Anna Travis Books in Order: How to read Lynda La Plante’s Above Suspicion series?

Coming from British author, screenwriter, and occasional actress Lynda La Plante (Jane Tennison), the Above Suspicion is about young detective Anna Davis-played by Kelly Reilly on the ITV show with Ciarán Hinds.

The story starts with Anna Davis as a rookie detective determined to prove herself in the male-dominated police department by solving a trail of gruesome murders left by an unknown serial killer. As the series progressed, Anna worked on more murder mysteries and got promoted.

How to read the Anna Travis Series in Order?

Every entry in the Anna Travis book series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

1. Above Suspicion – Young Anna Travis has been assigned to her first murder case – a series of killings that has shocked even the most hardened of detectives. They started eight years ago – now the body count is up to six. The method of killing is identical, the backgrounds of the girls are identical — all drug users and prostitutes. Then a seventh body is found. The modus operandi is the same – but the victim is a young student with the ‘face of an angel’. The profile of the murderer has changed dramatically.
2. The Red Dahlia – Detective Anna Travis is working on a horrific, brutal murder case that has created a media frenzy. The victim, Louise Pennel, a 24-year-old, single, ‘fun-loving’ girl, was last seen in a London nightclub wearing a sequinned mini-dress and a red rose in her hair.
3. Clean Cut – Dedicated, intuitive, and utterly obsessive, DCI James Langton is ruthless in his pursuit of a gang of illegal immigrants, killers of a young prostitute. When he is horrifically, almost fatally injured by one of them, it falls upon DI Anna Travis to put her own career on hold as she nurses him through his intense frustration and desperation to bring his would-be murderer to justice.

4. Deadly Intent – Alexander Fitzpatrick is one of the most wanted men in the Western world. A Howard Marks character, but far more dangerous, his wealth, accrued through drug trafficking, runs into millions. For the past ten years, there has been no sighting of him. Has he gone to the ground using an alias, or is he dead? When an ex-police officer from the murder squad is found shot in a dank squat, Anna Travis is pulled onto the case.
5. Silent Scream – Hot young British film star Amanda Delany had the world at her feet. Never one for the quiet life, she’d had a string of affairs with famous actors, making perfect fodder for the tabloids… Then came a commission to write a tell-all memoir. When Amanda is found brutally murdered, the suspects are lining up – from jealous ex-flatmates to famous lovers to a corrupt agent.
6. Blind Fury – A motorway service station on the M1: dimly lit, run-down, poorly supervised, flickering lights, dark corners; a favorite stopover for long-distance lorry drivers on their way up north from London. Behind it, a body is found in a ditch, that of a girl barely out of her teens. She appears to have no family, no friends, no connections anywhere. Other girls have gone missing in the vicinity and no one has stepped forward to claim them. Anna Travis is assigned to the case

7. Bloodline – Newly promoted DCI Anna Travis takes charge of an investigation for the first time. But is it purely a missing person’s case–or a full-blown murder inquiry? An ominous pool of blood and no victim lead Anna on a desperate hunt for a man who has disappeared without a trace. As Anna becomes obsessed with seemingly irrelevant details, her superintendent fears that she is losing control. With no body there is no case, and Anna is under increasing pressure to make an arrest.
8. Backlash – Late night on a notorious high-rise estate in the borough of Hackney. A woman on the street never makes it home after a long night of drinking. A white van is being driven erratically. The driver is pulled over by the police and questioned. A suspect . . . an arrest . . . a confession. Case closed? Five years earlier, a thirteen-year-old girl disappeared in broad daylight on a busy London street. Detective Chief Superintendent James Langton headed the investigation; the case was never solved
9. Wrongful Death – Six months ago, London nightclub owner Josh Reynolds was found dead. Ruled a suicide, the police investigation was closed. Then a young man, awaiting trial for armed robbery, tells his guards that Reynolds was murdered and that he has information to share. DCI Anna Travis is scheduled to leave for training at Quantico, as part of an exchange between the Met and the FBI. But before she can leave, she’s got to review the case thanks to her boss, DCS James Langton. Joining her team is senior FBI agent and crime scene expert Jessie Dewar.

If you like this Anna Travis reading order, you may also want to see our guide to Martina Cole’s books. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.