Reviews

Over the next twelve months I am taking part in #teamtennison where I am reading the back catalogue of the Tennison novels until the final one is released next July.

I absolutely loved this book, it had me hooked instantly. I found it hard to put down. I really liked the setting back in 1973 in London and the fashion descriptions.

It was a time when female police officers were not treated equally. I liked that Jane had a friend and an ally in Kath.

I really liked Jane, from the start you can see that she is tough and has her own mind and she wants to succeed.

I was fully immersed in this story and the ending blew my mind I didn’t see that coming at all!!

I’m excited to jump into book two now.

thearieslibrary's review against another edition

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4.0

Jane Tennison is a probationer at Hackney. At first she struggles to deal with the shocking situations she faces where she feels out of depth in a male-dominated, chauvinistic environment. Then she’s given her first murder case…

This is the first book in the Jane Tennison series, which I really enjoyed and cannot wait to see how this series progresses! I listened to this book and it was definitely lengthy (over 17 hours) and had long chapters, which I’m not used to! Nevertheless, the audiobook was excellently narrated especially with how many characters Julie Teal voiced, which made me immersed in the story.

The characters were an interesting bunch (as expected in the police in the 1970’s) where I wasn’t the biggest fan of some (I’m looking at you, Harris👀) and others I loved (like Jane and Kath). I loved seeing the character’s development throughout this book with me even starting to like some of the characters I wasn’t a fan of before. I loved how Lynda showed the struggles that Kath and Jane had to endure in a male-dominated field and the different ways that they decided to deal with the treatment they received from male officers.

This is definitely a slow burner as it allows you to get to grips with the characters and the murder case and then the pace increases. That ending?! I had to stare at a wall after I finished this book because I wasn’t expecting how heart wrenching and sad it was going to be, next time I will have my tissues ready! Something to note is the dated language used throughout, including racism, ableist language, derogatory slurs and language.

⚠️ CWs: death, cursing, alcohol use, derogatory language, murder, physical assault, sexual harassment, homophobic slur, racism, sexism, physical assault, police corruption; mentions needles, rape, vomiting, drug use, prostitution, ableist language, domestic abuse, drunk driving, cheating ⚠️

annaelliot's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

claires_loveofbooks2020's review against another edition

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challenging tense medium-paced

4.0

I've never seen the show, but I may have to after reading this book. I loved Jane as an fmc she was strong-willed and intelligent and her abilities are recognised by her boss who let's her be involved in a murder investigation, even though shes still learning her role in the Met police. When she sees the body of a 15 Yr old morgue victim, I was surprised she took it so well. The setting of 1970 London era was fun to read about, all the pranks and sexual harassment being the norm for back then. This is one book that has made me really get into crime drama. Listening to the audiobook along with reading a physical copy also gave it a fun twist. Can't wait for her next book that I'll be reading Hidden Killers. ***

amothersmusings1's review against another edition

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5.0

Although it’s always interesting to read a modern, technological and forensically savvy police procedural, it often feels very refreshing to read a crime thriller that portrays policing at its most basic, with boots on the ground and good old traditional policing to solve crimes.

I fell in love with the twenty two year old Jane Tennison immediately, her naivety to the job and towards colleagues of all ranks, made her instantly adorable and she is someone I would have loved to have worked with back in the day.

Being set in the 1970’s you expect a high amount of misogyny and typical male bravado amongst the ranks but although there was some expected chauvinist behaviour from the men towards the women, a lot of it was tongue in cheek and nothing more than the pranks you may get nowadays. In fact, at times both Jane and Kath (her fellow female colleague), were protected and looked after numerous times. As the story develops the actual amount orc love and respect towards one of them becomes abundantly clear.

I remember watching the program ‘Prime Suspect 1973’ which follows the book quite closely and it was enjoyable for me having that image in my head as I read the book, although this was far from necessary.

Being a Lynda La Plante fan already, it was a pleasure to read “Tennison”, the first in the series based on the start of Jane’s police career back in 1973. This is a brick of a book coming in at nearly 600 pages, so it’s worth every penny and I’m now going to read the second book in the series ‘Hidden Killers” set a year later. I look forward to reading the whole series in order to enjoy the continuity of Jane’s police career, from her probation to the fully qualified no nonsense detective of the regular prime suspect series, we all know and love.

#Tennison - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

goodbookss95's review against another edition

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5.0

I love Lynda La Plante's way of writing. It's always so intricate and detailed, and made me want to read more. The characters are always interesting - I loved Kath, someone who helped show Jane the ropes and influenced her into becoming the detective I know from the originals. It was so strange being introduced to Jane as a naive, young probabtioner, who is so unlike the detective I was originally introduced to in Prime Suspect. I'm very intrigued to see how Jane's character develops in the next few books.

magic_at_mungos's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

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