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Disclosure: I won a free copy of this book from the publisher. Opinions shared are mine.

Police procedurals are quickly becoming a favorite genre for me. I really liked The Dry by Jane Harper, and Murder Mile reminds me of it a little bit. This series is a prequel to the Prime Suspect series which I’ve never seen.

Some parts of this book really appealed to me. The mystery of a string of murders was interesting; that’s why I kept pushing myself to finish reading it. I liked Jane Tennison’s character. The story takes place in the late 1970s, which the author repeatedly shows by emphasizing the challenge of being a career woman in a man’s world.

Some of the book reads like a play, and that was the part I didn’t like. It just wasn’t my favorite writing style. A lot of the characters’ actions and thoughts were directly stated despite the clearly implied tone of the situation. If I read about Moran’s baby one more time, I might have just quit reading altogether.

Overall, this wasn’t my favorite story, but it would probably appeal to those who liked the Jane Tennison series. Maybe I’ll try to watch it over Christmas break and that will inspire me to read the series.

The fourth in the bestselling Jane Tennison thrillers, MURDER MILE is set at the height of the ‘Winter of Discontent’. Can Jane Tennison uncover a serial killer? February, 1979, ‘The Winter of Discontent’. Economic chaos has led to widespread strikes across Britain. Jane Tennison, now a Detective Sergeant, has been posted to Peckham Criminal Investigation Department, one of London’s toughest areas. As the rubbish on the streets begins to pile up, so does the murder count: two bodies in as many days. There are no suspects and the manner of death is different in each case. The only link between the two victims is the location of the bodies, found within a short distance of each other near Rye Lane in Peckham. Three days later another murder occurs in the same area. Press headlines scream that a serial killer is loose on ‘Murder Mile’ and that police incompetence is hampering the investigation. Jane is under immense pressure to catch the killer before they strike again. Working long hours with little sleep, what she uncovers leaves her doubting her own mind.

About the Author

Lynda La Plante was born in Liverpool. She trained for the stage at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and worked with the National Theatre and Radio Drama Company before becoming a television actress. She then turned to writing – and made her breakthrough with the phenomenally successful TV series Widows. Her novels have all been international bestsellers. Her original script for the much-acclaimed Prime Suspect won awards from BAFTA, Emmys, British Broadcasting and Royal Television Society as well as the 1993 Edgar Allan Poe Writer’s Award. Lynda has written and produced over 170 hours of international television. Tennison was adapted for TV and was broadcast on PBS in 2017. Lynda is one of only three screenwriters to have been made honorary fellow of the British Film Institute and was awarded the BAFTA Dennis Potter Writer’s Award in 2000. In 2008, she was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to Literature, Drama and Charity. She is a member of The Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame and is the only lay person to be made a fellow of The Forensic Science Society.