Prime Suspect

By Lynda La Plante

From the BAFTA-winning writer behind the TV series PRIME SUSPECT and author of WIDOWS, now a major motion picture...

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.

Desperate to remove all doubt around her suspect, Tennison struggles to make the charges stick. And then a second body turns up. With the team against her, and a dangerous criminal still on the loose, DCI Jane Tennison must fight to prove herself, now or never.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Jan 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781471100239

Lynda La Plante

Lynda La Plante's novels, including the Prime Suspect series, have all been international bestsellers. She is an honorary fellow of the British Film Institute and a recipient of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Dennis Potter Writers Award. Awarded a CBE, she is a member of the UK Crime Writers Awards Hall of Fame. She lives in London.

Reviews for Prime Suspect

[vivienner_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of those books that was written as a successful tv series. I enjoyed Helen Mirren's performance of a high ranking police officer at a time when female officers were hardly tolerated and she had to struggle against the hostility of her male colleagues. These attitudes from the 1990s made the story a bit dated (although I'm sure they still exist to some extent today), but not a bad police procedural nevertheless.

[fhudnell-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[scot2-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great crime book. No, I did not like the characters. Jane was someone I would thoroughly dislike in real life although as a policewoman I rooted for her against the chauvinistic male policemen.. However, it was a good read.

[cherilove · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was written after the TV series, and isn't true to the character created by Helen Mirren. I did not finish the book.

[daftboy1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

OK Book this, it is to be fair quite dated it was written in 1991 so no mobiles or internet in those days. (It makes it harder to catch the bad guy) DCI Jane Tennison is in charge of a murder investigation she needs to win over the men on the force, her private life is a shambles they let their only suspect go as they have not enough on him but keep tabs on him dig deeper and it turns out he is a serial killer.

[bookczuk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Prime Suspect was a marvelous BBC 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 autor 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 BBC 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.

[susiesharp_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this one so I could re-watch the series on netflix. It is a good story but there were times it was choppy. I liked the mystery and Jane is kind of a love to hate her kind of DCI. She is so tough, sometimes too tough but she has to be to break into this old boys club.The reveal was pretty good but like I said there were times it was choppy and maybe if it had started a new chapter instead of a new scene with barely a paragraph break I think I would have enjoyed it more, however still pretty good3 Stars

[reviewsbymolly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm a huge crime fiction lover and I especially love those that are based on truth. So, when the chance arose to review books 1 and 2 in Ms. La Plante's Prime Suspect series, I jumped. What I found in these two books was gripping complexity that will leave the reader hungry for more!In Prime Suspect, Jane Tennison's a woman doing a man's job. And those men...well, they aren't too pleased about it, so she has a lot to prove. All she wants is a chance to lead an investigation and prove that she's worthy of doing it the boys' way. She gets her break, when quite unexpectedly, the lead Chief Investigator dies of heart failure and she's thrown into the driver's seat of a murder investigation. Tennison digs around and digs deep, causing a lot of ruckus around the precinct. When the clues she finds lead to a new angle, the Prime Suspect is set for release.I really enjoyed reading about Tennison's tense investigation and watching her prove herself to the boys. I felt myself transform to the middle of the story, as I saw the events unfold through her eyes. It really was a good ride as I followed her on the investigation, searching for the clues, and trying to find out just who the real victim was!In A Face In Crowd, the tensions are once again rising and leaping to the heart of the story. Tennison is back in full swing and her investigating is once again complex. She's still on a bout to prove her self as the Chief Investigator to her male co-workers. They still don't feel she's up to the work, but when another killer is on the loose in the heart of London, it will be up to Tennison to, once again, prove that she can get the prime suspect before they escape.The ride was once again a tense one, this time, filled with racism and hatred of the worst. Will Tennison be able to capture her suspect, and once again, close a case before her personal issues are laid before all of London?These books were, to me, some of the best written pieces of work. Most of the crime novels I read are based here in the States, but reading these ones that are based in London, was awesome. I become a part of London, and each page brought with it a new piece to the puzzle, yet I couldn't quite grasp the who-dun-it until the very last pages. I definitely recommend these books with 4 Books and two thumbs up. Ms. La Plante is an author who's works are going on my wish list now!This review originated at Reviews By Molly in part with a blog tour.

[bcquinnsmom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure because I can't find any info but this may a novelization of the original Prime Suspect movie. I remember like eons ago watching this on PBS and falling in love with Jane Tennison, who I thought was probably the most ballsy woman I'd ever encountered on screen or off. Now, having read the story, my opinion hasn't changed.In case you've seen it and forgotten the story, it begins with an investigation into the death of a prostitute named Della Mornay. Sadly, the lead investigator dies of a heart attack as the investigation is proceeding, and Jane Tennison is on hand to take up the case. One of the first things she realizes is that the identification of the body was botched, and from there the case takes on an entirely different light. However, that's not the main thrust of the novel. Prime Suspect lets the reader into the backrooms of the police; in this case, into a good-old-boy, chumsy whumsy type situation where women aren't really tolerated, even if they're more than qualified, in fact, BECAUSE they're more than qualified. It also peeks into Tennison's personal life, which she basically sacrifices for her career. All in all, a well-done mystery and well worth the time it takes to read the book.