About the book…
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. Jane is a key witness, but is adamant that she can’t identify the bomber. When a photograph appears in the newspapers, showing Jane assisting the injured at the scene, it puts her and her family at risk from IRA retaliation.
‘Good Friday’ is the eagerly awaited date of the annual formal CID dinner, due to take place at St Ermin’s Hotel. Hundreds of detectives and their wives will be there. It’s the perfect target. As Jane arrives for the evening, she realises that she recognises the parking attendant as the bomber from Covent Garden. Can she convince her senior officers in time, or will another bomb destroy London’s entire detective force?
#TeamTennison, part 3! The combined forces of Bonnier Books and Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers have reached the mid-70’s and ‘Good Friday’
But first, an apology, to the tour organiser, author and publisher, as I have had a monumental reading block, that means I have only read 4 short stories, and one novel in a WHOLE MONTH.
Bloody devastating, I can tell you.
But if anyone could drag me out kicking and screaming, it’s the power of LaPlante, and here, we begin to see not only how Jane’s determination to succeed lands her a whole mess of trouble, but how political climbing the career ladder as a woman in the police is. In every sense of the word.
‘There is not an officer in the Met who doesn’t have the faces of their victims haunting them.’
As Jane begins her new position in the fabulously named,The Dip Squad, she finds herself embroiled in an undercover Vice Squad operation, and front page news as a survivor of a bombing in the London Underground.
Alternately trying to keep things top secret regarding the one potential eye witness to the person who left the incendiary device to explode , and protecting herself at a time when the police were viewed with suspicion at best, at outright disdain, at worst, Jane finds herself straddling operational obligations across several departments whilst dealing with the trauma of what she has seen.
The glimpses into her home life with her sister , mother and father, really show the personal connection between Jane and where she has come from, raising an understanding of where she is going to..
The Dip Squad is the next step in her journey to join The Flying Squad and as she navigates the political machinations of the police force, wanting to show they are moving with the times ‘allowing’ women responsibility, behind closed doors its a debate on how long they can take to get into her pants.
As Jane has trauma bonded with the lone survivor and fiercely takes on the role of protector, she is trying to juggle her personal life in taking on a flat mate-I am sure there are very few who cannot relate to the difficulties she encounters in first vetting, then living with, someone taking over a very small space!
Her attraction to 2 men is explored in the context of her professional development and there are some truly memorable scenes where she is vulnerable and needing of love, the results of which I will not spoil, but left me saddened at how she is treated. You can sense her hardening, and building this shield up around her as she establishes a life outside her home.
The post bombing trauma is so well dealt with, she tries to ‘man up’ and carry on which is incredible but totally in keeping with the times. It is hard to imagine now, given the threats to daily life that there existed a time where even the simple act of getting in your car could prove fatal.
What I loved was not just the forensic detail, which is fascinating, but also the respectful way in which Lynda frames the IRA Troubles, without redacting just how dangerous life was during the 70’s and 80’s. Threat to life was real and immediate, the bombs growing with sophistication and how sleeper agents were used to gain intel about events such as the dinner for the major police figures as portrayed in the book.
The threat is ever present, its a matter of when, and how many will die, not just an abstract concept. And as trust is a commodity which Jane deals out sparingly, she is in the perfect position to find herself at the heart of a huge conspiracy to strike at the very center of 1970’s policing. She is vulnerable and broken but in this novel, she is also the strongest and most bravest woman in the face of external and internal danger. Her reckless abandon for her own safety gets results, even if they are in achieved in a very non linear fashion.
As she gets told by her dad, an ex-soldier, after the bombing-
‘Well, I am very proud of you. I understand what you must be feeling. I lost many friends in the D-Day landing in Normandy. There were awful explosions and terrible sights-the injured and the dead …So I know what it feels like to have that fear. It was felt by all of us, but you eventually learn how to suppress it and cope. Fear is in the mind of every soldier in battle, and only fools fail to admit it.’
About the author…
Lynda La Plante‘s fourteen novels, including the Prime Suspect series, have all been international bestsellers. She is an honorary fellow of the British Film Institute and a member of the UK Crime Writers Awards Hall of Fame.
She was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2008 and in 2009 was inducted into the Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame. Her novels have all been international bestsellers.
She runs her own television production company and lives in London and Easthampton, New York.
Twitter @LaPlanteLynda @ZaffreBooks @Tr4cyF3nt0n
Author
bridgeman.lenny@gmail.com