Jane Tennison's character in the Tennison series evolves as she goes from being a WPC in book one to a WDC in “Hidden Killers”, where she is expected to take charge at crime scenes. I'm really enjoying how this series has multiple investigations, which shows Tennison's progress in her policing abilities. The officers' dedication to achieving results is impressive. LaPlante's plot is well-detailed and not just a lucky string of coincidences.
To catch the perpetrator of a series of sexual assaults in the area, Jane poses as a prostitute at the beginning of the book. Jane's bravery earned her a commendation, as the attacker was arrested after taking the bait. Jane attained CID status and transferred to Bow Street Station as a detective. She is called out for the first time for a death that is not considered suspicious. A young mother lost her life in the bathtub while her child cried in the next room. Jane starts to question the evidence in both the prostitute case and the death of the young mother in the bath as two separate cases become intertwined. Not only does Jane suspect that incorrect conclusions were made in two cases, but she also has doubts about the evidence collected by her colleagues.
Two cases presented in the Storyline gave our new WDC plenty to work on and sink her teeth into. Jane was crucial in both cases and her involvement led to the discovery of a significant amount of evidence that may have gone unnoticed. This highlights the importance of having female police officers and the need for a modern approach to policing. Even though it's gone, I'm sure some people wish it was still there in some cases. It was interesting to witness Jane and Edith working alongside each other. Edith relinquished her police officer position and now handles the office, while Jane is a female police pioneer who doesn't give up easily. While Lynda's books are generally long reads, this one didn't feel like it went on too much. The teams work slowly but surely to gather evidence and build their cases, which culminate in an exciting finale. If you are a crime fan yet to discover Jane Tennison then I highly recommend you start with book 1 “Tennison”.
Many thanks to @LaPlanteLynda @simonschusteruk & @Tr4cyF3nt0n for a spot on the tour.
About the Author
Lynda La Plante (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.
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