Book info

• Title Prime Suspect
• Author Lynda La Plante
• Year 1991
• Genre Mystery

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 George Marlow, a man previously convicted of attempted rape. Everything appears to add up and the police think they've found their man, but things aren't quite what they seem . . . Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison came through the ranks the hard way, opposed and resented at every step by her male colleagues. So when DCI Shefford falls ill, the opportunity for Tennison to get herself noticed finally arrives. But the boys are not happy and every one of her colleagues is willing her to trip up.

Thoughts

A serviceable mystery but the trouble with this is, none of the characters grabbed me, and in fact the main character, the infamous Jane Tennison, was actively dislikable! I get that she had to be tough in a difficult and mysogynistic working environment but she really wasn’t very nice to her family and partner. Good story, though, interesting police action and errors on occasion, and a bit of a cliffhanger ending. I’m interested in the second book, anyway.

Rating: 3 / 5