Blood Line: An Anna Travis Novel

Award-winning and international bestselling author Lynda La Plante brings back her popular series character, London Detective Chief Inspector Anna Travis of the Murder Squad, to work a seventh case in Blood Line. La Plante, who bestselling crime fiction author Karin Slaughter (Blindsided) says “practically invented the thriller,” is best known for her Prime Suspect novels, the basis for the wildly popular BBC series starring Helen Mirren and a recent U.S. incarnation featuring Maria Bello. In Blood Line, Anna takes on a high profile missing person investigation which might well develop into the hunt for a murderer, especially when a pool of blood is discovered but no body. Crime fiction fans who appreciate a good cop and a good murder—especially Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell, Elizabeth George, Peter Robinson, and Val McDermid readers—will be eagerly following the trail of evidence every step of the way.
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Still reeling from the death of her fiancé, Detective Anna Travis has thrown herself into her new role as the chief inspector for London's murder squad. When Scotland Yard's missing persons bureau is unable to locate the son of a court employee, the superintendent—James Langton, Anna's former lover turned sometimes friend—urges her to take on the suspicious assignment.

But is this new investigation purely a missing persons case—or a full-blown murder inquiry? An ominous pool of blood with no locatable victim leads Anna on a desperate hunt for a man who has disappeared without a trace. With no body, and increasing pressure to make an arrest, Anna becomes obsessed with the smallest details of the case. Now, one man has vanished, a killer may be loose on the streets, and, as Langton looks on, Anna Travis may be losing control of the investigation—and of herself.

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“With vivid crime scene descriptions, a colourful cast of villains and some cutting police dialogue. . . . Engaging.” - Irish Times

“The pressure and the tension mount beautifully.” - Daily Express (London)

“Fun, fearsome and fiercely independent.” - Sunday Telegraph

“Lynda La Plante practically invented the thriller.” - Karin Slaughter, author of Fallen and Broken

“It contains some nice twists, and the character of Travis continues to evolve and grow in complexity.” - Booklist

“Well-crafted. . . . Several credible suspects emerge, and, in a nice twist, the identity of the victim comes into question. A lively plot and a number of satisfying revelations. . . .” - Publishers Weekly

““Well-crafted. . . . A lively plot and a number of satisfying revelations. . . .” - Publishers Weekly