Collecting Lynda La Plante Books

Collecting Her First Editions

Is it worth collecting Lynda La Plante First Editions?

I would say it definitely is worth collecting Lynda La Plante first editions for the following reasons:-

Her first novel Widows published in 1983 by Severn House portrayed four women who did a daring bank heist after their bank robbing husbands who had planned to do the heist had died. It was the first time on British TV that women were seen as violent whilst carrying out the robbery. Instead of being perceived as grieving widows these women were just as cold and calculating as male bank robbers. These ordinary housewives rejected societal rules of how women are perceived on television. Crime series on British TV were usually always centred around the male dominant police officer including the no-nonsense Scottish detective in Taggart. Women in other crime dramas were often police officers following rules and regulations such as Juliet Bravo where two female police Inspector’s handle crime in a male-dominated Lancashire police station. In the series The Gentle Touch, a female police detective whose husband had died grieved for him whilst carrying out her police work helping to catch criminals. When writers do something different from others which is seen as groundbreaking their books often become highly collectable. The book Widows was published alongside the TV series and not as a standalone fiction book. The book was published in an initial small print run in hardcover mainly for libraries. To find a copy without library stamps or signed and with the original dust jacket would be quite an achievement but not impossible. As it is considered quite scarce purchasing and collecting a copy to hold onto for a number of years could be quite beneficial. Copies without the dust jacket or with library stamps can be picked up quite cheaply. If you do collect this title always purchase with the dust jacket as this is in part what makes the book more expensive even if it is a library copy providing the condition is good.

Her portrayal of strong-minded female police detectives in her series Prime Suspect which starred Helen Mirren became iconic for their flawlessness in dealing with cases in the male dominated work place. The main character Jane Tennison didn’t dither when making decisions she was fast and forthright and go-doer brimming with confidence. La Plante shadowed a Metropolitan female police officer DCI Jackie Malton for several months which undoubtedly also gave her valuable insights into the working of the police in writing this crime series. Her female characters were usually always strong minded no matter what they were going through in their personal lives. They still thought and expressed much clarity to complete their tasks in their male dominated police stations. For many decades prior to this it was the males who were the crime fighters whilst the females that were few and far between were often just clerical. It wasn’t until 1983 that a female became the highest-ranking police office in the UK. Her name was Alison Halford who worked for Merseyside police was 43 at the time of her promotion to Assistant Chief Constable after 21 years of service to the force. The first female Chief Constable was Pauline Clare at the age of 47 at Lancashire police in 1995, a gap of 12 years before a female police officer was promoted higher than an Assistant Chief Constable. It would be 22 years later when Cressida Dick became the first female police Commissioner of the Metropolitan police after 34 years of service at the age of 56.
La Plante defined police procedure in many other TV crime series by other writers. She researched much about forensic science and became the first layperson to be awarded an Honorary Fellowship to the Forensic Science Society for her meticulous research into forensic science. To achieve all this was quite groundbreaking. She even watched many real-life autopsies from the early 1990’s as part of her research despite initially not having the stomach for it.
Many of Lynda La Plante’s first edition, first printing of her books can be purchased quite reasonably. There are many signed copies out there. I would always try to purchase her signed books that were signed at a book store with the original sticker stating signed copy as the signature is more likely to be genuine. If in doubt, look at her signature on images of books that people are selling online so you get a feel for the signature. Compare it with a signed at a book store signature to see if the curves on letters in her name are similar. We all write in a similar style if we write in smaller size writing or larger. The earlier titles are usually in lower print runs than later titles as the author becomes more popular. Having a full set of an author’s novels is usually a lot more lucrative when it comes to selling so the earlier you start collecting the cheaper you will obtain the titles for.
Lynda La Plante is such a good crime writer that you will want to read her books over and over again as you feel that you are looking at a true crime as fly on the wall so you can enjoy reading them whilst forming a collection to be sold when the time is right.

List of Lynda La Plante Books

Widows (1983), published by Severn House
The Legacy (1987), published by Sidgwick & Jackson
The Talisman (1987), published by Sidgwick & Jackson
Bella Mafia (1990), published by Macmillan
Widows’ Revenge (1991), published by Macmillan
Prime Suspect (1991), published by Macmillan
Prime Suspect 2 A Face in the Crowd (1992), published by Macmillan
Civvies (1992), published by Macmillan
Entwined (1992), published by Macmillan
Framed (1992), published by Macmillan
Prime Suspect 3 Silent Victims, published by Macmillan
Seekers (1993), published by Macmillan
Cold Shoulder (1994), published by Macmillan
The Lifeboat (1994), published by Macmillan
Cold Blood (1996), published by Macmillan
Trial & Retribution (1997), published by Macmillan
Trial & Retribution II (1998), published by Macmillan
Cold Heart (1998), published by Macmillan
Trial & Retribution III (1999), published by Macmillan
Trial & Retribution IV (2000), published by Macmillan
Sleeping Cruelty (2000), published by Macmillan
Trial & Retribution V (2002), published by Macmillan
Trial & Retribution VI (2002), published by Macmillan
Royal Flush (2002), published by Macmillan
Above Suspicion (2004), published by Simon & Schuster
The Red Dahlia (2005), published by Simon & Schuster
Clean Cut (2007), published by Simon & Schuster
Deadly Intent (2008), published by Simon & Schuster
Silent Scream (2009), published by Simon & Schuster
Blind Fury (2010), published by Simon & Schuster
Blood Line (2007), published by Simon & Schuster
Backlash (2012), published by Simon & Schuster
Wrongful Death (2013), published by Simon & Schuster
Twisted (2014), published by Macmillan
Tennison (2015), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Hidden Killers (2016), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Good Friday (2017), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Murder Mile (2018), published by Bonnier Zaffre
The Dirty Dozen (2019), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Blunt Force (2020), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Buried (2020), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Judas Horse (2021), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Unholy Murder (2021), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Vanished (2022), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Dark Rooms (2022), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Pure Evil (2023), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Taste of Blood (2023), published by Bonnier Zaffre
The Life Sentence (2024), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Crucified (2025), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Whole Life (2025), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Sudden Death (2026), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Justice (2026), published by Bonnier Zaffre
Sacrifice (2026) published by Bonnier Zaffre
The Scene of the Crime (2026), published by Bonnier Zaffre
The Scene of the Crime 2 (2026), published by Bonnier Zaffre