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Laced with gothic undertones in the centrepiece of the decaying Victorian mansion and the horrors hiding within, once home to an eccentric family with a long history of tragedy, this is a tightly plotted police procedural featuring realistic forensic science of the time period, and even a touch of romance for Jane, as well as trips to the coast and as far as Australia, exploring some dark and disturbing themes and complex characters through every navigation of the twisting plot. Throughout the series, discrimination - and specifically misogyny - within the police has been a running theme, once more explored in this novel alongside other abuses of power and the elusiveness of long-buried secrets.
Featuring multiple characters that all have a vital role to play in the unfolding dramas, each is vividly well-developed, their individual stories cohesively driving the plot. With the surprise appearance of a face from the past also in the mix, the novel has everything you could want from an ongoing police procedural series and much more. I absolutely love these books; Lynda La Plante's novels (and TV dramas) are always pure escapism - each new release an event in itself and an indulgent, immersive delight. I cannot wait to be able to dive into the fourth in the series. Jane solves the original case involving a dead young woman in record time and it involves a tragic turn of events. Jane's given little (well, no) kudos for her work but having also uncovered a baby's bones during the investigation she's is keen to pursue it, particularly when she discovers the newborn was smothered. She's reminded however of her previous case that involved decades-old bones with no recourse for anyone still alive. Here however she's got her eye on the building's previous owner, Helena Lanark, and starts looking into the family. Blake Brooks, Brand and Marketing Manager at Bonnier Books UK, promised, “Lynda La Plante is writing at the top of her game, and Vanished is a masterclass. Fans are going to be delighted.” Who lies at the heart of this gripping new murder investigation? I have not read a book by Lynda La Plante before, and in fact, I don’t think I’ve read many murder/crime novels by women authors. I quite enjoyed that aspect, and felt like she is, as you might imagine, just as good (if not better) at delivering “the goods” as all her male counterparts. I did enjoy that although there was some discussion of murder and violence of that sort (because this is the type of book I was reading, ya know), it didn’t seem gratuitous nor overly graphic. I mean, yes, there was graphic violence, but sometimes I feel like I can’t even handle the level of violence that some of the male authors go into. Scandinavian crime authors are their own sort when it comes to this, and I feel like La Plante is nowhere near that level. If you’re into crime and murder mysteries, this is a good one because she does a good job of competing with those modern murder mystery and crime novel types but does it in a way that is good clean fun. The more I write things like “good clean fun” in regard to murder mysteries the more I think maybe I’m digging myself into a hole here…wait. There I go again. The mystery was a good one, and in fact there were several going on at once that were connected. It made for an interesting brain twister, trying to figure out how everything went together. I’ve said before that I don’t try to figure out the mystery ahead of time, I just like to let the story take me where it will. Sometimes I can guess right away what happened, but sometimes I can’t. This time I couldn’t, and I enjoyed the surprise and the suspense right to the end.
When it Comes to Writing, What Books Made Lynda Popular?
However, and believe me I hate to leave a negative review, but wow; there was very little I enjoyed of this book.
Speaking of, since when is it ok to discuss the minutiae of your case with non police, Jane? Extremely unprofessional, and for an obnoxious, overbearing, pompous character like our “heroine”, I would have expected professionalism. How is a main character so awful?? Genuine question because I as the reader should surely be on her side? But she is impatient, irritable, downright rude a lot of the time, pompous, judgemental, and snobby. I don’t think I’ve ever read a character I disliked as much. This journey takes a bit of a European tour and encompasses at least two fascinating themes which is compelling reading and keeping you glued. It’s set up very nicely for number four which I look forward to reading. My only negative is that it’s quite long and although I cannot deny it interesting it could have been refined somewhat. The brief storyline with the weed was so so so unneeded and began with ooh whats Eddie hiding and ended abruptly a chapter later, why?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.
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