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Above Suspicion, Lynda La Plante
Simon & Schuster
Reviewed by Sheila Forbes (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

Lynda La Plante's detailed knowledge of British police procedure, as demonstrated in her popular TV series' Prime Suspect and Trial and Retribution lends authenticity to all her books.

Here she introduces an engaging new recruit to the murder squad, Anna Travis. The daughter of a successful and highly respected Detective Chief Superintendent, Anna is determined to follow in her late father's footsteps on this, her first case.

The body of a young student has been found, tied up and brutally raped. It is thought to be the work of a serial killer who has previously targeted only older prostitutes over the course of several years. Painstaking investigation of the few available clues, with a trip to Spain to interview a former police officer, finally brings up the name of a well-known TV and film actor, Alan Daniels. Here the police have to tread a fine line. Any bad publicity that ruins the career of an innocent person could leave them open to litigation, but the cultured, charming and plausible actor fits closely the description offered by the profiler.

To add to the difficulties, budgetary constraints are threatening to close the case before it can be brought to a conclusion. As more deaths are linked to the series, the trail leads to several cities in the United States.

Anna's brusque and demanding boss, Langton, is certain Daniels is the perpetrator; Anna herself wavers between certainty and doubt. Then the actor asks her for a date. Should she go, in the hope of gaining some incriminating knowledge, or will she be putting herself in danger? Suddenly there is a new suspect and the case is thrown into confusion again.

The tension builds relentlessly as the investigating team accumulates evidence, knowing it will need to be foolproof if a conviction is to be obtained and a vicious killer taken out of circulation. A gripping and believable story.