Deadly Intent
"Deadly Intent is Lynda la Plante totally firing on all cylinders."
Synopsis:
An ex-police officer is found shot dead in a seedy drug den in Chalk Farm. Frank Brandon has a clean record and was not one for taking drugs. So why was his body found in such a dump? What was his connection with a seedy place where drugs were bought?
Anna Travis is soon on the case and acting in her usual maverick way. Soon the body count rises rapidly – all people who have a connection with the drug den. Only Brandon is the odd man out until the team get a break in the case. A drugs baron named Alexander Fitzpatrick was seen with Frank Brandon on the night he was murdered. Fitzpatrick is a wanted felon and has evaded the law for nigh-on twenty years. The thought of capturing such a big name is too much to resist. Soon, wheels within wheels start to make themselves known to the team as they try to unravel the complicated relationships of all the people involved with this elusive man and the case of the murdered Brandon.
Then, just when things couldn’t get worse - as all leads appear to go nowhere - Anna’s ex, James Langton, appears to take over the case. Not only does she have to deal with people disbelieving her theories, she also has to deal with the man who broke her heart. Is this a case that will spell the end of Anna Travis?
Review:
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Review:
As we have come to expect from any TV script or novel from Lynda la Plante, she hits the ground running. Within the first few pages la Plante starts the investigation at a gripping pace. In Deadly Intent, the body count is high and the action fast. You can tell that the author feels comfortable with police procedure and works it in to the storyline with ease. You can also tell the author has done her research and makes this a believable story because of it. As with much of her TV work, la Plante goes over the same ground on a number of occasions, offering different scenarios as to how things could have happened. All the while the suppositions fly about and evidence is slowly and painstakingly collated. The reader can feel the frustration of the team as they grasp at straws without a shred of evidence, waiting for that one lucky break. Deadly Intent is an excellent, high-octane police thriller with lots of strands intertwined within the main story. Some sections could possibly be regarded as being slightly coincidental... but real events can also be strange. Strange enough as to throw up absurd coincidences. It’s a quibblke really, and none of us would want to read a crime novel if there wasn’t the need to suspend disbelief somewhat. This is all about heightened reality, and all the more enjoyable for it! This is a marvellous story well told by a brilliant writer who is a true mistress of her craft. Lynda la Plante has given us many wonderful powerful characters and gripping stories that have thrilled and captured our imaginations. Deadly Intent is Lynda la Plante totally firing on all cylinders. And there are enough strands left untangled to make anyone want to read the next instalment of the turbulent life of Anna Travis...