Introduction

Before Prime Suspect there was Tennison - this is her story

1973. After leaving the Metropolitan Police Training Academy, 22 year-old Jane Tennison is placed on a probationary exercise in Hackney, London where criminality thrives. At first she struggles to deal with the shocking situations she faces, receiving no help or sympathy from her superiors. Jane feels out of her depth in this male-dominated, chauvinistic environment. Then she is given her first murder case . . .

‘La Plante excels in describing the minutiae of police work . . . The pace is breathless, and the plot is satisfyingly full of twists and turns’ --Independent on Sunday

‘You can taste the nostalgia, the flared trousers and roll-neck sweaters, the sexism of the 1970s Metropolitan Police force and the prejudice against women by male officers, who see policing as a man’s job’ -- Press Association

‘Where La Plante excels is in her ability to pick out the surprising but plausible details that give her portrayal of everyday life in a police station a rare ring of authenticity’-- Sunday Telegraph

‘“Prime Suspect” gave us a great character with Jane Tennison, brilliantly portrayed by Helen Mirren on the small screen. I saw all the TV episodes but had never read any of the books. Tennison, the novel, takes us back to her early days as a probationer WPC with the Met. She is involved in two story threads, a murder of a junkie and a bank robbery. In fairness her involvement is appropriate for an intuitive officer, she adds value but does not overnight become a wonder detective. But the early green shoots are there. The culture of the Met in the early 70’s is well captured, as is the era itself.’ – Nick Brett, Goodreads

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Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE
It was Monday afternoon and Jane was sitting in her usual seat at the rear of the top deck of the 253 bus, as it traveled up Mare Street in Hackney. Popping the single plastic earphone into her ear, she turned on her prized Zephyr pocket radio, which she had treated herself to after her first month’s wages in the training college. She tuned into Radio Caroline on Medium Wave, and although she knew it was an illegal pirate radio station, it didn’t bother her as she was a huge fan of the rock music they played. The DJ, Spangles Muldoon, announced that the next song ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. What were some of Jane’s biggest challenges as a 22-year-old female recruit in a male dominated station?

2. What strategies to deal with her work environment help or hinder Jane and why?

3. How does Jane’s younger brother Michael’s death inform her decisions? How did she become so different from her sister, Pam?

4. Why does the author toggle between the perspectives of Jane, the green police officer, and the hardened criminals themselves?

5. How do and Jane and Pam’s relationship mirror John and David’s?

6. How is Jane a better police officer in the beginning as opposed to the end? What made her grow?

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