As a crime thriller “Dark Rooms” makes a decent standalone but if you want to see Jane progress through the ranks from probationer to Detective Inspector then I’d recommend you read them in order to achieve full continuity. Jane has impressed me from the very first book, with her dedication to get justice for victims, young or old, no matter how long they’ve been dead or how they’ve died. She will work determinedly until she uncovers the truth, battling misogyny and sometimes defying police rules. In this book, when a young woman’s decomposed body is found chained to a bed in a disused air raid shelter and another body tragically found not long after, Jane must travel half way around the world to unveil a dark secret that has been kept buried for a long time. 

 

However, I did find this book a bit of a deviation from the normal style of the series with Jane taking slightly too much solo interest in an historical case. I felt with the filler of Jane’s house renovation and new love interest, that this was maybe the weakest book in the series but this is just my personal opinion. However, the multilayered plot with a tragic back story was heartbreaking for the characters involved, revealing incomprehensible horrors that pulled at my heartstrings. 

 

I’m looking forward to reading the next and latest book “Taste of Blood”, it’s always a pleasure reading any Lynda La Plante and highly recommend the ‘Jane Tennison’ series if you love police crime thrillers.