The decomposed body of a young girl who has been brutally murdered and left in a an old air raid shelter in the garden of the Lanark’s now derelict house. Jane Tennison is leading a murder investigation but first she must identify the victim but then another body is found, hidden in the walls of the shelter. During reading I did some googling as I was trying to understand the period it was set, and found this was a tv series starring Helen Mirren years ago! I hope it was better than this book and that played the Jane character in a better way than she was portrayed here. Read all your books! Fantastic! Definitely my favourite author by far. Just finished Unholy Murder which was brilliant. Can’t wait to start Judas Horse now. Reply Her first book went over extremely well, and other famous novels came to follow. One of her best known stories is The Talisman, published in 1987, closely followed by Bella Mafia in 1990. Soon afterward, she began work on Prime Suspect, which starred Helen Mirren. This opened the door for La Plante to win an Edgar-Award from the Mystery-Writers of America for her impressive work on the show. The characters were all, ALL, incredibly unlikeable. Eddie was probably the least unlikeable and seemed mostly ok, except for some reason seemed to hate everything about Jane’s job and automatically disagreed with her and put her down when she tried to talk about it with him. Red flag there, Jane!

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. My first book from Lynda, I enjoyed her writing style this is a classic police procedural. There is an insta love element in here it was overdone in my opinion and not necessary in the book it really didnt 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. 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.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. All across the USA, people are showing up dead. The deaths don't appear to be connected in any way until one particular death occurs and gets the Secretary of Defense's attention. He arranges for a task force to investigate.

What I liked was a different style of telling the story, I'm a bit tired of all the same contemporary unreliable narrators in every mystery novel these days, so, a solid person was so refreshing. In this case, protagonist Jane Tennison – who begins the story as a newly promoted detective – investigates an historic case where a body has been found during a planned redevelopment of a derelict house once owned by the Lanark family. When Tennison discovers another body hidden in the same shelter, a complex case involving a trip to Australia to visit Lanark family members unearths many family secrets in the process.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? Lynda La Plante (born Lynda Titchmarsh) is a British author, screenwriter, and erstwhile actress (her performances in Rentaghost and other programmes were under her stage name of Lynda Marchal), best known for writing the Prime Suspect television crime series. Also, some insta love here. Does she have this type of hookups every book? It's impossible to understand what the guy sees in Jane, she's very unpleasant, doesn't like anyone, is perpetually annoyed with everyone around, from her parents to her colleagues. The redeeming quality is she admits her mistakes in the end.

I always devour books by Lynda La Plante and 'Dark Rooms' was no exception. As well as the core investigation per novel, this series is as much about Jane's life and career. Lynda has teased both ninth and tenth books, which may bring the series full circle as we approach 'Prime Suspect'. I love this series and always enjoy the evolution of Jane's character - it was very exciting to see her once again take a step forward in career with her promotion. I cannot wait to see what is next in store for DI Tennison. Just love your books, Lynda. Just finished unholy murder and am just about to start Judas Horse. You are a truly amazing writer in the thriller genre. Reply Jane herself comes off as quite dislikable, the whole storyline of her doing a big renovation of her house suddenly out of nowhere became quite boring - the trip to Australia was quite simply ludicrous and on the whole, the whole story was meh.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.

Lynda's original script for the much-acclaimed Prime Suspectwon awards fromBAFTA,Emmys, British Broadcasting and Royal Television Society as well as the 1993 Edgar Allan Poe Award.

Table of Contents

DI Jane Tennison starts at a new police station and is thrown right in to a new murder investigation. A decomposed body of a young female has been found in an old air raid shelter in the garden of the Lanark's derelict house. She has been brutally murdered. They are focusing on identifying the victim until they find another body hidden in the walls. Jane travels to Australia to get to the bottom of the case. Tennison travels to Australia as the investigation and search for answers intensifies, there she discovers the dark secret, that the Lanark family has kept hidden for decades. This secret could bring down the family dynasty as well as putting Tennison’s life in danger.