I’m delighted to be part of Team Tennison, where, over the next few months, I’ll be reading and reviewing the books in the Tennison series, in the build up to the release of the tenth book later in the year. My review of the seventh book in the series, Unholy Murder, is written with thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me to be part of Team Tennison, and to the publisher for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

A coffin is dug up by builders in the grounds of an historic convent – inside is the body of a young nun.

In a city as old as London, the discovery is hardly surprising. But when scratch marks are found on the inside of the coffin lid, Detective Jane Tennison believes she has unearthed a mystery far darker than any she’s investigated before.

However, not everyone agrees. Tennison’s superiors dismiss it as an historic cold case, and the Church seems desperate to conceal the facts from the investigation.

It’s clear that someone is hiding the truth, and perhaps even the killer. Tennison must pray she can find both – before they are buried forever . . .

In Unholy Murder, Tennison must lift the lid on the most chilling murder case of her career.

Review:

I’ve enjoyed being part of this project and Unholy Murder is no different. DS Jane Tennison is now working out of a police station in Bromley, which she believes will be quieter, to focus on her Detective Inspector exams. Once again, this means we get to see another side to Jane as she works alongside new colleagues, such as DC Boon, as well as meeting up with some detectives that readers will recognise from previous books in the series. I liked Jane’s relationship with DC Boon and I feel it represents growth on Jane’s part, as it’s the first time she’s been the more senior officer in a partnership and it was interesting to see how she handled this.

The year in which Unholy Murder is set is never explicitly mentioned – although it is the year that Pope John Paul II visited the UK, which Google tells me was 1982. The views of the police are still quite outdated, but I was pleased that Lynda La Plante introduces us to the first female pathologist in London in Sam Pullen and we see.a return for Lloyd Johnson, now working as a lab sergeant, who is Black. This shows how attitudes are slowly changing and I applaud the author for including more diverse characters.

The investigation in Unholy Murder relates to the murder of a nun who is found in a coffin in the grounds of an old convent. As a result of this, the detectives find that the course of their investigation is complicated by different religious rules and practices. The author has researched these and incorporated them into the plot really well and I definitely learnt something new! The author frequently sends the readers down different paths and I really wanted to find out what had happened all those years ago, although as usual, I didn’t guess correctly!

I look forward to see what Lynda La Plante has lined up for Jane next!

Unholy Murder is available from Amazon.