The Dirty Dozen

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for this book in exchange for my honest review.

Jane Tennison joins the Flying Squad as the first female detective. However, “The Sweeney”, as they are called, is not receptive to having a woman join the team. Making matters worse is that her first day just happens to coincide with a bank robbery. Jane is immediately thrown into her new position, doing surveillance from the car, trying to catch the robbers, interviewing witnesses and examining the evidence.

Jane knows she has to prove herself, even when other members of the squad try to trip her up. She gives the case 100% of her time, effort and energy. When she is sent to follow up on what seems to be a wild goose chase, she stumbles upon some very valuable information. Her information sets the ball rolling for the investigation, which had all but stalled. Navigating through allegations of corruption and the possibility of an internal leak within the squad isn’t easy but Jane is determined to solve this case, even if it means putting herself at risk.

It took me a little while to get into the story but, once I did, I was hooked. I actually had to stop myself from reading a few times when I had to go pick up a child from sports practice or make dinner. Jane is a strong, confident female character that you find yourself rooting for. It was fascinating to follow the squad’s thought process as each new development occurred and how they determined where the investigation would head next. The Dirty Dozen is an exciting police procedural set in London around the 1980s. The characters are well written and the story is exciting. I discovered it’s part of a series, which I will definitely read to follow Jane’s story.

A wild ride for Jane Tennison- the “Sweeney” squad’s new detective and she’s a woman!

THE DIRTY DOZEN is the fifth book in A Jane Tennison Thriller series written by Lynda La Plante. Although it’s part of a series, it is the first book that I’ve read by this author and I feel that it can easily be read as a standalone book with only a few small references to previous events. The story takes place in 1980 with several historical references to the time period and follows the career of Detective Sergeant Jane Tennison. It’s definitely a wonderful adventure you don’t want to miss!

This story immediately pulled me and captured my attention. From the first few pages I felt like I was on a wild ride with Jane as she arrives at the station to begin her first day with the all male “Flying Squad “ of detectives also known as the “Sweeney.” This elite squad is tasked with the surveillance and investigation of criminals involved in armed robberies of banks and businesses and Jane is the first woman to be assigned to this renowned squad of men. The only problem is, no one is expecting her, only two people know why she’s there and more importantly, no one has informed the men of the “Sweeney” about her new assignment.

From the very moment Jane shows up everything is crazy. Rather than meeting with the man in charge, who isn’t even there, she’s whisked away with the men to stop a possible bank robbery. Thus, Jane begins a wild ride, at very dangerous speeds, in hot pursuit of the robbers. While driving to the scene, they’re all listening to the officers in pursuit of the robber’s vehicle. They hear the officers taking on fire, someone is hit, and then they hear the crunching of metal. When they arrive at the scene Jane is immediately relegated to talking to witnesses and is not allowed to participate in the investigation. Even when she finds out useful information from one of the witnesses she’s told it’s not vital to the investigation and is immediately shut down by her superior. Throughout the day the men of the squad question her abilities, purposely make her look incompetent and sideline her to unimportant tasks. When she is relegated to assisting the Scene Of Crime Officer- Dabs, Jane makes the best of the situation and finds many clues that were overlooked by the other detectives. Fortunately, Dabs acknowledges Jane’s investigative skills, not her gender, and the two work together to uncover a lot of useful evidence.

When Jane finally makes it back to the station and meets with the man in charge she is brutally informed that her transfer to the Flying Squad is only an experiment with the hopes of calming down the men of the elite squad, who like to think of themselves as “The Dirty Dozen.” She is told in no uncertain terms that her transfer is not based on any merit and the temporary assignment will be terminated when she makes a mistake. She is also told that the professional robbers the squad deals with are dangerous, hardened criminals and therefore Jane will not be allowed to be part of any ambush or front line assignment. She will only be a silent observer. Welcome to Jane’s first day!

As the story progresses Jane proves herself to be a strong, intelligent detective. She stands up for herself from the beginning, unwilling to accept the sexist/chauvinistic attitude from not only her squad but also from the public. Even the office secretary, the only other female in the building, sees her as a threat. Despite the many obstacles in her way, her determination and tenacity have her following several leads on her own. When Jane gets reliable information about another much larger robbery that is being planned by a dangerous gang known for its violence, she goes undercover as a waitress. Using her experience and brilliance she uncovers many clues, follows small leads and is able to break open the case. Ultimately, Jane proves herself worthy and the team is forced to acknowledge her as one of the Flying Squad of detectives!

I really enjoyed this story! I loved Jane’s strength of character, her self confidence, determination and resilience! Even though she made some mistakes, she proved that she could hold her own with the elite men of the Flying Squad. The story and investigation held my attention. The plot was well developed and the characters were realistic for the time period. I thought it was interesting and eye opening to see the investigation proceed without the use of modern technology such as computers and cell phones. This story was very detailed and heavy on police procedures. Often, information was repeated which at times slowed the story down but did not take away from my enjoyment of the experience. The first few chapters, although exciting, were heavy with abbreviations that were unfamiliar to me. A list of abbreviations and meanings would have been helpful. Overall, I thought The Dirty Dozen was very entertaining and the investigation and mystery definitely held my attention. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story and found it hard to put down! I look forward to reading about Jane Tennison and her future investigations in the next book in this series!

I received a free ARC of this book from the publishers through BookishFirst in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. Thank you!

Great Read. Suspenseful. What is really great about it is the character of Jane Tennison. She is smart and strong and can hold her own in a room full of misogynistic men. The novel takes place in London in the 80s. Jane Tennison is assigned to an all-male police force called the “Flying Squad.” (Sweeney). Also dubbed “The dirty dozen.” All in all the boys in the club make it plain to Jane she is not welcomed. A robbery takes place on her first day. The Murphy AKA the Colonel assigns her to talk to witnesses who saw the crime. While the men gather evidence around the crime scene. Resentful of the assignment; Jane does what she is told only to find evidence the other officers’ miss. She collects this samples of evidence and shows them to her partner Dabs agrees they are relevant to the case and tells the boss Murphy at the Flying squad meeting the next day. Murphy ignores the evidence until he is forced by Kingston to pay attention to Janes evidence. Murphy reluctantly agrees. There is so much detail in this book i began to start skimming a few pages until the book got back on its feet again. lol. The mystery was interesting and nail-biting with a satisfying ending. I felt as if i was experiencing the mystery in “Real-Time.” Beginning slow and then picking up pace as it raced to the climax. I finished it this weekend. It reminded me of an episode of “Law and Order.” London Edition. The characters i thought were all human and three dimensional, with flaws, heartaches, dreams and wants and were very relatable. Even the worse of them. lol. I am very familiar with this author as a writer for “Prime Suspect” which i watch on PBS. However, not as an author. I definitely plan to change in the near future. I love her writing on and off the screen. I received this complimentary copy ARC from bookishfirst.com and Simon and Schuster publishers in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

This is book #5 for Jane Tennison and her saga goes back in history from the Prime Suspect series that the author is noted for. The setting is 1980 and the historical elements add to the intrigue of the story. Jane is tasked to be the first female member of the Flying Squad, a group of male detectives with the reputation of being “the Dirty Dozen.” Jane faces sexism and finds herself relegated at first to helping the forensics expert instead of being in the middle of the investigation. But Jane’s tenacity and intelligence lead her to follow clues to a huge robbery that has been planned. Jane doesn’t know who or where of when, so she goes undercover to investigate. This book is entertaining, realistically written and intriguing for the reader as Jane follows the clues and establishes her reputation with the “big boys” in the Flying Squad. I recommend this book to fans of Lynda La Plante as well as to new readers of her books who enjoy police procedurals with more than a touch of humor.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via BookishFirst.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”