I was absolutely delighted to be asked to join #TeamTennison and read the whole series featuring Jane Tennison from the start! Thanks to Compulsive Readers for my spot on the team and for my copies of the books.
This review is for ‘Tennison’, the first in the series – most people will be familiar with DCI Jane Tennison from the ‘Prime Suspect’ series featuring Dame Helen Mirren, but this series takes us back to 1973 and the very start of Tennison’s career.
In this book, probationary police officer Jane Tennison begins working at Hackney police station, a long way from her well-heeled family in Maida Vale. She’s immediately confronted with horrific crimes, the realities of the area’s problems with drugs and gangs, plus the institutional sexism of the police force in the 1970s. Her first case – the brutal murder of a young prostitute – takes her into the autopsy suite, the squats and squalid estates of London and the corrupt operational practices of her colleagues.
It’s easy to warm to the character of Jane Tennison right from the start of the novel as she tries desperately to balance her new career with the protective nature of her own family. Watching her struggle with the salmon-pink bridesmaid dress was just so sweet after having seen her hold her own as a uniformed officer in a tough posting! There’s a good balance of Tennison finding her feet at work while her family worry about her which felt realistic.
The 1970s setting was an eye-opener, but was written well by LaPlante. It was quite shocking to read about the sexist attitudes and corruption within the police – there were quite a few instances of police officers lying for each other, covering up incompetence and coercing suspects. It seemed that everyone smoked and the police officers spent a lot of time eating fried food in the canteen and playing snooker! Plus the treatment of subordinates was pretty bad too – poor Jane Tennison spent a lot of time covering desk duties because no-one else could be bothered.
The book is tightly plotted, although really takes in two main crime plots. The first – the murder – is dealt with as a police procedural, although the second crime is a high-stakes, high-risk one. I found both interesting, but personally engaged more with the murder story as this focused more on Jane’s steep learning curve, the forensics of the case and the details of the investigation.
This is a great start to the series and – at nearly 600 pages – it covers a lot of ground! At the end, we’re left with a tougher, more-experienced Jane Tennison who is working through some big issues. I absolutely can’t wait to see where the second book takes her.
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