Good Friday (Tennison 3) by Lynda La Plante
| Good Friday (Tennison 3) by Lynda La Plante | |
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| Category: Crime | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: Jane Tennison is getting older but not necessarily wiser. Miraculously it all turns out right in the end, but then we know it does. A reasonable holiday read. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 400 | Date: August 2017 |
| Publisher: Zaffre | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1785762819 | |
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Jane Tennison's a fully-fledged detective now after her ten-week course at Hendon: she's back at Bow Street waiting for her first posting. She'd like the Flying Squad, but she's not got the experience, nor, it has to be said, the necessary physical attributes. This is 1976 and male chauvinism was rampant. It was also London just after the extensive IRA bombing campaign of 1974 and 75 and no one believes that it's going to be over any time soon. Passing through Covent Garden station one morning Jane was caught up in the latest incident in which a bomb killed five people - and she's one of only two people who got a good look at the bomber.
A word of warning: if you want to get the best out of this book, don't read the blurb on Amazon. I've read an advance reading copy so I don't know if that will also appear on the back of the book or the flyleaf, but if it does you'd be well advised to avoid that too, as it gives away something happens on page 346 of the 377 pages in my proof. There should be special places in hell reserved for people who divulge plot spoilers: this one deserves a spot close to the flames.
Tennison is getting older, but not necessarily a lot wiser. She disobeys instructions and her behaviour can only be described as naive at times, but miraculously it always turns out right in the end. It's no surprise as we know that she's a DCI in Prime Suspect in the early nineties. Frankly she was lucky to survive in the job: what we see isn't just inexperience - she's a liability. She's moved out of the Section House and has bought her own flat, but hasn't got around to telling the job about her new contact details. Her new lodger (to help pay the mortgage) has been vetted but she's not turning out to be quite the person Tennison imagined.
One relief is that she has found a friend: one of the women who was on the same initial Hendon training course as her bumps into Jane at a hospital. Natalie was kicked off the course and now works for a bank, but she's glad to meet up with Jane again and is even teaching her how to cook. Tennison relaxes with her. There are even a couple of romantic interests too: one's just a bit dangerous.
Lynda La Plante captures the atmosphere in London in the early seventies perfectly: it was an edgy place to be. She knows the police force too and how it worked. What she does particularly well is the casual sexism. It's not something that's discussed: I mean why would they need to? It would be rather like discussing why pigs don't play the piano. The plot isn't too complex (it will play out well on the small screen) and I'm afraid that it wasn't too difficult to spot the wrong 'un, but if you're looking for a light holiday read you could do a lot worse and it would read perfectly well as a standalone. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
For more stories of the police in 1976, have a look at Foxtrot Oscar by Charlie Owen. It was a hot summer which was captured by Maggie Farrell in Instructions for a Heatwave and Summer of '76 by Isabel Ashdown.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Good Friday (Tennison 3) by Lynda La Plante at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Good Friday (Tennison 3) by Lynda La Plante at Amazon.com.
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