The book begins with two workers on a job site unearthing a coffin.. One worker wants to open it immediately to see if there is a body inside; the other is not so sure and leaves to inform the job supervisor. Cut away to worker one grabbing a crowbar......
Inside is the body of a woman in nun's clothing, holding a rosary. Who is she? When was she buried? Why is she interred in such a large and ornate coffin? So many questions and in such a tight knit community no one is as they seem.
Upon further inspection it appears she may have been buried alive. The story takes place on the site of an old convent and there are many references to the Catholic Church. The child abuse scandal and cover up within the Catholic Church is woven into the story (possible trigger).
The story takes place in the late 70's and is reminiscent of the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Series.
Lots of good old fashioned detective work without any modern conveniences!
The characters are all well developed, although they tend to make questionable decisions in their personal lives.

Overall, it was a very good story and I'll be reading more of her books.
Although this is the seventh book in the series, it works well as a standalone

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the chance to review this intelligent read.

While digging up some land for construction, a coffin is found with a skeleton in it. Further investigation leads to the skeleton being identified as a young nun Sister Melissa Bailey. Plot gets very involved with religion vs police politics.

I liked the book. Very well written intelligent read. Was not satisfied in regards to the justice at the end. Characters were good with a lot of depth.

I have not finished reading this. It has a lot of potential. I have not read the other books but it seems like this is the middle of the main characters life and La Plante has written other things about the main character. My main complaint with why I could not finish reading is the dialog. These are adults but the dialog seems childish.

Unholy Murder is a truly enjoyable read. Twists, turns, and surprises will keep the reader engaged from beginning to end. LaPlante's use of varied syntax and realistic dialogue makes the book an English teacher's dream.

This is the first book I have read in the Tennison series, and it works well as a standalone series.

The book starts with builders finding a coffin while redeveloping an old convent site. There is a body of a nun inside. The convent was active from 1850s-1965, so it's likely the body is from sometime in that time span.
I didn't realize until I had read about 100 pages of the book that the "current time" in the book is in the late 1970s. That makes a rather big difference in the potential urgency to solve the murder. If it had taken place in 2021, the dead body would have been a minimum of 56 years old, which makes it hard to find anyone responsible who is still alive.

Overall it was a good mystery. Given the current events in Canada (Jun 2021) with with the horrors of residential schools and children abused by the Catholic church coming to light, it's a rather apropos story.

Note: I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for letting me try this one because it's a British crime novel (my favorite genre). (turns out to be a Tennison mystery, like on the BBC.) I wasn't impressed with the writing at first, but the complications of the plot finally hooked me and I had to finish it in one sitting. A coffin is unearthed as a developer is digging foundations next to an old Catholic orphanage. What starts as a perfunctory examination into the death of a nun quickly becomes a murder investigation when Tennison finds out that the nun was buried alive. Plenty of complex characters and plot twists, but I found the writing to be a bit stilted and lacking in vivid descriptions. I did enjoy it enough to try more of La Plante. How have I missed her??

I was....not the hugest fan of this book. Personally, I felt like the plot was a bit dull, and didn't flow well. It was a bit confusing and extremely hard to get into :/

Sergeant Jane Tennison is our narrator. She is a rough tough do it my own way sergeant who thinks that everyone is against her. She will be told to wait to do something or to not do something at all and if she feels in her bones that it is the right thing to do she will do it anyways. Workers at a construction site unearthed a metal coffin. The construction site is located on an old Catholic convent. They notified the constables and they came out to determine if there was a body in the coffin. The coffin is opened at the mortuary at a nearby hospital. There is indeed a body inside the coffin. The body of a young nun. The body is examined by a forensic pathologist and it is determined that the woman in the coffin was murdered. The question is when. The convent hasn’t been active since the 1960’s but also date back to the 1800’s and there is no sense in investigating a murder that took place over 100 years ago. Tennison’s superiors dismiss the case as old news, but Tennison can’t help but feel like someone is hiding something, specifically the church is hiding something..

I don’t think that I was the target audience for this book. I feel like it was meant for an older audience. That being said, it was well written. Just not my cup of tea as they say.

There is some medical jargon used in the book, but it is quickly explained. The book is based in the UK and so the slang used in the book is English slang. (I may have had to look up a few words. I am not very knowledgeable on slang in areas other than my own.)

If you are a fan of legal/procedural thrillers/mystery books or shows like Murder She Wrote this book is for you.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this mystery novel.

In the latest Tennison series, a building site on a former convent unearths a coffin. Jane and her partner Boon are sent to investigate. When the coffin is opened, a skeleton of a nun is found. But it appears she did not die a natural death. A murder team is formed.

I was happy that the meals bought at the canteen were not described in detail in this book as they were in the previous. I like the character Boon - at first he seemed like such an innocent rookie but he matured in the few days of the story. I hope Lynda La Plante writes more in this series.

Enjoyed from first page to last.Love Lynda La Plantes books.Always well written with really smart twists and turns.Reading about Tennisons early years keeps me turning the pages.#netgalley #unholymurder

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my eARC in exchange for my honest review. Jane Tennison is a strong character known for her habit of not always being a team player. Her past will always haunt her, butit also makes her the tenacious detective she is. This is the seventh novel with Jane once again bringing her strong skills forward, if only she can keep out of trouble?

I love Lynda LaPlante books and the enjoy it when she writes about the early days of Tennison's career. Great story line and lived up to expectations. Definitely a five star read.

A coffin is dug up by builders in the grounds of an historic convent - inside is the body of a young nun.
In a city as old as London, the discovery is hardly surprising. But w hen scratch marks are found on the inside of the coffin lid, Detective Jane Tennison believes she has unearthed a mystery far darker than any she's investigated before. However, not everyone agrees. Tennison's superiors dismiss it as an historic cold case, and the Church seems desperate to conceal the facts from the investigation. It's clear that someone is hiding the truth, and perhaps even the killer. Tennison must pray she can find both - before they are buried forever. I am always thrilled when Jane is back on the job. This character never gets old. This story had plenty twists and turns, as always, lots of great dialog and a really intriguing plot. Once I started this I couldn't put it down. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers for review.

Unholy Murder by Lynda La Plante is book 7 in the Detective Sergeant Jane Tennison series set in London. This was my first time reading a book by Lynda La Plante and I found her writing to compelling and enjoyable.

The reader is hooked immediately as a coffin is found during excavation on the grounds of a previous convent. It seems that a nun was buried in a place where she shouldn’t have been. Worse yet, scratches were found inside on the coffin lid; she had been buried alive.

Lynda portrays DS Jane Tennison as very human with character flaws and a tendency to break the rules then attempt to cover up her mistakes. A few of the characters the reader meets initially fade into the background as the story progresses such as Dr. Pullen and DS Johnson. During Jane’s investigation more characters are introduced. Lynda La Plante has a way of creating full and rich characters that drive the story and plot along.

Jane as well as another prominent character Detective Constable Boon become romantically involved with other characters at unexpected speed and intensity. Their actions of falling in love and jumping in bed within days of meeting someone seemed unrealistic and foolhardy. I found Jane’s romantic plot line distracting and unbelievable even if she has an impetuous nature.

Despite this being a cold case story, the pace and tension remain high for most of the book. There are intriguing plot lines that show promise of a surprising ending but somehow it doesn’t pull together well at the end. Readers that love a neat, packaged ending and proof that justice above all else prevails will be disappointed. I had to remind myself that the ending of this story reflects life and how events can be messy and do not always end as we would like nor do people act as we think they should.

Lynda la Plante is a skillful writer, and this story is intriguing. I give her 4 out of 5 stars for Unholy Murder.

Very well written with great twists. I read this as fast as I could and will be getting more by author! Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this arc!

416 pages

4 stars

DS Jane Tennison and DC Simon Boon respond to a call in the driving rain of a coffin found at a building site.

At the autopsy, it becomes clear that the woman was murdered. She is dressed as a nun. She may have lived at the local Catholic orphanage. A problem arises when it is not clear when the nun died. Things are further complicated when it becomes clear that the young woman was buried alive.

There are many suspects. The AC believes one particular priest is guilty, the other detectives are not so sure. The small community is hiding many secrets. When they have a possible identity with the assistance from a former nun who lived at the orphanage, the plot thickens.

Tennison is a loose cannon. She behaves without thinking of possible consequences, and without telling her colleagues what is going on. This gets her in all kinds of trouble and she winds up obsessing about it and trying to backtrack. In many cases, her DCI covers for her many goofs. She is very lucky in this regard.

This book is very well written and plotted as are all of Ms. La Plante's novels. Her characters are colorful. We learn sufficient information about their personal ives to make them more interesting, but not so much that it intrudes on the story. I like learning about the personal side of the detectives. I am somewhat disappointed in the Tennison character. I don't like her inability to follow the rules and the fact that she hopped into bed after knowing a guy for two days. That was a real turn off.

I want to thank NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre USA/Zaffre for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Jane Tennison is on the case when construction work at an old convent in London unearths a coffin with the body of a nun inside. Nothing unusual, except for the clawing, scratching marks made on the inside of the coffin lid, suggesting the woman was alice when she was interred. While Jane want to get to the bottom of what she believes was a murder, her police supervisors don’t want to waste the time on what is a very cold case. And the Church wants the entire incident hushed up and buried. Jane, however, sin’t going to give up until she finds justice for the young woman, no matter what the cost. Atmospheric and eerie.

This book and its storyline was definitely interesting, but I didn't like the way it ended?! I can't get into to much without giving to many spoilers but this book did have intrigue, suspense and a brutal murder! I did enjoy this book but like I said not the ending! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!