Clean Cut: An Anna Travis Mystery (Anna Travis Mysteries)

Product Description
Dedicated, intuitive, and utterly obsessive, DCI James Langton is ruthless in his pursuit of a gang of illegal immigrants, the murderers of a young prostitute. When one of them nearly kills him, Anna Travis nurses his wounds and bears the brunt of his frustrations, putting her own life and career on hold. But then one of Anna’s own cases — the seemingly motiveless murder of a quiet, studious woman — turns out to be linked with Langton’s, and Anna becomes the gang’s next target. As
USA Today wrote of La Plante’s
Above Suspicion, “There is no sugarcoating on this 100-proof police procedural.”
La Plante’s growing legions of fans will not be disappointed.
From Publishers Weekly
In La Plante’s solid third police procedural to feature London Det. Insp. Anna Travis (after 2007’s
The Red Dahlia), Anna’s lover and superior, Det. Chief Insp. Jimmy Langton, is knifed while investigating the murder of a young prostitute. As Anna helps him recuperate, Jimmy becomes obsessed with catching his assailant, rumored to be Clinton Camorra, a notorious drug trafficker and voodoo practitioner. Anna discovers another link to Camorra’s gang of illegal immigrants in one of her own murder cases, the apparently motiveless killing of a woman by Arthur George Murphy, who also practices voodoo. After Arthur’s sister and niece are murdered and another niece and nephew disappear, Anna suspects that not only is Camorra behind the crimes but that she may be the next target. Though her stance on illegal immigration is sometimes too strident for the story to support, La Plante has created another damaged heroine almost as appealing as her inimitable Jane Tennison.
(Oct.)
Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Detective Anna Travis is back in another suspenseful crime drama. She and her boss, James Langton, are lovers, a fact they try to keep quiet, but when James is knifed during a murder investigation, and Anna spends time at his bedside, the relationship becomes public. Later, with James determined to find the man who nearly killed him, the team is temporarily distracted by another murder investigation, which, naturally, turns out to be connected to James knifing. Despite that tired convention, La Plantes latest boasts a suspense-filled plot with devilish twists and aninterestingly flawed hero and heroine. Another strong series entry from Prime Suspect scriptwriter La Plante. –Emily Melton
About the Author
Lynda La Plante’s fourteen novels, including the Prime Suspect series, have all been international bestsellers. She is an honorary fellow of the British Film Institute and a member of the UK Crime Writers Awards Hall of Fame. She was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2008. She runs her own television production company and lives in London and Easthampton, New York. Visit her website at laplantebooks.com.
Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1

DAY ONE
Anna was in a foul mood. He had not turned up for dinner. Work commitments sometimes took precedence, obviously — she knew that — but he only had to call and she would understand. In actual fact, she had put understanding of their profession right at the top of the pluses on her list. It was a Friday and she had a long weekend due; they had planned to drive out to the country and stay overnight at a lovely inn. It was unusual for them both to have time off, so it made it even more annoying that he had not phoned. She had left messages on his mobile but did not like to overkill, as it was possible he was on a call out; however, she knew that he was meant to be winding down the long and tedious inquiry he had been on for months.
Anna scraped the dried food off the plate into the bin. Tonight had not been the first time by any means and as she sat, tapping her teeth with a pencil, she tried to calculate just how oft