Prime Suspect/A Face in the Crowd by Lynda La Plante

To celebrate the re-release of the Prime Suspect series, I’m pleased to present you with reviews of the first two books in this series.

• Paperback:288 pages
• Publisher:Harper Paperbacks (January 17, 2012)
• ISBN-10: 006213437X
• Source: Publisher

New female Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison is struggling to gain the acceptance of the chauvinistic Scotland Yard detective squad. She’s put in her time, unfortunately this isn’t recognized by the men she leads nor those higher up.  Tennison is forced to work in an extremely hostile work environment. Still, she’s quite desperate to succeed in this incredibly political squad, desperate enough to put her work in front of everything else, including her personal life.

When the body of a prostitute is discovered, Tennison’s battle must be put on hold. The body appears to be that of Della Mornay but it doesn’t take the squad long before they realize the body has been wrongly identified, mainly due to the true brutality of the killing. This woman is merely the first in a spree of killings by a truly sick individual. It becomes a race against the clock: will Tennison and her squad be able to put an end to the killings before another woman is brutally murdered?

I’m ashamed to admit it, but when I accepted these books for review, I wasn’t aware that the Prime Suspect novels were made into television shows, let alone a shortly-lived one here in the states. Perhaps seeing this version of Jane Tennison would have provided me with a better outlook on her character.

I can completely sympathize with Tennison and her struggle to burst through the glass ceiling hanging over the Scotland Yard detective squad. But frankly, I despised her character. Yes, she was strong, unfaltering, dedicated…but perhaps it was too much. The portrayal of her dedication to rising above those her were trying to hold her down made her seem like a completely selfish and uncaring bitch. Working in a man’s industry, I can get how hard it is to rise above but I think Tennison’s character went a bit too far, not caring who she hurt on her struggle to climb the ladder to the top.

Additionally, I had a bit of a hard time getting into the story. It just didn’t flow well for me, I couldn’t get immersed in the story and my feelings about the main character hindered the experience even more. I found having to reread pages, not because I’d skimmed but because it didn’t seem to connect. At some point, however, I finally got immersed in the story, able to put my feelings about the main character aside. The procedural part of the investigation was pretty spot on. Although the reader is pretty sure they know the identify of the perp, the investigation is compelling enough, the individual’s pure evil chilling enough, that this is all overlooked.

Despite my feelings about Tennison’s character, I think Prime Suspect is the first in a series I can find myself enjoying, looking forward to the subsequent books in this series. Recommended.

• Paperback:256 pages
• Publisher:Harper Paperbacks (January 17, 2012)
• ISBN-10: 0062134396
• Source: Publisher

When the body of a young black female is found in one of London’s poorest districts, Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison knows she has her work cut out for her. Not only is she still caught in the drama of the lack of respect provided to her by the detective squad, but the city is already in a pretty brutal racial battle.

They believe the body to be that of a young woman missing for several years. Even the girl’s mother is convinced the body is that of her daughter, claiming that items found with the body are her daughter’s. Further forensic testing disproves this, meaning yet another innocent young woman has been killed. Tennison and her squad have to trace the history of the property on which the body has been found.

It isn’t until a cast of the victim’s face is made that Tennison is able to get any headway (no pun intended) into the investigation. They uncover series of particularly brutal unreported assaults and with that a truly sick individual, set on ruining Tennison’s reputation. The detective squad is hit with endless accusations of brutality, not surprising considering the racism that runs pervasively through the squad. Can Tennison rise above these personal attacks and finally bring to justice a man who had been brutalizing young girls for years.

Given my apprehension over the previous book in this series, I can’t deny I was skeptical about how I would feel about A Face in the Crowd.  It didn’t take me long to get over these feelings for I became almost instantly wrapped up in Tennison’s most recent case. Aiding in my new perspective was the “toned down” Tennison, not nearly as blood-thirsty in her attempts to rise to the top as she was before.

Additionally, I found myself caring about her character a bit more, actually rooting for her when she stood up for herself against those in power. This new and improved Tennison is a woman not to be messed with, a woman not only dedicated to her job but those citizens whom they protect.

Given the nature of the crimes, the depictions of the acts are quite brutal. I found myself getting queasy at some of the descriptions, if that gives you an indication of the severity. This book isn’t one that I would recommend to just anyone for this reason. That said, I’ve become quite invested in Tennison’s character and find myself hoping that she finally gets the recognition she deserves. Recommended…with caution.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me the opportunity to review this series of books. Please check out the tour page for the other stops in this tour.