Blunt Force

 Blunt Force

Reviewed By  Ian Banks       October 13, 2020

 

Author  Linda la Plante

Distributor:      Allen & Unwin
ISBN:                 9781785769863
Publisher:         Bonnier/Zaffre
Release Date:   August 2020  

   Website:   https://www.allenandunwin.com

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Jane Tennyson is still smarting badly after being kicked out of the Flying Squad due to a procedural issue; she has been sent to a small station in Knightsbridge to carry out mundane police work which, while it is important is relatively boring after the high octane of the prestigious Flying Squad. Tennyson is working hard but as it is still prominently a ‘man’s world’ as always life is not being made easy for her.

The horrific killing of big time showbiz agent Charlie Foxley sees the small Knightsbridge force under serious pressure to investigate a crime that is not only horrific, but also high profile as Foxley had as many friends as he had enemies. Tennyson along with long-time friend and mentor DS Spencer Gibbs have the skills to investigate the case, but as both are a under a ‘cloud’, and can’t seem to solve what is fast becoming a seriously complicated crime ‘quickly’, a new DI is bought in placing Tennyson and Gibb in second place.

As with all La Plante stories there is a second tier counterbalancing the main plot, that of what really happened when Tennyson froze while out on a job and then later during range practice, which balances out what otherwise would be a somewhat gruesome read.

Many layers form what is a formidable plot as there was far more to the life of Foxley than was at first apparent, involving high levels of prostitution, the elite of the movie industry and political world and as always, money, money, money!

Details are painstakingly revisited, clues examined and re-examined and every minute piece of the jigsaw carefully placed on the board to eventually trace the killer and discover the reason why such brutality was used. One of the biggest issues the team face, apart from finding the killer with very few clues to help them, is could this be a once only or will the killer strike again!

Blunt Force is the sixth book in the Jane Tennyson series which is one series that just keeps on getting better and better as Tennyson continues to follow her dream despite the entrenched chauvinism of her counterparts, coming across as a smart operator who does make mistakes and is all too human.

 

Crime, Fiction