The Red Dahlia

May 21, 2007
In her second Det. Insp. Anna Travis novel (after 2004's Above Suspicion
), British author La Plante, best known for TV's Prime Suspect
featuring DCI Jane Tennison, transports the unsolved Black Dahlia murder to present-day London with disappointing results. When a young woman is found butchered in a field, Anna unexpectedly ends up sharing the case with her former lover, DCI James Langton. As they learn the full extent of the murderer's depravity, letters begin arriving at the police station and local paper, echoing those from the infamous Black Dahlia killer, active more than 50 years ago in Los Angeles. The self-named Red Dahlia Avenger mocks Anna and Langton as they hit one dead end after another. Anna lacks Tennison's tough vulnerability and floats through the story without much emotional investment. Procedural minutiae bog down this novel, which, despite the lurid subject matter, never manages to shock the reader.

Starred review from June 1, 2007
Detective Inspector Anna Travis and Chief Detective Inspector James Langton, first seen in "Above Suspicion", are reunited in one of the most brutal murder cases either has seen. The mutilation death of a young woman seems to be patterned after the notorious unsolved 1940s Los Angeles Black Dahlia case. La Plante, author of the acclaimed "Prime Suspect" series, has the Surrey police scrambling for any information leading to the killer. Along with Val McDermid and John Harvey, La Plante is among the best British writers of the police procedural. Highly recommended for all mystery collections. She lives in London.

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