AUTHOR.. LYNDA LA PLANTE...LOCATION.. RICHMOND (LONDON ..UK)..CHARACTERS.. Anna Travis, James Langton, Charles Wickenham, Edward Wickenham, Justine, Emily, Lewis, Louise Pennel,Sharon Bilkin, Mrs.Hedges.GENRE.. Suspense..PLOT.. A young girl's mutilated body (Louise Pennel)found on the banks of river Thames. Not only mutilated but drained out of blood. This murder is mentioned as "Red Dahlia" not only from the flower, the victim wore in her hair, also because of the mirror image of an unsolved homicide case in Los Angels known as "Black Dahlia" in 1940s.(murder of Elizabeth Short). Detective Inspector Anna Travis and her mentor Detective Chief Inspector James Langton, together as a team take up this case. Their interviews with the workers of club Louise frequented, with her flat mate , land lady , Dental Clinic she (Louise) worked produces nothing, except for a description of a "tall dark man sitting in a black car'with whom Louise dated, before her disappearance. The killer copycats not only murder, but other rituals relating to unsolved Black Dhalia murder case. Like sending frequent written messages to Police Incident room with finger prints fully scrubbed out in the Postal envelope. Delivering package containing the things belonging to the victim,by post, providing no clues about the location of the sender.The killer, by brutally murdering Sharon Bilkin, friend and flat mate of Louise, makes clear that he is not going to stop with this and to take more victims. Without any DNA, fingerprint ,murder weapon, profile, or a description of a suspect, Anna and Langton receives a phone message that, their prime suspect is Charles Henry Wickenham, a retired Army surgeon and a big shot living in Mayerling Hall at a village ten miles outside Petworth. As Anna Travis and Langton close in on the prime suspect Charles Wickenham, they uncover shocking series of sadistic sexual evil carried on by him and murderous family secret involving his son and daughters.MY COMMENT... In any other murder mystery novel, the dreaded word of "Whodunit" will be unknown to the reader until the climax, but in this novel author reveals the murderer in half way stage of the story, and narrates the effective job and team work of the detectives, SOCO team and forensic science technicians in successfully solving a homicide case, thereby making this novel completely different from the routine types.A damn good read...!!!
Danny Fowler, a paperboy, was winding up his route and heading home from breakfast when he spotted what appeared to be a blow-up doll on the bank of the river. What Danny found wasn’t a blow-up doll and he no longer had an appetite for breakfast. His discovery began the investigation into a death that became known as The Red Dahlia murder.Detective Inspector Anna Travis is a part of the investigation team and soon Detective Chief Inspector James Langton is called in to head up the investigation. It has been a year since the two worked together. The two had a romantic relationship at that time but Anna broke it off since James wouldn’t make a commitment. Anna is nervous about working with him again but the murder takes precedence over everything.The woman later referred to as the Red Dahlia has been cut in half and her blood drained. Anna makes a connection between this murder and the long unsolved case of The Black Dahlia in California. Soon there are more parallels between the two cases when the killer begins sending communications to the newspapers and the police.When Travis and Langton finally get an anonymous phone call that leads them down a gruesome path to a killer who is vicious to an extent that cannot even be imagined. The Red Dahlia is a fascinating story that finally results in a satisfying conclusion.
What do You think about The Red Dahlia (2006)?
The second book in Lynda La Plante's Anna Travis series is another well-written book. Prior to reading this, I had already watched the BBC episodes. As with "Above Suspicion," the BBC version was faithful to the book. There were extra bits that added to the experience of reading the book, but I was pleased at the way the author's intent was preserved when bringing the story to television.The books do focus more attention on the relationship, or whatever it might be, that exists between Travis and her superior, Langton. Both are driven by their police work, so it is doubtful that any sort of fulfilling relationship can ever develop. According to the time frame, Travis has been involved in several murder cases since she last worked with Langton. The murder of Louise Pennel is identical to the murder of Elizabeth Short, known as The Black Dahlia. Travis, Langton, and the rest of the murder squad spend about 31 days trying to discover the identity of the murderer and then find evidence on which to convict him.I plan to finish the current books in this series, although I believe only three of them have been made into television programs at this point in time.
—Jann Barber
This is an excellent British police procedural. The main character is Detective Inspector Anna Travis. The story opens as a paperboy discovers the body of a young woman in a field along his route. Even the police are appalled at what had been done to her. It is almost an exact duplicate of the famous Black Dahlia case from 1940s Los Angeles. There the murder of Elizabeth Short was never caught. To make matters worse, there is almost no evidence. No fingerprints, no murder weapon, no DNA, and no witnesses. The murder squad under DCI Langdon is forced to start from scratch, questioning people in the neighborhood. The newspapers dub the victim the Red Dahlia as the killer is clearly copying the Black Dahlia case. A caller is able to identify the victim from a photo run in the papers, but even that proves largely fruitless. The young victim has no family and few friends. Several people report seeing her in the company of a tall older man, but no one got a good look at him or his vehicle, and no name. This is a true police procedural as they slowly investigate the terrible murder one step forward, two steps back as the clever killer taunts them for lack of success. The story slowly builds to a dramatic ending, but is never dull. I found the police work fascinating. Highly recommended.
—John
I am reviewing the procedural thriller The Red Dahlia by Lynda La Plante which is an excellent thriller which I bought at a car boot sale. Lynda writes quite gritty thrillers often set in and around London. This thriller was published in 2006 and continued the Travis & Langton series started in the novel Above Suspicion. Travis is a lady detective chief inspector in the police & Langton is a male reporter for a newspaper who team up to solve crimes. The murders in this novel are someone
—David Roberts
