Lynda la Plante is on great form with this cracking read about a murdered British movie star whose life was very different from the one she portrayed to the world. Alongside trying to solve the case DI Travis is trying for promotion but finding her path being blocked by those on high. Gripping, pacey and another smash for sure.
Hot young British film star Amanda Delany had the world at her feet. Never one for the quiet life, she'd had a string of affairs with famous actors, making perfect fodder for the tabloids... Then came a commission to write a tell-all memoir.
When Amanda is found brutally murdered, the suspects are lining up - from jealous ex-flatmates to famous lovers to a corrupt agent. As DCI James Langton leads his team in an extensive enquiry, they discover the sad truth behind Amanda's successful façade. An autopsy reveals that she was addicted to drugs and starvation diets. Amanda's parents are a cold, unemotional couple who hushed up the fact that their daughter once almost died from a botched abortion. And it is revealed that her massive earnings were being swallowed up in a City fraud.
Meanwhile, DI Anna Travis is up for promotion, but her boss DCI James Langton is blocking her, with an accusation of professional misconduct. This latest case, her toughest challenge so far, could make or break Anna's career.
Lynda La Plante is the author of over forty bestselling novels. She trained for the stage at RADA and worked with the National theatre and RSC before becoming an actress. She then turned to writing - and made her breakthrough with the phenomenally successful TV series Widows. Lynda's 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 Award. Lynda is an honorary fellow of the British Film Institute and was awarded the BAFTA Dennis Potter Best 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. Lynda La Plante is the first lay person to be awarded an honorary fellowship to the Forensic Science Society. In 2020 she launched the acclaimed Listening to the Dead podcast with former CSI Cass Sutherland, exploring forensic science and its impact on solving crimes.
