Backlash
An Anna Travis Novel
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4.3 • 51 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Award-winning and international bestselling author Lynda La Plante returns with the eighth installment in her acclaimed series featuring London's Detective Chief Inspector Anna Travis.
Late night on a notorious high-rise estate in the borough of Hackney. A woman on the street never makes it home after a long night of drinking. A white van is being driven erratically. The driver is pulled over by the police and questioned. A suspect . . . an arrest . . . a confession. Case closed?
Five years earlier, a thirteen-year-old girl disappeared in broad daylight on a busy London street. Detective Chief Superintendent James Langton headed the investigation; the case was never solved. It has haunted him ever since. And now comes another confession, to this murder, and to one more besides. But is it too good to be true? After being pulled into the fray, Anna Travis isn't so sure that they have their man.
Then the suspect changes his story. . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
La Plante breaks no new ground in her eighth Anna Travis novel (after 2012's Bloodline). Anna, now detective chief inspector for Specialist Casework, uses lateral thinking to restart stalled murder investigations, including one involving Henry Oates, the driver of a van that contained birthday party supplies and a corpse. During his initial interrogation, Oates alluded to having committed other murders, and Anna must help determine the truth of his statements. Dull, routine police work focuses on identifying people who can provide information on Oates's life and on looking for evidence to connect him with other killings. The interrogations themselves and the devising of strategies to get under the suspect's skin have been done better elsewhere, including the TV series Prime Suspect (the author's breakthrough). La Plante takes no risks in this installment.
Customer Reviews
Taut, well-written
Engaging characters, realistic action and dialog, a peek behind the scenes of British police work, and a nicely twisting plot. What's not to like? The understated writing didn't quite knock my socks off, but I did enjoy it.