Below is the complete list of Lynda La Plante books in order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Anna Travis Books
- Above Suspicion (2004)
Above Suspicion was published in 2004 and is listed as book #1 in the Anna Travis series. - The Red Dahlia (2006)
Published in 2006, The Red Dahlia is listed as book #2 in the Anna Travis series. - Clean Cut (2007)
Clean Cut is a 2007 release and appears as book #3 in the Anna Travis series. - Deadly Intent (2008)
In the Anna Travis series, Deadly Intent is book #4 and was published in 2008. - Silent Scream (2009)
Silent Scream was first published in 2009; within the Anna Travis series, it is listed as book #5. - Blind Fury (2010)
Blind Fury was published in 2010 and is listed as book #6 in the Anna Travis series. - Blood Line (2011)
Published in 2011, Blood Line is listed as book #7 in the Anna Travis series. - Backlash (2012)
Backlash is a 2012 release and appears as book #8 in the Anna Travis series. - Wrongful Death (2013)
In the Anna Travis series, Wrongful Death is book #9 and was published in 2013.
Publication Order of CSI Jessica Russell Books
- The Scene of the Crime (2025)
The Scene of the Crime was published in 2025 and is listed as book #1 in the CSI Jessica Russell series.
Publication Order of DC Jack Warr Books
- Buried (2020)
Buried was published in 2020 and is listed as book #1 in the DC Jack Warr series. - Judas Horse (2021)
Published in 2021, Judas Horse is listed as book #2 in the DC Jack Warr series. - Vanished (2022)
Vanished is a 2022 release and appears as book #3 in the DC Jack Warr series. - Pure Evil (2023)
In the DC Jack Warr series, Pure Evil is book #4 and was published in 2023. - Crucified (2025)
Crucified was first published in 2025; within the DC Jack Warr series, it is listed as book #5.
Publication Order of Dolly Rawlins Books
- Widows (1985)
Widows was published in 1985 and is listed as book #1 in the Dolly Rawlins series. - Widows Revenge (1994)
Published in 1994, Widows Revenge is listed as book #2 in the Dolly Rawlins series. - She’s Out (1995)
She's Out is a 1995 release and appears as book #3 in the Dolly Rawlins series.
Publication Order of Jane Tennison Books
- Tennison (2015)
Tennison was published in 2015 and is listed as book #1 in the Jane Tennison series. - Hidden Killers (2017)
Published in 2017, Hidden Killers is listed as book #2 in the Jane Tennison series. - Good Friday (2017)
Good Friday is a 2017 release and appears as book #3 in the Jane Tennison series. - Murder Mile (2018)
In the Jane Tennison series, Murder Mile is book #4 and was published in 2018. - The Dirty Dozen (2019)
The Dirty Dozen was first published in 2019; within the Jane Tennison series, it is listed as book #5. - Blunt Force (2020)
Blunt Force was published in 2020 and is listed as book #6 in the Jane Tennison series. - Unholy Murder (2021)
Published in 2021, Unholy Murder is listed as book #7 in the Jane Tennison series. - Dark Rooms (2023)
Dark Rooms is a 2023 release and appears as book #8 in the Jane Tennison series. - A Taste of Blood (2023)
In the Jane Tennison series, A Taste of Blood is book #9 and was published in 2023. - Whole Life Sentence (2024)
Whole Life Sentence was first published in 2024; within the Jane Tennison series, it is listed as book #10.
Publication Order of Legacy Books
- The Legacy (1987)
The Legacy was published in 1987 and is listed as book #1 in the Legacy series. - The Talisman (1988)
Published in 1988, The Talisman is listed as book #2 in the Legacy series.
Publication Order of Lorraine Page Books
- Cold Shoulder (1994)
Cold Shoulder was published in 1994 and is listed as book #1 in the Lorraine Page series. - Cold Blood (1997)
Published in 1997, Cold Blood is listed as book #2 in the Lorraine Page series. - Cold Heart (1998)
Cold Heart is a 1998 release and appears as book #3 in the Lorraine Page series.
Publication Order of Prime Suspect Books
- Prime Suspect (1991)
Prime Suspect was published in 1991 and is listed as book #1 in the Prime Suspect series. - A Face in the Crowd (1992)
Published in 1992, A Face in the Crowd is listed as book #2 in the Prime Suspect series. - Silent Victims (1993)
Silent Victims is a 1993 release and appears as book #3 in the Prime Suspect series.
Publication Order of Trial and Retribution Books
- Trial and Retribution (1997)
Trial and Retribution was published in 1997 and is listed as book #1 in the Trial and Retribution series. - Trial and Retribution II / Alibi (1998)
Published in 1998, Trial and Retribution II / Alibi is listed as book #2 in the Trial and Retribution series. - Trial and Retribution III / Accused (1999)
Trial and Retribution III / Accused is a 1999 release and appears as book #3 in the Trial and Retribution series. - Trial and Retribution IV / Appeal (2000)
In the Trial and Retribution series, Trial and Retribution IV / Appeal is book #4 and was published in 2000. - Trial and Retribution V (2002)
Trial and Retribution V was first published in 2002; within the Trial and Retribution series, it is listed as book #5. - Trial and Retribution VI (2002)
Trial and Retribution VI was published in 2002 and is listed as book #6 in the Trial and Retribution series.
Publication Order of Standalone Novels Books
- Bella Mafia (1990)
Bella Mafia was published in 1990 and is listed as book #1 in the Standalone Novels series. - Civvies (1992)
Published in 1992, Civvies is listed as book #2 in the Standalone Novels series. - Framed (1992)
Framed is a 1992 release and appears as book #3 in the Standalone Novels series. - Entwined (1992)
In the Standalone Novels series, Entwined is book #4 and was published in 1992. - Seekers (1993)
Seekers was first published in 1993; within the Standalone Novels series, it is listed as book #5. - Lifeboat (1994)
Lifeboat was published in 1994 and is listed as book #6 in the Standalone Novels series. - The Governor (1995)
Published in 1995, The Governor is listed as book #7 in the Standalone Novels series. - Sleeping Cruelty (2001)
Sleeping Cruelty is a 2001 release and appears as book #8 in the Standalone Novels series. - Royal Flush / Royal Heist (2002)
In the Standalone Novels series, Royal Flush / Royal Heist is book #9 and was published in 2002. - Twisted (2014)
Twisted was first published in 2014; within the Standalone Novels series, it is listed as book #10.
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas Books
- The Little One (2012)
The Little One was published in 2012 and is listed as book #1 in the Short Stories/Novellas series. - The Escape (2012)
Published in 2012, The Escape is listed as book #2 in the Short Stories/Novellas series.
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
- Getting Away With Murder (2025)
Getting Away With Murder was published in 2025 and is listed as book #1 in the Non-Fiction series.
About Lynda La Plante
Lynda La Plante built one of the most formidable careers in modern British crime fiction by succeeding in two closely connected fields at once: television crime drama and crime novels. Her official site and publisher biographies present that dual identity clearly. She trained at RADA, worked as an actress with major stage companies before turning to writing, and then made her major breakthrough not first as a novelist but as the creator of Widows and, most famously, Prime Suspect.
That television background matters because it explains a great deal about the novels. La Plante writes crime with a dramatist’s instinct for pressure, confrontation, institutions, and the slow exposure of hypocrisy. Her books are not built around cosy puzzle mechanics. They are police-and-crime narratives driven by hierarchy, politics, forensic detail, and the private cost of working inside brutal systems. Even when she is writing page-turning commercial fiction, the emotional force often comes from professional pressure rather than from decorative suspense.
Her bibliography is best understood in major strands. The first, and still the defining one, is Jane Tennison. La Plante’s official site identifies Prime Suspect and Tennison as central series lines, and her broader career narrative explicitly treats Tennison as the character who changed everything. Jane Tennison is not simply one more detective in a crowded field. She is La Plante’s great vehicle for writing about misogyny inside policing, institutional resistance, female authority, and the personal toll of obsession. That is why the Tennison books and the wider Prime Suspect world remain so central to understanding her shelf.
The second major line is Anna Travis. La Plante’s official biography page lists the Anna Travis sequence beginning in the early 2000s with Above Suspicion and continuing through a substantial run of novels. Publisher material for Above Suspicion also frames Anna as La Plante’s most memorable female detective since Jane Tennison, which is revealing in itself. Anna is not a replacement for Tennison, but she does show La Plante extending the same interest in female investigators, power structures, and violent crime into a newer generation of police fiction.
Beyond those two best-known strands, her official books page shows how broad the shelf really is: Widows, Trial and Retribution, Lorraine Page, The Governor, Jack Warr, Jessica Russell, and a number of standalone novels. That wider spread matters because La Plante is not only the author of one iconic policewoman. She has repeatedly built crime worlds around different professional angles and tonal registers, from gritty policing to courtroom and criminal-underworld territory.
Her career has also been recognized at a very high level. Official and reference sources note her CBE, her place in the Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame, and, more recently, the 2024 Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement. Those honors fit the scale of her influence. La Plante did not simply participate in British crime writing; she helped reshape its female-led procedural tradition for television and fiction alike.
The best way to understand Lynda La Plante’s bibliography, then, is as the work of a writer who brought institutional realism, dramatic authority, and hard-edged female-centered crime storytelling into the mainstream with unusual force. Whether through Jane Tennison, Anna Travis, or her other crime lines, she writes the kind of fiction that treats policing and criminal investigation not as tidy intellectual games, but as arenas of power, ambition, compromise, and endurance. That seriousness is what gives her shelf its identity, and why her books still feel tougher and more substantial than the average crime franchise.