Murder Mile (Jane Tennison Thriller, #4)

by Lynda La Plante

Prime Suspect meets Ashes to Ashes as we see Jane Tennison starting out on her police career . . .

The fourth in the Sunday Times bestselling Jane Tennison thrillers, MURDER MILE is set at the height of the 'Winter of Discontent'. Can Jane Tennison uncover a serial killer?

February, 1979, 'The Winter of Discontent'. Economic chaos has led to widespread strikes across Britain.

Jane Tennison, now a Detective Sergeant, has been posted to Peckham CID, one of London's toughest areas. As the rubbish on the streets begins to pile up, so does the murder count: two bodies in as many days.

There are no suspects and the manner of death is different in each case. The only link between the two victims is the location of the bodies, found within a short distance of each other near Rye Lane in Peckham. Three days later another murder occurs in the same area. Press headlines scream that a serial killer is loose on 'Murder Mile' and that police incompetence is hampering the investigation.

Jane is under immense pressure to catch the killer before they strike again.Working long hours with little sleep, what she uncovers leaves her doubting her own mind.

'La Plante excels in her ability to pick out the surprising but plausible details that give her portrayal of everyday life in a police station a rare ring of authenticity' Sunday Telegraph

'Classic Lynda, a fabulous read' Martina Cole on HIDDEN KILLERS

• ISBN10: 1785764683
• ISBN13: 9781785764684
• Publish Date: 24 January 2019 (first published 23 August 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Zaffre
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

Murder Mile is the 4th book in the Tennison series. Now I had never read a Tennison book before so I was a little worried about starting with this one, but I was not disappointed. You don’t have to read the other ones to know what’s going on as every book follows a different case, with the same characters being present and Jane being the main one.

See reviews first on my Blog

Murder Mile follows the cases of three women who may or may not be connected and the suspect cannot be found. With the rubbish also piling up because of a worker strike things get harder for the detectives as rats and other animals contaminate scenes.
One thing that should be remembered while reading this book is that it is set in 1979 which is why some procedures are different. Because of these differences, I did find myself getting frustrated with Jane and several of the other characters at times. This didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book, but it did have me frustrated at times because certain words were being said and used.

Overall I enjoyed this story. I liked Jane and how she handled most things. The story was very fast-paced and had me guessing as to who the killer was all the time.
One thing I did enjoy about this story is that not only was it about the murders but we also got to see some of the detectives and Jane’s personal lives to a certain extent which made there takes on the case and why they thought certain things very interesting.
I’m now wanting to go back and start the series from the beginning and learn how Jane became one of the only female detectives on the team because I have a feeling it was a wild ride if this book was anything to go by.

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Murder Mile through BookishFirst in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Murder Mile is the fourth book in the series by Lynda La Plante. That being said, you really could just jump in here if you really wanted to; I did. I had no problem understanding what was going on, and a lot of the context I was missing out on was either hinted at or flat out stated later.
The series itself is actually a prequel series, showing Jane Tennison in her earlier years. To be honest I’m pretty shocked that I hadn’t ever read any of the series before now. Based on this one book it seems like they’re solid mysteries, so they’re worth looking into.
This particular book is set in 1979, and that’s something that’ll become important to remember later. You’re going to see a lot of attitudes typical of the time, as well as a few specific events that were widespread at that time.



Warnings first: Being that this is a mystery, and that the main character is an investigator, it’s probably no surprise that she deals with violent cases. There are a few graphic murders here (all are described after the fact) with strangulation coming up as well as concerns of rape. There are also some homophobic comments made throughout the book, but it all comes from characters we’re not meant to like to begin with, so I suspect that was done to solidify that part.
Jane Tennison is an investigator who is very good at her job, unfortunately it seems like nobody else is willing to acknowledge that, least of all her superiors. Feel free to read into that however you’d like, but their reactions to her make it pretty clear why they feel that way.
I love how absorbed I got in this mystery – it’s been a while since I picked up a mystery that I truly felt compelled to finish all in one sitting. So that was a really refreshing change for me. It was well written, well thought out, and while there was a bit of a surprise ending, I was mostly okay with it (especially as the surprise pertains to the conclusion, not the criminal’s revelation).
What I really enjoyed was taking all those tropes about the “good ‘ol boys” police clubs and threw them out the window. Actually, La Plante did more than that. She actively showed how toxic those attitudes could be, personally and professionally, and how it can affect the very cases these people were working on.
I’m so glad that I gave this series a chance, though I’ll have to confess that I didn’t realize this was the fourth book in the series when I picked it up. If I had I likely would have never given it the chance I did – so for once I’m happy for that little mistake I made. I’m clearly going to have to go through and read the rest of Lynda La Plante’s books – I’ve been craving a mystery series exactly like this, so I couldn’t be happier with my most recent discovery.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks