In Hidden Killers we return to Jane Tennison who is still reeling from the ending of her first case.  This time we see Jane being used as an undercover decoy to try and catch a rapist. She of course does a great job and it’s not long before she is promoted to Detective Constable, and moves to the newly formed Bow Street Branch. Despite her excitement at gaining a promotion and her belief in her own abilities she is soon having to second guess herself as she realises that a change of command doesn’t necessarily mean a change in attitudes.

Hidden Killers is book 2 of the Jane Tennison series and is another excellent read with a story that keeps you guessing alongside our detective. This time we have two parallel cases, both of which demand Jane’s attention and both of which are testing even for the seasoned detectives on the cases. Unlike a lot of stories both these cases took their turn on the main stage and that gave a sense of realism to the book. One thing that I noticed here was that the dramatic ending of the first novel was not present in the same way here. It felt that the first novel blew in with fanfare, whereas this one is settling us back down which worked really well. I also liked the return of some of the favourite characters in this all of whom play their role in making Jane who she is.

I really like the character of Jane and enjoy the way she is growing and learning her role. You can sense her frustration in the fact that she wants to be a good detective but struggles to tow the line in what is a mans world. She knows  that she can do the job but also knows that she will struggle due to being a woman.

Again this story is set in the 1970s and the writing really invokes that feeling of a different time.  You know that the world was a very difference place then and attitudes as well as working practices can seem very alien to us now. Yet the fact that we see them from the point of view of a female protagonist really brings them to life. It can be hard in this day and age to understand how different the world was, especially as it’s not that long ago (for some of us anyway)

This was another superb story from Lynda La Plante and I am definitely #teamtennison all the way!