Blunt Force by Lynda La Plante is a solid example of the police procedural in novel form.
This is book 6 in a series, and though I had not read any of the others it was still easy to follow, and I didn't feel like I was missing anything as the author gives some detail into the past of Jane Tennison to catch up new readers.
When I first started reading I did not realize that it was not a "modern" book, but actually set sometime in the early 1980's so the frequent references to typewriters really threw me off until I read a synopsis of the first book of the series called Tennison and realized what was going on. After that it was much easier to just fall into the story.
We come across Jane Tennison and Spencer Gibbs after both officers have recently been demoted to a quiet station that mostly relates to thefts and petty crime. Until they get a call about a barking dog, and find a man who has been beaten, his throat cut and then disemboweled who turns out to be a famous theatrical agent. It's the worst crime the area has seen, and the race is on to find the killer.
This book is well crafted, with some pretty outrageous characters and some great red herrings. Overall, a very enjoyable read.
Based on this book I plan on reading the first 5 books of the series and keeping an eye out for other books by this author.
This is book 6 in a series, and though I had not read any of the others it was still easy to follow, and I didn't feel like I was missing anything as the author gives some detail into the past of Jane Tennison to catch up new readers.
When I first started reading I did not realize that it was not a "modern" book, but actually set sometime in the early 1980's so the frequent references to typewriters really threw me off until I read a synopsis of the first book of the series called Tennison and realized what was going on. After that it was much easier to just fall into the story.
We come across Jane Tennison and Spencer Gibbs after both officers have recently been demoted to a quiet station that mostly relates to thefts and petty crime. Until they get a call about a barking dog, and find a man who has been beaten, his throat cut and then disemboweled who turns out to be a famous theatrical agent. It's the worst crime the area has seen, and the race is on to find the killer.
This book is well crafted, with some pretty outrageous characters and some great red herrings. Overall, a very enjoyable read.
Based on this book I plan on reading the first 5 books of the series and keeping an eye out for other books by this author.