Whole Life Sentence by Lynda La Plante

Whole Life Sentence by Lynda La Plante
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 454

Publisher - Zaffre

Source - Arc

Blurb from Goodreads

IT ENDS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN . . .

THE FINAL DETECTIVE JANE TENNISON THRILLER - AND THE PREQUEL TO TV HIT PRIME SUSPECT - FROM SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING CRIME FICTION ICON, LYNDA LA PLANTE. Now available to pre-order in hardback, eBook and audiobook.
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Newly promoted Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison has elbowed her way into the Area Major Incident Pool, or AMIP, an elite team investigating non-domestic murders.

With her new position, she hopes things will the rampant sexism, the snide remarks, the undermining. Then she gets her first a five-year-old cold case of a missing teenager no one else has any interest in investigating, and an assumed suicide Tennison suspects is, in fact, murder.

But as Tennison gathers the crucial evidence to secure arrests, her new colleagues watch like vultures circling prey. And one by one the cases that she has built from the ground up are taken from her - and the glory along with them.



My Review

Aw man I am so gutted this is the final book, I want Tennison to go on and on and absolutely could so going to live in hope the author may change her mind some day and give us more. Anyway I digress, lets get to the book. So Jane has always had aspirations when it comes to her career despite always being told she couldn't do X,Y,Z because she is a woman. She has never let it stop her and this time it is no different, now a DCI Jane has made plenty of menamies in the job but also got respect even if grudgingly so from some of her male colleagues. This time she has her eyes on "Area Major Incident Pool" team (AMIP) and even her guy colleagues who respect her tell her she has no chance and yet Jane continues to prove them wrong. This time though it seems to be the ultimate boys club and despite her getting an in she is treated with contempt, rudeness, misogyny and all the badness we have seen in the previous books, I hate some of these so called cops!

Given a cold case they hope to keep her out of their hair but Jane does what she always does, gives it her all and soon is fighting an uphill battle to investigate properly and get the access she needs.
Add to that she feels that a current case - a suicide isn't as straight forward as it looks and yet instead of gratitude she is ridiculed Honestly they think she is rubbish and so toxic towards her yet have no issue pinching any credit if they can get to it first. They are absolute cretins and I was desperate for comeuppance towards them. She was constantly meeting attitudes, walls, dodgy witnesses, toxic work environments and road blocks at almost every corner. I think we get as frustrated as Jane at times yet she is like a dug with a bone and is such an advocate for victims/families, she is an absolute force to be reckoned with. I did like her colleague Wendy, despite being a bit wet around the ears she is keen, respects Jane and also held herself in an environment I cannot imagine walking into every day to try and work with people like that!

Jane really shows her mettle in this with the new position/colleagues but the book isn't just the two cases although the focus/investigations are central. We do get a bit of Jane's personal life which adds dimension to the character and you see the vulnerable side to her too as I don't know how she manages against so much negativity. 4/5 for me this time, I have a fair few La Plante books on my tbrm and I will be bumping them up, this series reminded me how much I enjoy her writing!

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The Paris Affair by Fiona Schneider

Happy publication day to Fiona Schneider.

Out to buy today from Amazon - paperback, audio an kindle format.

The Paris Affair: A breath-taking historical romance perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley by Fiona Schneider
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Michael Joseph Books

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

In Paris 1942 a woman disappears in the middle of the night, leaving behind the man she loves. French chef Sylvie was sent to Paris as part of the resistance, while German soldier Christoph is doing his duty to save his sister. As the two begin to discover the people beneath their uniforms, the rest of the world, and the war raging on, fades away. But Christoph can never know Sylvie’s identity, which might end up destroying him. Sixty years later, Christoph’s health is declining, and his memories are fading. Having returned to Germany to help her mentor, Julia discovers a book filled with ‘the recipes of us’ and sets out to cook each dish in the hope of reviving Christoph. As his memories resurface, Julia begins her own quest to find the woman he lost to the war. Can Julia discover the truth behind Sylvie and Christoph, or will it be too late?


My Review

Buckle up toots, this one is taking us on a bit of a journey, emotive at times! Duo timeline, we go from past, world war 2 times and all the horrors/heartache associated as we follow a undercover agent, Sylvie, working with the resistance. Switching between then and present day where we follow amazing pianist Julia and her old mentor Christoph. Christoph is unwell, his memories are gone and Sylvie is having struggles with her playing abilities at such a crucial time in her career. When she takes up looking after Christoph she finds an old personalised recipe book that opens up flashes back to Christoph's life, back in the war and sending them down memory lane and investigating/putting together the gaps to unravel Christoph's past. His son Daniel and Julia have their own troubled past and Daniel is not happy with the two digging up a past he would sooner his dad forget!

So for the world war part we have Sylvie, desperate to do her part in thwarting the Germans and she lands a job as a chef in the middle of those higher up. Christoph is a German and stationed in the same vicinity as Sylvie, I could read their timespan over and over. There are uncomfortable parts because as you know during world war 2 was when some of the worst atrocities where committed, there are not huge details but enough to give the reader apprehension/fear especially for Sylvie whilst she tries to do her part.

Current day, I loved how much Julia cared for Christoph and tried so much to get him his precious memories back. The difference with this book and a lot of others focused on relationships around that time period, this one features cooking/recipes, genuine recipes, some from the authors family book and some from research. It gives a very authentic feel for the characters/place and timescale but also the author has given the how to, ingredients and how well or not Julia does. Like me, Julia doesn't cook and I feel this added realism to the character, you know she didn't just find this book, cook a recipe to perfection and bam = memories unlocked. It is quite well done and even though I am a weirdo when it comes to food (so many issues lol) there was at least one I would like to try out and I think people will appreciate, especially foodies, that these come from actual family/researched recipes!

I could write about this one for ages to be honest, relationships, family, health, past/present. war, survival, ripples/aftermath, cause and effect, murder, sadness, love, hope, bravery, it is a full bag and a wee bit of the emotionals! The book will be out to buy, July 4th so absolutely one for the pre order or take a note so you don't forget.

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