Jane Tennison is leading a murder investigation into the recent brutal death of a young girl, her decomposed, starved body discovered in an old air raid shelter in the garden of the Lanark's now derelict house. Initially the focus is on identifying the victim, until another body is found hidden in the walls of the shelter. None of it made sense, there were too many characters that appeared out of the blue and then seemingly never existed (where did tim go?) and by the end i’d practically forgotten what had happened at the beginning for them to even end up there.

Dark Rooms | Book by Lynda La Plante | Official Publisher

Jane Tennison herself was an extremely unlikable character and i often found myself frustrated with how she treated practically everyone around her. As the investigation and search for answers intensifies, Jane travels to Australia. There she discovers the dark secret that the Lanark family has kept hidden for decades. A secret that not only threatens to bring down a family dynasty, but also places Jane Tennison in mortal danger...

Christmas Gifts

I also doubt this book was ever proof read considering the amount of mistakes i noticed while reading! Overall, Dark Rooms was a weaker Tennison novel from Lynda La Plante, and one that does not really stand out when compared to some of the more impressive books in the series. While I am little critical of it, Dark Rooms did have its interesting and powerful moments, and is still worth a read, especially for established fans of the series. I am hoping that the next book in the series, Taste of Blood, has a better story behind it, and I am still intrigued to see how this series continues. Lynda has received a huge amount of awards over her time in the field, including becoming an honorary-member of both the Liverpool John Moores University and British Film Institute. She was also awarded with the Dennis-Potter Writers-Award from the British-Academy of Film and Television Arts, and she received the Edgar-Allan Poe Writer’s Award (not to mention an Emmy) for her mini-series Prime Suspect. Anna Travis (a Detective Inspector) has to fight time to catch the copycat killer. She turns to James Langton (a brilliant Detective Chief Inspector and Anna’s mentor); the rough patch they are going through in their relationship complicates things. And then a second girl turns up dead. I really had an issue with the Jason Thorpe character, particularly at the end as the events reached their anti climactic climax. He is portrayed throughout as a sort of brutish, somewhat threatening thug, with his own successful business but almost certainly a fair amount of dodgy dealings in both that and the affairs of his aunt/the house. Then at the climactic ending his character is completely switched up and he’s suddenly some kind of simpleton we should pity? It’s absolutely bizarre.

Dark Rooms by Lynda La Plante | Goodreads

DI Jane Tennison is part of the team investigating the crime. On visiting the crime scene, Jane discovers the house has more horrors to reveal - in the form of a mummified baby who was buried alive. Laced with gothic undertones in the centrepiece of the decaying Victorian mansion and the horrors hiding within, once home to an eccentric family with a long history of tragedy, this is a tightly plotted police procedural featuring realistic forensic science of the time period, and even a touch of romance for Jane, as well as trips to the coast and as far as Australia, exploring some dark and disturbing themes and complex characters through every navigation of the twisting plot. Throughout the series, discrimination - and specifically misogyny - within the police has been a running theme, once more explored in this novel alongside other abuses of power and the elusiveness of long-buried secrets.

Diaries & Calendars

But, when he finally gets what he’s yearned for all these years, a political scandal erupts around him and he is shunned into the shadows once again with no shred of a positive reputation left. Sir William Benedict is left with no choice but to exact revenge on those who have sabotaged his dreams…and Justin Chalmers and his sister Laura are about to discover just how dark revenge can be when exacted by a man who has nothing left. What Kind of Awards has La Plante Earned? The “Anna Travis” series was made into a series, that La Plante wrote and produced. Ciaran Hinds and Kelly Reilly starred. BEST LYNDA LA PLANTE BOOKS What was the point of the investigation? The family history was so all over the place and by the end of the book the whole thing seemed like a waste of time. For those readers looking to get into novels by Lynda La Plante, this section will help with that. It will go over the novels “Above Suspicion”, “The Red Dahlia”, and “Clean Cut”. The trip to Australia - how utterly utterly unnecessary. In the time period it’s set, surely this was a huge expense, and whilst international phone calls were expensive too, they would have been a damn sight cheaper than sending two coppers over for 36 hours. So so strange. On the upside we got to see loads more entitled and judgemental attitude from Jane, so that was delightful.

Dark Rooms by Lynda La Plante | Waterstones

When the book starts, body number seven is found, same method, but the killer has killed a sweet young student. Anna finds a piece of information that links the killings to a much loved (not to mention well known) actor. Dark Rooms' is the eighth book in the Jane Tennison series, prequel to the 'Prime Suspect' TV series (and the novelisations of the first three seasons). Lynda La Plante presents an intricate case for the recently promoted Jane Tennison, her first investigation as a Detective Inspector following her required time spent in uniform. It is now the mid-80s, and we meet up with Jane as she's moved into her new home and is having it renovated. Jane continues to be somewhat a lone wolf, something that continues to cause her problems amongst the team. Yet her clashes with her DCI set the scene for her determination to resolve this case, even if it means working alone. Both sets of parents were awful, Eddies less so, and Jane’s sister didn’t seem to be anyone you’d want to grab a drink with either.Over the last few years, I have had a great time getting through the amazing Tennison series by iconic crime fiction author Lynda La Plante. A prequel series to the Prime Suspect television series, the Tennison books follows a younger version of Prime Suspect’s protagonist, Jane Tennison, as she works her way up the ranks while investigating several intriguing crimes. There have been some awesome books in this series so far, including Good Friday, Murder Mile, The Dirty Dozen, Blunt Force and Unholy Murder, each of which is worth a read, especially for fans of the original show. I managed to get through the eighth book in the series, Dark Rooms, last year, and it is high time I wrote a review for it, especially as the next Tennison thriller is out just around the corner. The elderly Helena Lanark now lives in a luxurious care home. She is the heiress of an immense family fortune and holds on to a dark secret of the horror which once occurred within the Lanark family house.