6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Move over Jane Tennison: Lynda La Plante has a new detective in town
The Queen of Crime has created another compelling heroine in Detective Jessica Russell, whose tightly-knit investigative team soon discover that their first case is not what it seems
A century ago, in the early 1920s, English mystery writer Agatha Christie was dubbed the 'Queen of Crime'. That crown has now been transferred seamlessly to Lynda La Plante, and what has earned her accession to this regal sobriquet is the gritty realism of her novels and the compelling characters she creates.
Lynda is a former actress who trained at Rada in London and had a relatively low-key but successful career, both on the stage and in various TV series, including Z-Cars and The Sweeney. She took up writing in the 1980s and found her first major success in 1983 with her television script Widows, a gritty crime drama about the wives of armed robbers who continue their husbands' criminal plan after their fiery deaths during a botched heist. The series was praised for its originality and strong female characters, establishing her as a powerful voice in British crime writing.
