I received a copy of Buried in exchange for a fair and honest review.  The novel started slow and I was losing interest in the first few chapters.  It did start to speed up, but I had to come back to the book a few times to see if it would get my attention.  Its not a novel for me and I will continue to read the authors other titles and her other series.

A friend recommended Lynda La Plante to me as one of her favorite police procedural writers, so I was excited to start "Buried." I have to say, however, that this one didn't quite work for me. The book starts by jumping between several time frames and multiple crimes, and introduces a large cast of characters in a fairly chaotic way. It takes a little while to discern that the main protagonist is going to be DC Jack Warr, an unambitious detective recently moved to London with his doctor girlfriend Maggie, and it took even longer for me to warm to him. By the time the book's centerpiece crime occurs and Rose Cottage is engulfed in flames with the remains of a body and the ashes of banknotes from a cold case train robbery inside, there are quite a few threads for La Plante to tie together, and I didn't feel particularly satisfied by the way she does. 

"Buried" is apparently the first in a new series featuring DC Jack Warr, so perhaps future installments will flesh out Jack and his colleagues more fully and not suffer from the burden of initial scene setting and exposition. I'm not sure I'll check back in to see, however.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zaffre for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Buried reads like a novelization of a popular television crime show. You know the kind I mean: the Nikki Heat books, supposedly penned by Richard Castle (himself a fictional character in a long-running American cop series.)

Rather than actual explorations of deep feelings, we get lots of filmic "treatments" of emotions. DC Jack Warr is deeply in love with his wife, Maggie -- the author tells us so over and over. Jack is aimless and indifferent to much of his life, has drifted into policing and can't seem to muster any enthusiasm for it.

Author Lynda La Plante reprises some over-the-top characters from her Widows series, and introduces a personal complication for Jack to pursue rather than the crimesolving that leaves him cold -- until, that is, the two pursuits seem to merge.

Jack seems to "find himself" as he digs into the historical aspect of the crime his unit's investigating. But it felt shallow and gimmicky to me -- he assumes a strong identity, but he still comes across as a self-absorbed twit with no moral center.

It's a decent story, but it wasn't well-written, at least not for someone who's a reader more than a viewer. I'm sure it will translate well to the small screen, where La Plante has proven her gift.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre USA for an advance readers copy. (Two-and-a-half stars rounded up to three.)

I enjoyed this series debut!  It felt a bit disjointed in the first third, as we were introduced to a plethora of characters, without a lot of detailed character development.  However, once I was able to keep track of the characters, it was hard to put down.  It became a faster paced and very enjoyable read.  Twists and turns galore!

this was a great start to a series, the characters were great and I really enjoyed reading this. It made me excited to read the next book in the series.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley. My review opinions are my own. I  enjoy this author and this debut book in a new Detective series did  not disappoint.  I love books told from differing timelines and this author seamlessly transitions between the two timelines in this exciting book. 

A  train robbery has occurred over a decade before. At Rose Cottage near Aylesbury in England the money is found when a fire occurs and a body is found inside.   The team which investigates the death is  Detective Simon Ridley.  The main character  is Detective Jack Warr .  he has a lot of personal family issues that shift his focus from the case and make him question who he truly is. The case has many hidden clues and red herrings as the two investigate. to conclusion that kept this reader guessing. 

I loved this well crafted British crime drama with the two timelines. it was a fun read that i highly recommend. I look forward to the next in series.

Buried was a great read by Lynda La Plante. In an old Victorian cottage there is millions of stolen and untraceable bank notes. This was the hidden legacy of Dolly Rawlins and her widows. There are many people that are determined to retrieve the money. Unfortunately a fire breaks out at the cottage and there is a badly charred body and the burned bank notes. Jack Warr is a young detective who investigates the fire. During the investigation, Jack finds out that his birth father was a renowned criminal. He becomes more and more aggressive when finding out the truth and will do anything to find out the truth.

While I enjoyed the storyline, the ending left too many loose ends. While it is obvious that Jack made the decision to no t reveal their whereabouts, a little more closure on the Grange woman would have simply the story.

I’ve been familiar with the work of Lynda La Plante for quite some time. She has brought me many happy hours both with her novels and her television crime dramas. When I saw she had begun a new crime series I jumped at the chance to read it.

The protagonists in “Buried” were quite engaging and I enjoyed reading of their personal back stories. I especially liked how Jack transitioned from being apathetic about his job to his burgeoning enthusiasm. The descriptions were vivid and the pacing ‘spot-on’.

The crime itself I found quite convoluted and difficult to follow due to a plethora of secondary characters. How the author managed to keep the various threads of the story-line straight I cannot imagine. The story encompassed four major crimes spanning four decades.

Despite my waning interest in the crime investigation itself, my interest was held by the engaging characters of the protagonists. I do plan to pursue this series to see if their next case is less complicated and to see how the characters develop.

Recommended to those who enjoy complex, labyrinthine police procedural novels.

This is the first book in a new series by La Plante.  I enjoyed many of her other books (Anna Travis & Jane Tennison series), but this one didn’t hold my interest.  The story takes place in rural England when a fire in a dilapidated cottage reveals a dead body and thousands of burnt pound notes.  How is this murder tied to a bank robbery years ago?

This was an enjoyable read. The crime details were really well thought out. I knew the women did it, but I didn't know how they pulled it off. I was surprised that Jack didn't pursue them in the end.

Maggie was an extremely annoying character, and I was actually upset that her and Jack wound up staying together. It was weird how intolerant she was of Jack trying to figure out who his biological father was.

This is a very promising start to a new series. I know this author has written a lot for television and it is easy to see why she is so successful. 

DC Jack Warr has just moved to London with his girlfriend Maggie. He moved because she had opportunities for her medical training. He is having a difficult time getting excited about his job and his boss is frustrated with him. 

Rose Cottage, the former home of a retired police officer, burns to the ground. Inside, a charred body is found. Burned money is found in the house as well. Is this money related to the train robbery years earlier that was never solved?

An interesting side story is Jack’s journey to discover his biological parents. His adoptive family offer him what information they have and he takes it from there. 

Jack has finally found what excites him about being a policeman and he is finally proving it to his boss. The story unfolds and drags Jack in, changing him for good and bad. 

This was a very interesting police procedural story where the lines between good and bad are blurred and not everything can be deemed black or white. I will be very interested to see Jack and his family return in the next book. Thanks to Net galley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

There are so many characters in this book I felt I needed a whiteboard for myself, along with the police department in the storyline, to keep everyone and the events straight.

The cast all had histories either that were buried——either by themselves or others--- both physically and mentally. The question was if those histories should get exhumed or if they should stay hidden.

It was hard to believe anyone would wait for so patiently for so long for the big payout? There was an underestimation of the skills of the group and how they lived in plain sight with low profiles until the time was right to “dig”. 

As a reader I did some eye rolling when I thought a character was exhibiting behavior I thought was a stretch. They were much kinder and understanding than I would have been if I had been there. Maybe that’s MY character flaw and not that of the person in the book.

It was an enjoyable read with an ending that made you agree with the adage about “sleeping dogs”.

I’m so sorry but this book did not meet my expectations. I didn’t like it very well at all. Some of the scenes were ok and the writing was great. It just didn’t resonate with me. I could not seem to engage with anyone in this book. To me it just feel short of what I usually like to read. 

I’m sure others will love it so am not going to put say it’s not a recommend for anyone. The characters never grabbed me and it just didn’t hold my interest. I tried several times to get into it. The fact that I finished it is why I’ll give it a 3 star rating. It just was not the book for me.

Thank you #NetGalley, #LyndaLaPlante, #Zaffre for this ARC. This is my review.

I give it 3 stars and will say read for yourself. You may love it. I just didn’t.

DC Jack Warr is struggling with home and work balance when he gets involved in a case that starts with a charred body in a fire.  The story enfolds with a link to a train robbery 25 years before and some very interesting women who are at the heart of the story.
Lynda La Plante plotted this story with many layers complicating the life of Jack Warr. The reader gets caught up in the lives of the characters and starts to wonder,"what is right?"

Sad to say that I was very disappointed in this book. This author usually writes some crisp, well thought out crime fiction but this one was just okay. The ending was less than satisfying and the characters were not that interesting.

I received this book as a free PDF from Netgalley.  I must say I enjoyed this book by Lynda La Plante.  The main character, Jack, was very likable because he was both flawed and admirable.  The story had a lot of twists and turns, interweaving multiple character and situations.  As a reader, I was able to keep up, though.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes detective/mystery books.

I found this book to be three books in one!   By that, I mean there were so many different crimes, too many characters, too much jumping around to various past events and the current time.  It was just not my favorite style,

The highly popular, Hall of Fame author, Lynda La Plante, has treated us to another great crime thriller and the start of a new series starring her new protagonist DC Jack Warr. Buried is a novel that is clever and compelling and shows the natural ease La Plante has in creating characters and devilish plots in this genre.

DC Jack Warr is drifting in his career, happy to move from Devon to London to support his partner, Maggie, become more established as a surgeon.

“Maggie and Jack had agreed that moving from Devon to London was the right thing to do for her career. His career, in his words, wasn’t as big a deal as hers. Maggie knew she wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon, whereas all Jack really knew for sure was that he wanted to be able to go and watch Plymouth Argyle whenever they played at home.”

His new boos DCI Simon Ridley takes a chance on him and together with DC Anik Joshi and DS Laura Wade, they are assigned an investigation into a fire at Rose Cottage, where a body is recovered plus evidence of burnt money. The money is tied to a cold case train robbery from 1995, where £27 million was stolen.

In parallel Jack’s own research into discovering who his biological father is, reveals some startling details and a connection, not only to the other side of the law but specifically to the cold case he's currently investigating. This revelation is shocking for Jack but has the result that it may give Jack something unique in his character that isn’t always legal, and connections to another world, that regular police could never access. The tantalising dilemma is which side Jack will be most eager about and feel drawn to.

The plotting from La Plante is intelligent, complex and always mysterious. The police investigation brings the police team into contact with a group of women who are brilliantly drawn. The female gang have some throwback to La Plante’s Widows series and again she calls on her knowledge of writing these roles to make the interactions with the women compelling and entertaining. The story also takes us into East End gangs, which is where La Plante is a force on her own. If you looked up East End Gangs in a reference book it would say – see La Plante. Her delivery of the narrative and dialogue feels authentic and often gritty.

The novel provides police investigation threads and the personal life surrounding Jack, with equal distinction and complexity. Both aspects create a novel with wonderful depth and fertile ground that La Plante can sow storylines into as the series progresses. The range of well-crafted characters is exciting and they draw on our emotions with wonderful variety.

Buried feels like a novel that has all the ingredients to be a brilliant crime thriller but that the mixture just isn’t quite right at the moment although it will come good in following books. I would like to thank Bonnier Zaffre and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC copy in return for an honest review.

This is the first Lynda L Plante book that I have read. I am familiar with her work on screenplays (I love Prime Suspect!). I really enjoyed this book. It opens with a prologue where we are introduced to a group of women, (Esther, Dolly, Angela, Connie, Julia, Gloria, Kathleen) most of whom will go on to play a big part in the story. It's 1994. Chapter one is set in present day. Rose Cottage has been burned down and a body is found inside. 
"Buried" introduces DC Jack Warr. Jack is part of the team investigating the body in the burnt-out cottage. He is also confronted with the fact that his adopted father is dying of cancer. Jack is a complex character. Forced to choose between spending time his dying father and obeying orders from his superior officer, Jack ends up disappointing both. I hope there are more books in this series as I am very interested to read more about Jack Warr. Will he end up being a police officer his team and the public can trust and depend on to do his job well or will he cross the line to get what he wants?
I enjoy the trope of current case connected to cold case and this is an example of it being done really well. 
There are themes of underestimating people, the baggage we carry, and the struggle between nature and nurture. I look forward to reading more in this series.