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Prime Suspect #1
Prime Suspect
In the dark night of the soul . . . . If Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison hadn't been a woman, she might not have noticed the victim's shoes . . . . and that they didn't match the size given on the info sheet now so obviously misidentifying the dead blonde as a hooker named Della Mornay. Being so through, so good at the details, made Jane a top investigator; being a woman made the boys in the squadron want to see her fall on her face. But Jane Tennison was determined to catch the madman stalking women in London's street shadows. She had a prime suspect, and she needed to make the charges against him stick. She also needed to keep her own secret in check: she couldn't let anyone see that she was falling apart inside, as her obsession with cracking this case and breaking out from under the heel of the station house boy's club took over life, destroying her relationship with the man she loved, pushing her closer and closer to the dark urges of a killer . . . .
263 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
693 people are currently reading
2387 people want to read
About the author
Lynda La Plante
123 books1,825 followersLynda La Plante, CBE (born Lynda Titchmarsh) is a British author, screenwriter, and erstwhile actress (her performances in Rentaghost and other programmes were under her stage name of Lynda Marchal), best known for writing the Prime Suspect television crime series.
Her first TV series as a scriptwriter was the six part robbery series Widows, in 1983, in which the widows of four armed robbers carry out a heist planned by their deceased husbands.
In 1991 ITV released Prime Suspect which has now run to seven series and stars Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison. (In the United States Prime Suspect airs on PBS as part of the anthology program Mystery!) In 1993 La Plante won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for her work on the series. In 1992 she wrote at TV movie called Seekers, starring Brenda Fricker and Josette Simon, produced by Sarah Lawson.
She formed her own television production company, La Plante Productions, in 1994 and as La Plante Productions she wrote and produced the sequel to Widows, the equally gutsy She's Out (ITV, 1995). The name "La Plante" comes from her marriage to writer Richard La Plante, author of the book Mantis and Hog Fever. La Plante divorced Lynda in the early 1990s.
Her output continued with The Governor (ITV 1995-96), a series focusing on the female governor of a high security prison, and was followed by a string of ratings pulling miniseries: the psycho killer nightmare events of Trial & Retribution (ITV 1997-), the widows' revenge of the murders of their husbands & children Bella Mafia (1997) (starring Vanessa Redgrave), the undercover police unit operations of Supply and Demand (ITV 1998), videogame/internet murder mystery Killer Net (Channel 4 1998) and the female criminal profiler cases of Mind Games (ITV 2001).
Two additions to the Trial and Retribution miniseries were broadcast during 2006.
Her first TV series as a scriptwriter was the six part robbery series Widows, in 1983, in which the widows of four armed robbers carry out a heist planned by their deceased husbands.
In 1991 ITV released Prime Suspect which has now run to seven series and stars Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison. (In the United States Prime Suspect airs on PBS as part of the anthology program Mystery!) In 1993 La Plante won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for her work on the series. In 1992 she wrote at TV movie called Seekers, starring Brenda Fricker and Josette Simon, produced by Sarah Lawson.
She formed her own television production company, La Plante Productions, in 1994 and as La Plante Productions she wrote and produced the sequel to Widows, the equally gutsy She's Out (ITV, 1995). The name "La Plante" comes from her marriage to writer Richard La Plante, author of the book Mantis and Hog Fever. La Plante divorced Lynda in the early 1990s.
Her output continued with The Governor (ITV 1995-96), a series focusing on the female governor of a high security prison, and was followed by a string of ratings pulling miniseries: the psycho killer nightmare events of Trial & Retribution (ITV 1997-), the widows' revenge of the murders of their husbands & children Bella Mafia (1997) (starring Vanessa Redgrave), the undercover police unit operations of Supply and Demand (ITV 1998), videogame/internet murder mystery Killer Net (Channel 4 1998) and the female criminal profiler cases of Mind Games (ITV 2001).
Two additions to the Trial and Retribution miniseries were broadcast during 2006.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 398 reviews
September 22, 2015
This was the first Lynda La Plante book I have read and I have never seen Prime Suspect as a TV show, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I found this quite a strange book to read. The writing was a bit disjointed and initially there was lots of jumping around. It's easy to tell this has been adapted from a TV script. However, as I read on I noticed the jumping around less and less. The main character, Jane Tennison, comes across as quite a spoilt brat at times! She chucks a tantrum at her father because he accidentally recorded the wrong TV show! In general, I didn't mind her character. She is a strong, independent woman that is trying to stand her ground in a male dominated police force. The author does a very good job at portraying how difficult it can be for a female in the police force. I was disgusted with how some of the male characters were behaving toward her. The case itself was interesting and kept me engaged for most of the story, though, I didn't find myself being on edge at all and there weren't really any big surprises. Overall, it was an ok, easy to read story. 3.5 stars.
October 21, 2017
Having recently read the excellent Anna Travis series by Lynda La Plante, I decided to read the Prime Suspect books by the same author that I know so well from the television. I found already been familiar with the characters and having the actors faces in my mind the book was a satisfying read.
In both the series I have mentioned above, Lynda La Plante's main character is an extremely strong woman that is dedicated to her profession and ruthless to others. In Jane Tennison you have both traits in abundance and for me it was impossible not to think of Helen Mirren while reading this book.
The story focuses on the death of a prostitute named Della Mornay. Jane Tennison is handed the investigation when the lead investigator dies of a heart attack. Jane suffers both sexism from her colleagues and abuse for daring to question her much loved predecessors actions and methods. Jane notices that mistakes in the identification of the dead body were made and this changes the investigation drastically. As per other La Plante novels I have read the story is told with a large portion of sub plots and also follows the main characters private life. I like this side of her writing as it gives the characters more depth especially when they are part of a series.
In both the series I have mentioned above, Lynda La Plante's main character is an extremely strong woman that is dedicated to her profession and ruthless to others. In Jane Tennison you have both traits in abundance and for me it was impossible not to think of Helen Mirren while reading this book.
The story focuses on the death of a prostitute named Della Mornay. Jane Tennison is handed the investigation when the lead investigator dies of a heart attack. Jane suffers both sexism from her colleagues and abuse for daring to question her much loved predecessors actions and methods. Jane notices that mistakes in the identification of the dead body were made and this changes the investigation drastically. As per other La Plante novels I have read the story is told with a large portion of sub plots and also follows the main characters private life. I like this side of her writing as it gives the characters more depth especially when they are part of a series.
March 10, 2016
Description: In the dark night of the soul . . . . If Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison hadn't been a woman, she might not have noticed the victim's shoes . . . . and that they didn't match the size given on the info sheet now so obviously misidentifying the dead blonde as a hooker named Della Mornay. Being so through, so good at the details, made Jane a top investigator; being a woman made the boys in the squadron want to see her fall on her face. But Jane Tennison was determined to catch the madman stalking women in London's street shadows. She had a prime suspect, and she needed to make the charges against him stick. She also needed to keep her own secret in check: she couldn't let anyone see that she was falling apart inside, as her obsession with cracking this case and breaking out from under the heel of the station house boy's club took over life, destroying her relationship with the man she loved, pushing her closer and closer to the dark urges of a killer . . . .
March 30, 2016
I have huge admiration for Lynda La Plante the TV screenwriter. Sadly, after reading two of her novels -- of which this is the second -- I'm less enthused by Lynda La Plante the novelist.
The story of Prime Suspect is well enough known that I'll not rehash much of it here. DCI Jane Tennison must solve the case of a viciously sadistic serial rapist/murderer in the teeth of the male-chauvinist-piggery of her colleagues. She does indeed solve the case and in the process converts the colleagues into her fervent supporters.
There's no real mystery involved because, aside from a rather half-hearted red herring in the middle of the book (it's started but never really goes anywhere, just gets forgotten about), there's only one suspect in view. Jane's relationship with her live-in boyfriend collapses but, since she doesn't seem to care very much that he's moved out, neither do we. Another reason we don't care is that he's never been a person to us, just a name. In fact, as I was reading the novel I realized that none of the characters stood out as characters to me with the exception of Jane Tennison herself, and she did so only because I was reading her as the Helen Mirren portrayal. If I pushed Mirren's version out of my mind, it became plain that the book's rendering of Tennison was so wildly inconsistent that it was hardly a characterization at all.
The writing, too, is surprisingly rough, with odd repetitions of phrasing and a general jerkiness that makes the text read like an unpolished first draft -- like that novel we wrote in our teens and wisely left in a drawer somewhere. There's also the occasional thoggery:
I'd happily recommend the first series of Prime Suspect to anyone. The novelization? Not so much.
The story of Prime Suspect is well enough known that I'll not rehash much of it here. DCI Jane Tennison must solve the case of a viciously sadistic serial rapist/murderer in the teeth of the male-chauvinist-piggery of her colleagues. She does indeed solve the case and in the process converts the colleagues into her fervent supporters.
There's no real mystery involved because, aside from a rather half-hearted red herring in the middle of the book (it's started but never really goes anywhere, just gets forgotten about), there's only one suspect in view. Jane's relationship with her live-in boyfriend collapses but, since she doesn't seem to care very much that he's moved out, neither do we. Another reason we don't care is that he's never been a person to us, just a name. In fact, as I was reading the novel I realized that none of the characters stood out as characters to me with the exception of Jane Tennison herself, and she did so only because I was reading her as the Helen Mirren portrayal. If I pushed Mirren's version out of my mind, it became plain that the book's rendering of Tennison was so wildly inconsistent that it was hardly a characterization at all.
The writing, too, is surprisingly rough, with odd repetitions of phrasing and a general jerkiness that makes the text read like an unpolished first draft -- like that novel we wrote in our teens and wisely left in a drawer somewhere. There's also the occasional thoggery:
He was a rotund man, oddly pear-shaped with most of his weight in his backside, topped off with a shock of thick, gray hair and an unruly gray beard.
I'd happily recommend the first series of Prime Suspect to anyone. The novelization? Not so much.
February 15, 2018
A thrilling story.
February 23, 2015
Lynda La Plante writes for television, most often - she is the queen of the ITV police procedural. Prime Suspect was originally a TV series, starring Helen Mirren as DI Jane Tennison, one of my first feminist icons. I love police procedurals, I love lady-detectives, I love women with ambition who buoy themselves up because nobody else is going to do it for them.
It's a shame that Lynda La Plante can't write prose. It's not just that it's reminiscent of a screenplay: that can work for a lot of people. (Ann Cleeves, for instance, also writes crime for TV. Anthony Horowitz. Simon Brett.) It's just that La Plante's prose is eyewateringly bad in places. It's a shame, not only because this is a really good plot, but also because she has a lot of things to say.
Crime fiction - and particularly, in my experience, British crime fiction - is pretty progressive in places. It's a genre where women are often predominant writers, often predominant characters with the agency to drive the plot along. Often in police crime, women get the top jobs, LGBT characters save the day - there's a running joke in my family that there are six lesbians in Glasgow, and they all fight crime together. La Plante is foremost among these: I remember my mum lending me a copy of Bella Mafia when I was about thirteen, and having a whale of a time with it. But this is the thing: crime fiction has been my thing for as long as I've had a thing, literary-wise; and as a millennial, brought up in a feminist environment, with plenty of role models and books like these, it's difficult for me to understand that things haven't always been like this. I've met sexism in the workplace. If I told my mother - which sometimes I have - she'd chuckle dryly, and probably point me at a book like this.
Grit. That's the thing. In the progressive end of a progressive genre, it's good for me to see the glass ceiling in action, and the incredible courage of women I known and see as mentors. They all seem to have stories. My mother, the self-employed management prodigy, still gave up work to have me. (It took not very long at all before she got itchy feet and set up a children's clothing business, a fact which never ceases to amuse me.) I grew up with a certain amount of expectation that I was going to have to choose between running the world, and not being on my own. Not even having kids and a great work-life balance. Just, not being on my own.
It's important to me right now, because I've just become self-employed. These questions, and how lucky I really have it, are at the sharp edge of my consciousness at the moment. For good or ill.
That's the background to where I was when I read Prime Suspect, where workplace sexism isn't an undercurrent so much as a continuous set of white-water rapids, and in which one of the characters thinks this to himself:
That's me! And that muttering noise you hear is me thanking anyone and everyone I can find to thank that it is no longer 1991! I know you know all this, that there's sexism in the world and it's wrong, but Prime Suspect just voiced some of my fears about exactly the decisions I'm currently making in life, through the medium of a thing I've loved for a long time, and part of the reason it's getting more stars than the prose style deserves is because now I'm going to make those decisions EVEN HARDER!
Do I sound a bit hysterical there? If not, go back and read it again, only slightly more hysterically. I think I'm a bit hysterical at the moment.
So, the plot. I really got on with the the plot, as well. It's without holes, it's clever, it abides by the rules and it does it well. Prostitutes get murdered, which is a bit of a red flag for me, but it's not only prostitutes and it's not because that's what they do with their lives. They're humanised. They're cared about. They're written by a person who doesn't just want young, pretty, faceless victims. There's no hoeing as motive here.
The ending is well-executed, the police station believable. Someone else on Goodreads complained it had too many Britishisms in it. Well, sorry, that person; I didn't spot them, which must mean it's just how we speak. Nobody eats crumpets or uses Cockney Rhyming Slang, I don't know what you're complaining about.
I liked it; I wanted to love it. La Plante has great ideas, and a way with writing the puzzle. You can see she's very practiced at that. She must be doing something right, she's got a CBE for doing it. It's just that her descriptions made me want to poke my own eyes out, it's like she was writing with a sledgehammer. If you can get over that sort of thing, maybe you'll like it too.
It's a shame that Lynda La Plante can't write prose. It's not just that it's reminiscent of a screenplay: that can work for a lot of people. (Ann Cleeves, for instance, also writes crime for TV. Anthony Horowitz. Simon Brett.) It's just that La Plante's prose is eyewateringly bad in places. It's a shame, not only because this is a really good plot, but also because she has a lot of things to say.
Crime fiction - and particularly, in my experience, British crime fiction - is pretty progressive in places. It's a genre where women are often predominant writers, often predominant characters with the agency to drive the plot along. Often in police crime, women get the top jobs, LGBT characters save the day - there's a running joke in my family that there are six lesbians in Glasgow, and they all fight crime together. La Plante is foremost among these: I remember my mum lending me a copy of Bella Mafia when I was about thirteen, and having a whale of a time with it. But this is the thing: crime fiction has been my thing for as long as I've had a thing, literary-wise; and as a millennial, brought up in a feminist environment, with plenty of role models and books like these, it's difficult for me to understand that things haven't always been like this. I've met sexism in the workplace. If I told my mother - which sometimes I have - she'd chuckle dryly, and probably point me at a book like this.
Grit. That's the thing. In the progressive end of a progressive genre, it's good for me to see the glass ceiling in action, and the incredible courage of women I known and see as mentors. They all seem to have stories. My mother, the self-employed management prodigy, still gave up work to have me. (It took not very long at all before she got itchy feet and set up a children's clothing business, a fact which never ceases to amuse me.) I grew up with a certain amount of expectation that I was going to have to choose between running the world, and not being on my own. Not even having kids and a great work-life balance. Just, not being on my own.
It's important to me right now, because I've just become self-employed. These questions, and how lucky I really have it, are at the sharp edge of my consciousness at the moment. For good or ill.
That's the background to where I was when I read Prime Suspect, where workplace sexism isn't an undercurrent so much as a continuous set of white-water rapids, and in which one of the characters thinks this to himself:
If the truth was on the line, there was a side to her that he hated, that masculine, pushy side. She had never been his kind of woman, and he doubted if any man could cope with a woman who loved her career more than anything else.
That's me! And that muttering noise you hear is me thanking anyone and everyone I can find to thank that it is no longer 1991! I know you know all this, that there's sexism in the world and it's wrong, but Prime Suspect just voiced some of my fears about exactly the decisions I'm currently making in life, through the medium of a thing I've loved for a long time, and part of the reason it's getting more stars than the prose style deserves is because now I'm going to make those decisions EVEN HARDER!
Do I sound a bit hysterical there? If not, go back and read it again, only slightly more hysterically. I think I'm a bit hysterical at the moment.
So, the plot. I really got on with the the plot, as well. It's without holes, it's clever, it abides by the rules and it does it well. Prostitutes get murdered, which is a bit of a red flag for me, but it's not only prostitutes and it's not because that's what they do with their lives. They're humanised. They're cared about. They're written by a person who doesn't just want young, pretty, faceless victims. There's no hoeing as motive here.
The ending is well-executed, the police station believable. Someone else on Goodreads complained it had too many Britishisms in it. Well, sorry, that person; I didn't spot them, which must mean it's just how we speak. Nobody eats crumpets or uses Cockney Rhyming Slang, I don't know what you're complaining about.
I liked it; I wanted to love it. La Plante has great ideas, and a way with writing the puzzle. You can see she's very practiced at that. She must be doing something right, she's got a CBE for doing it. It's just that her descriptions made me want to poke my own eyes out, it's like she was writing with a sledgehammer. If you can get over that sort of thing, maybe you'll like it too.
June 2, 2022
2022
"Not guilty, sir"
I've always been wondering if Marlow really is the killer... Let's just say I've had another suspect in mind from the start of the book.
Not sure why it took me 3 year to continue this series... But I'm back; and intending to finish all the books this time.
2019
This being my first La Plante read, and only ever hearing that Prime Suspect is an excellent TV series, I thought why not, and got the three books at a great price.
While entertaining enough, the adaptation from TV series is very prominent; is more like the description of a picture than painting a picture with words.
A bit of a let-down, but I will read the other books at a later stage.
"Not guilty, sir"
I've always been wondering if Marlow really is the killer... Let's just say I've had another suspect in mind from the start of the book.
Not sure why it took me 3 year to continue this series... But I'm back; and intending to finish all the books this time.
2019
This being my first La Plante read, and only ever hearing that Prime Suspect is an excellent TV series, I thought why not, and got the three books at a great price.
While entertaining enough, the adaptation from TV series is very prominent; is more like the description of a picture than painting a picture with words.
A bit of a let-down, but I will read the other books at a later stage.
July 16, 2016
This was just okay for me. It had too many negatives for me to like this. For the most part, the characters weren't at all likable and I could not even relate to them in any way possible. The language, the sense of entitlement, and their prickliness (if that is even a word) did not work for me. And adults behaving like bullies on the playground had me rolling my eyes.
I thought the story, overall, had merit, but it was 'the everything else' that keeps this at 2 stars. And one reason that may be so, is because my absolute-most favorite narrator ever, read this. So that is always a plus and worth a star all on its own.
I thought the story, overall, had merit, but it was 'the everything else' that keeps this at 2 stars. And one reason that may be so, is because my absolute-most favorite narrator ever, read this. So that is always a plus and worth a star all on its own.
August 8, 2025
First, I watched the excellent TV series in the 1990s. Now, finally, I have begun reading through the books the series was based upon. Lynda La Plante takes us on a journey through the life of an investigation and shows us the toll it takes on everyone from the victim, their loved ones, and the personnel that investigate and don't let up until they secure the perpetrator. Narrator Rachel Atkins voices all the characters with aplomb.
January 27, 2018
Prime Suspect is one of those television shows I see so often, yet never watch. Why? I’m not sure why, but the knowledge of there being a series of books left me wanting to read the books instead. After all, the television series is really popular and so is Lynda La Plante as an author. In my mind, reading the books was a better choice.
Unfortunately, Prime Suspect was not what I had expected it to be. It wasn’t terrible, but at the same time it wasn’t great either.
It took me quite some time to get into this one, and I can come up with many possible reasons for this. I tried to read it whilst travelling – something that can be a bit of hit and miss for me. I was travelling late in the day and into the night. I was distracted by what was going on around me. I was tired. I put the book down and picked it up more than once. Although I have many reasons why I may have found it difficult to get into this one, I think they’re mostly just excuses. I wanted to enjoy this one, I wanted to be sucked in straight away, but I wasn’t – and due to this, I tried to find reasons why I wasn’t able to get into the book without pointing fingers at the story.
I think there are actually a number of real reasons as to why I couldn’t get into the book. For starters, the prose. It wasn’t the worst writing ever, but it did not flow as well as I thought it would. I’ve read other reviews where they say this is a reflection of Lynda La Plante being a screenwriter, and I can see where such people are coming from. The bigger issue, however, is that the story jumped around a lot. Chapters were cut into many different scenes, meaning you would move between people a lot before any solid information was given. It was rather distracting. Underlying this, I just expected so much more – having heard so many good things I had set my standards rather high.
One other thing that really hit me is how dated this book seems. Things that were said, behaviours of characters, were really dated. The endless sexism, in particular, really grated on me. I understand it was trying to send a message, was trying to create a feminist icon – but it did not come across that way. Some books do transcend time, but I do not feel as though this will ever be one of them.
Whilst I did have issues with the book, I was interested enough to read until the end. It was somewhat different than other crime novels, in that it is trying to find evidence of who was behind the crime rather than searching out the individual. It is not something you see all that often, and it was something different to enjoy.
Although I did not enjoy this book as much as I had hoped, and it will never enter my list of favourite crime novels, I’m glad I finally gave it a read.
Unfortunately, Prime Suspect was not what I had expected it to be. It wasn’t terrible, but at the same time it wasn’t great either.
It took me quite some time to get into this one, and I can come up with many possible reasons for this. I tried to read it whilst travelling – something that can be a bit of hit and miss for me. I was travelling late in the day and into the night. I was distracted by what was going on around me. I was tired. I put the book down and picked it up more than once. Although I have many reasons why I may have found it difficult to get into this one, I think they’re mostly just excuses. I wanted to enjoy this one, I wanted to be sucked in straight away, but I wasn’t – and due to this, I tried to find reasons why I wasn’t able to get into the book without pointing fingers at the story.
I think there are actually a number of real reasons as to why I couldn’t get into the book. For starters, the prose. It wasn’t the worst writing ever, but it did not flow as well as I thought it would. I’ve read other reviews where they say this is a reflection of Lynda La Plante being a screenwriter, and I can see where such people are coming from. The bigger issue, however, is that the story jumped around a lot. Chapters were cut into many different scenes, meaning you would move between people a lot before any solid information was given. It was rather distracting. Underlying this, I just expected so much more – having heard so many good things I had set my standards rather high.
One other thing that really hit me is how dated this book seems. Things that were said, behaviours of characters, were really dated. The endless sexism, in particular, really grated on me. I understand it was trying to send a message, was trying to create a feminist icon – but it did not come across that way. Some books do transcend time, but I do not feel as though this will ever be one of them.
Whilst I did have issues with the book, I was interested enough to read until the end. It was somewhat different than other crime novels, in that it is trying to find evidence of who was behind the crime rather than searching out the individual. It is not something you see all that often, and it was something different to enjoy.
Although I did not enjoy this book as much as I had hoped, and it will never enter my list of favourite crime novels, I’m glad I finally gave it a read.
July 4, 2019
This story starts a bit like The Red Dahlia - the second book in La Plante's Anna Travis series - whereby the lead detective on a case dies/becomes incapacitated by ill health, and so a new detective has to take their place. This happens to be a woman called Jane Tennison, in this case, and she has to jump straight into a well liked, older, respected male colleague's place - against the wishes of his loyal subordinates.
La Plante seems to stick to the theme of women not being respected in the police force and having to fight their way in. We see this with the Anna Travis novels - she is not taken seriously until she proves herself, and even then faces stiff opposition from most of the men on the force. The same can be said for Jane Tennison. She is unfairly not called up for the murder enquiries and when she finally gets to head one up, she must deal with all the male officers who are against her running the show.
The contrast between Tennison and Travis, are that I like Travis - Tennison is just such a b***h. I know she has to, unfairly, fight for a chance at doing her job, but she just isn't my cup of tea. This makes it more difficult for me to connect with her in the story.
A prostitute is murdered, the detective's catch an early DNA break and hope to wrap the case up within 48 hours - beating some mythical record set by a previous detective. When the guv dies on the job, Tennison takes over and finds that the evidence is flawed and they must start again.
We follow the police investigation to it's conclusion, in this tense police procedural.
I found it to be an easy read, although some of the language is slightly dated, being set in 1990.... Does that make me sound really old? Or really young? I can't decide. Either way, I was born just as this book was set and I couldn't really connect with the attitudes of the men on the force. I understand that the world and its views on gender equality have drastically changed in the last 30 years, but I just couldn't correlate these men's outlooks with those of any man I know today.
I would recommend this book for police procedural/crime fans. Even thriller fans - it has lots of gory descriptions of the murders. Glad I read it :) 3.5* rounded up to 4
Www.thebeautifulbookbreak.com
La Plante seems to stick to the theme of women not being respected in the police force and having to fight their way in. We see this with the Anna Travis novels - she is not taken seriously until she proves herself, and even then faces stiff opposition from most of the men on the force. The same can be said for Jane Tennison. She is unfairly not called up for the murder enquiries and when she finally gets to head one up, she must deal with all the male officers who are against her running the show.
The contrast between Tennison and Travis, are that I like Travis - Tennison is just such a b***h. I know she has to, unfairly, fight for a chance at doing her job, but she just isn't my cup of tea. This makes it more difficult for me to connect with her in the story.
A prostitute is murdered, the detective's catch an early DNA break and hope to wrap the case up within 48 hours - beating some mythical record set by a previous detective. When the guv dies on the job, Tennison takes over and finds that the evidence is flawed and they must start again.
We follow the police investigation to it's conclusion, in this tense police procedural.
I found it to be an easy read, although some of the language is slightly dated, being set in 1990.... Does that make me sound really old? Or really young? I can't decide. Either way, I was born just as this book was set and I couldn't really connect with the attitudes of the men on the force. I understand that the world and its views on gender equality have drastically changed in the last 30 years, but I just couldn't correlate these men's outlooks with those of any man I know today.
I would recommend this book for police procedural/crime fans. Even thriller fans - it has lots of gory descriptions of the murders. Glad I read it :) 3.5* rounded up to 4
Www.thebeautifulbookbreak.com
August 12, 2017
I recently watched the prequel, Prime Suspect: Tennison on PBS and knew I had to go back and read the books. Book one did not disappoint. The obstacles and pressure Jane encounters as she leads her first murder case grow as the body count climbs.
August 10, 2014
Prime Suspect was a marvelous British (produced by Granada Television for the ITV network between 7 April 1991 and 22 October 2006. Prime Suspect 4 through 7 were co-produced by WGBH Boston for its Masterpiece Mystery anthology series.) production, which starred the amazing Helen Mirrin as Police detective Jane Tennyson, one of the first females to break into that peculiar boys club of non-uniformed police back in the day. We loved the series, making me eager to read the book which I supposed the show to have been adapted. That, however, was not meant to be.
The TV show (according to the bit by the author at the beginning of this edition, or else the acknowledgments -- I don't have the book on front of me so can't check) sprang from a mention at a lunch with the author and some people in the industry. The book, while well written, is an adaptation of a screenplay. As it was an excellent screen play, the book, too, is good. It is very visual, lots of verbal dialogue though little inner introspection, and reads very much, not surprisingly, like a screen play. Very easy to visualize Mirrin speaking and portraying Tennyson. The part suits her.
Though the book was well written, I'll probably give books 2 and 3 a pass. Prime Suspect still rolls around occasionally on the Telly (the American version or any other newer ones have no interest for me) and I prefer, in this case, to view my Jane on the television screen, not the viewing screen in my brain.
Rounded up from 3.5 since I liked the screenplay so much. I do not, however, like this cover, which must be based on a later version of the series.
The TV show (according to the bit by the author at the beginning of this edition, or else the acknowledgments -- I don't have the book on front of me so can't check) sprang from a mention at a lunch with the author and some people in the industry. The book, while well written, is an adaptation of a screenplay. As it was an excellent screen play, the book, too, is good. It is very visual, lots of verbal dialogue though little inner introspection, and reads very much, not surprisingly, like a screen play. Very easy to visualize Mirrin speaking and portraying Tennyson. The part suits her.
Though the book was well written, I'll probably give books 2 and 3 a pass. Prime Suspect still rolls around occasionally on the Telly (the American version or any other newer ones have no interest for me) and I prefer, in this case, to view my Jane on the television screen, not the viewing screen in my brain.
Rounded up from 3.5 since I liked the screenplay so much. I do not, however, like this cover, which must be based on a later version of the series.
April 2, 2016
This book reminded me how much I enjoyed the English television series. Interesting, complex and realistic female protagonist and a criminal investigation that held my interest. The narrator of the audio book was excellent.
November 16, 2017
The book of the iconic TV drama - the performance of Helen Mirren was so great I had her picture in my mind for the Tennison character all the way through
July 26, 2025
When DCI Jane Tennison transferred to the Metropolitan police, she expected to be at the helm of some of the bigger cases, instead she has been handed everything the other DCIs didn't want to do. When a sex worker is found murdered in a bedsit, DCI John Shefford is given the case, even though Tennison was on call that night.
Just as Tennison starts to think that perhaps she will never be given a fair chance, Shefford suffers a heart attack, leaving Tennison the only available DCI to take over. Tennison has already faced sexism whilst rising through the ranks, but that is nothing to the resentment & dismissal she faces when taking over Shefford's team & his case.
Although I've seen the TV series a couple of times this is my first time reading the book & it was just as good. Maybe it helps that I can picture the characters due to the TV series, but even though I knew what was going to happen it was still a gripping read. It's also gritty & doesn't shy away from depicting the rampant sexism of both society & the police force back then. Excellent read. 4.5 stars (rounded up)
TWs: misogyny, murder, torture, injury detail, strong language.
Just as Tennison starts to think that perhaps she will never be given a fair chance, Shefford suffers a heart attack, leaving Tennison the only available DCI to take over. Tennison has already faced sexism whilst rising through the ranks, but that is nothing to the resentment & dismissal she faces when taking over Shefford's team & his case.
Although I've seen the TV series a couple of times this is my first time reading the book & it was just as good. Maybe it helps that I can picture the characters due to the TV series, but even though I knew what was going to happen it was still a gripping read. It's also gritty & doesn't shy away from depicting the rampant sexism of both society & the police force back then. Excellent read. 4.5 stars (rounded up)
TWs: misogyny, murder, torture, injury detail, strong language.
October 9, 2018
I don't know... older Jane Tenison just seems entitled and lucky whereas young Jane (from La Plante's latest novels) seems a lot more down to earth and smart. I'm with the boyfriend Peter, not too sure I like Jane...
February 20, 2023
This re-read was a great reminder of how much I love the Jane Tennison books. She’s such an abrasive, flawed lead detective, but I love her tenacity and relentlessness. These early books have dated in some inconsequential ways, but still have so much interesting to say about misogyny in the workplace and in policing. Procedural crime writing at its best.
August 26, 2022
Although the story was good and very engaging it was a difficult read for me. Jane is a really horrible person, just career orientated and thinking about herself all the time. Her work colleagues are even worse, with their really bad attitude towards women in the uniform.
September 9, 2018
I didn't know until after I finished this that the book itself was a re-written teleplay from the show. Had I known that, I probably would have held off on reading it for awhile because you can see the proverbial glue and scotch tape that held this together and it's not pretty.
I appreciated the female detective navigating layers of patriarchy to try and solve the case. I thought that was done well (and I look forward to seeing it done well on screen some day by the great Helen Mirren) but the plotting is clunky and the mood never really settles. The mystery is interesting enough but the whole time, I was kind of wondering what this would look like on the big screen. Now I know why I felt that way. Not bad but not what I expected.
I appreciated the female detective navigating layers of patriarchy to try and solve the case. I thought that was done well (and I look forward to seeing it done well on screen some day by the great Helen Mirren) but the plotting is clunky and the mood never really settles. The mystery is interesting enough but the whole time, I was kind of wondering what this would look like on the big screen. Now I know why I felt that way. Not bad but not what I expected.
August 6, 2021
I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook, which was recommended to me by my wife. The mystery-thriller storyline kept me engaged throughout and was the driving force to my enjoyment. Jane Tennison is an interesting character and I'm looking forward to getting to know her better in the second and third instalments of the series.
This book has aged drastically since its publication in 1991, particularly with the lack of technology used in their policing. The misogyny that Jane Tennison goes through is so horribly confronting and I'm hopeful that women in policing no longer have to put up with that now.
This book has aged drastically since its publication in 1991, particularly with the lack of technology used in their policing. The misogyny that Jane Tennison goes through is so horribly confronting and I'm hopeful that women in policing no longer have to put up with that now.
April 17, 2022
Eine Frau als leitende Kommissarin in einem traditionellen männlich geprägten Kommissariat, das sorgt für viele Reibereien und interne Kämpfe. Zudem muss aber auch der Verdächtige in mehreren Mordfällen dingfest gemacht werden. Alle sind sich sicher, dass er es war, aber er zieht sich immer wieder aus der Schlinge und es gibt nicht genug Beweise, um ihn zu verhaften... La Plante schreibt gut, und DCI Tennison ist ein starker und eigenwilliger, aber nicht unbedingt sympathischer Charakter, der dem Buch eine eigene Würze gibt.
November 27, 2019
When a prositute is found murdered in her bedside, the police set to work finding the perpetrator of this brutal attack. They think they have their man, but things are not quite what they seem.. Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison has a team against her and she’s determined to prove to her male colleagues she can nail the suspect ✨ This book had me gripped. It was suspenseful and I look forward to reading more books in the series
September 18, 2017
Finally read Prime Suspect having loved the original TV series from '91. Was a little surprised that I found the TV series superior. Read it in a few hours, entertaining enough read but was a touch disappointed. Jane is a great character but felt all the others pretty much cardboard cut-outs.
November 1, 2018
A solid adaptation of the original TV series featuring Jane Tennison, however it does suffer from jumping from scene to scene very quickly (with some elements being more fleshed out than others) making it feel more of a quick read compared to the more recently released novels.
March 25, 2025
Interesting style. Very little exposition or description. Just quick action and dialogue, leaving things to your own imagination and inferences about characters. Not a bad read, but felt like a script that needed a visual component to fill in the gaps.
February 14, 2021
Good, old-fashioned 90's murder mystery, very easy to read
April 15, 2022
Not much of a mystery, I would say... More like procedural, I suppose.
January 28, 2025
A book full of unlikeable characters!
June 10, 2025
Love the Jane Tennyson character. A horrid reminder of bleaker times for women, the police and the behaviour of men. Are we returning to this type of world??
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