspicious officers, restless inmates and a broken system, Helen has her work cut out - and no allies to help her....