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Lorraine Page #2
Cold Blood by Lynda La Plante
Suspicion and fear surround the mysterious disappearance of a movie star's daughter. The race to claim the reward for finding Anna Louise Caley - dead or alive - spirals into a deadly voodoo trail in the French quarter of New Orleans. In her desperation to succeed in this, her first case as a private detective, ex-Lieutenant Lorraine Page is caught in a web of deceit and violence that threatens to drag her back into the murky world she has fought so hard to escape. Continuing the investigation means risking everything. But the million-dollar bonus is one hell of an incentive not to back off from a case that could kill her - or give her the future and the professional respect she craves.
Paperback
First published October 28, 1997
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About the author
Lynda La Plante
123 books1,825 followersLynda La Plante, CBE (born Lynda Titchmarsh) is a British author, screenwriter, and erstwhile actress (her performances in Rentaghost and other programmes were under her stage name of Lynda Marchal), best known for writing the Prime Suspect television crime series.
Her first TV series as a scriptwriter was the six part robbery series Widows, in 1983, in which the widows of four armed robbers carry out a heist planned by their deceased husbands.
In 1991 ITV released Prime Suspect which has now run to seven series and stars Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison. (In the United States Prime Suspect airs on PBS as part of the anthology program Mystery!) In 1993 La Plante won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for her work on the series. In 1992 she wrote at TV movie called Seekers, starring Brenda Fricker and Josette Simon, produced by Sarah Lawson.
She formed her own television production company, La Plante Productions, in 1994 and as La Plante Productions she wrote and produced the sequel to Widows, the equally gutsy She's Out (ITV, 1995). The name "La Plante" comes from her marriage to writer Richard La Plante, author of the book Mantis and Hog Fever. La Plante divorced Lynda in the early 1990s.
Her output continued with The Governor (ITV 1995-96), a series focusing on the female governor of a high security prison, and was followed by a string of ratings pulling miniseries: the psycho killer nightmare events of Trial & Retribution (ITV 1997-), the widows' revenge of the murders of their husbands & children Bella Mafia (1997) (starring Vanessa Redgrave), the undercover police unit operations of Supply and Demand (ITV 1998), videogame/internet murder mystery Killer Net (Channel 4 1998) and the female criminal profiler cases of Mind Games (ITV 2001).
Two additions to the Trial and Retribution miniseries were broadcast during 2006.
Her first TV series as a scriptwriter was the six part robbery series Widows, in 1983, in which the widows of four armed robbers carry out a heist planned by their deceased husbands.
In 1991 ITV released Prime Suspect which has now run to seven series and stars Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison. (In the United States Prime Suspect airs on PBS as part of the anthology program Mystery!) In 1993 La Plante won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for her work on the series. In 1992 she wrote at TV movie called Seekers, starring Brenda Fricker and Josette Simon, produced by Sarah Lawson.
She formed her own television production company, La Plante Productions, in 1994 and as La Plante Productions she wrote and produced the sequel to Widows, the equally gutsy She's Out (ITV, 1995). The name "La Plante" comes from her marriage to writer Richard La Plante, author of the book Mantis and Hog Fever. La Plante divorced Lynda in the early 1990s.
Her output continued with The Governor (ITV 1995-96), a series focusing on the female governor of a high security prison, and was followed by a string of ratings pulling miniseries: the psycho killer nightmare events of Trial & Retribution (ITV 1997-), the widows' revenge of the murders of their husbands & children Bella Mafia (1997) (starring Vanessa Redgrave), the undercover police unit operations of Supply and Demand (ITV 1998), videogame/internet murder mystery Killer Net (Channel 4 1998) and the female criminal profiler cases of Mind Games (ITV 2001).
Two additions to the Trial and Retribution miniseries were broadcast during 2006.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
November 24, 2007
Very good Book, you will not want to put this down.
February 10, 2008
Totally unputdownable. Not just cos it was a brilliant insight into New Orleans, but because of the excellent plot.
October 13, 2017
MY favourite La Plante series. I literally revisit Lorraine Page every year. Characters you can't leave alone.
July 15, 2022
This was BEYOND brilliant.That was the best crime story I ever came across,I got hooked on an almost 600 pages novel from page 1! how is that even possible?? Having been engaged in Lorraine's life that much is just utterly amazing. How this book isn't more popular is beyond me really but this will be my no.1 recommendation for murder mysteries from now on.
February 10, 2013
Way too long. Disappointing follow up to Cold Shoulder.
March 16, 2020
Excellent read with characters who continue to develop from Book #1. Lorraine Page is highly flawed in such a believable way it’s hard not to like her.
The plot is complex, fast-paced and I had to keep reading to find out who was to blame. I did guess what was going to happen but still a great novel!
The plot is complex, fast-paced and I had to keep reading to find out who was to blame. I did guess what was going to happen but still a great novel!
November 15, 2010
Too long and convoluted. I didn't care about any of the characters so I started to resent the amount of time I was spending with them getting to the resolution!
February 1, 2018
Not good
I found this book rather frustrating. The characters use British slang terms, which frustrated the hell out of me. That and the idea that three staff would work for 1000 dollars a week total, in LA, even 20 years ago is absurd. Then we have all the typos, proving that no one had bothered to proof read the text. The introduction, at the end, to the follow up book, was a total nonsense from page one. An apartment on Venice Beach, a facelift and other surgery, a new jeep, an ultra low mileage Mercedes, new furniture, new clothes, extended dog lessons and kennel fees, all for about 300 grand? Dream on. Someone needs to do a little research before they write this stuff. I was very disappointed. I would have been happier had the story been less padded with totally irrelevant non information. I found the whole experience rather frustrating, and not in a sexual way .............. and that's another thing ........
I found this book rather frustrating. The characters use British slang terms, which frustrated the hell out of me. That and the idea that three staff would work for 1000 dollars a week total, in LA, even 20 years ago is absurd. Then we have all the typos, proving that no one had bothered to proof read the text. The introduction, at the end, to the follow up book, was a total nonsense from page one. An apartment on Venice Beach, a facelift and other surgery, a new jeep, an ultra low mileage Mercedes, new furniture, new clothes, extended dog lessons and kennel fees, all for about 300 grand? Dream on. Someone needs to do a little research before they write this stuff. I was very disappointed. I would have been happier had the story been less padded with totally irrelevant non information. I found the whole experience rather frustrating, and not in a sexual way .............. and that's another thing ........
January 20, 2024
The writing felt forced , not like her well written later book. The English slang was annoying.
Got better after midway through the book
Got better after midway through the book
April 10, 2022
Really enjoyed and can’t wait to read cold heart
June 29, 2017
I have read several of Lynda La Plante now and mostly enjoy them - i do find some of the excess detail a bit tedious and this tends to make her books seem a long winded and therefore they could easily be shorter and easier to read.
Cold Blood is the latest one i have read and there is a lot to intrigue and enjoy in this longish tale colourful and interesting characters and the story is set in New Orleans which of course is a story on its own. However the main character Lorraine Page is hard to like, a recovering alcoholic, divorced and generally not a likeable person which is a pity. I guess i like my heros to be just that and my word she certainly is no normal hero tough and pretty horrible even to her own team and of course her
self.
Perhaps the best testament to La Plante is that i will read another one of her books!
Cold Blood is the latest one i have read and there is a lot to intrigue and enjoy in this longish tale colourful and interesting characters and the story is set in New Orleans which of course is a story on its own. However the main character Lorraine Page is hard to like, a recovering alcoholic, divorced and generally not a likeable person which is a pity. I guess i like my heros to be just that and my word she certainly is no normal hero tough and pretty horrible even to her own team and of course her
self.
Perhaps the best testament to La Plante is that i will read another one of her books!
November 2, 2018
Hi. Thought I was going to love this book. However in parts it just went on and on and on and .......... I do however think I could get to like the main characters, they have some complex issues of their own. It’s not an awful book although I did get a tad bored in middle waiting for something to happen..... not sure anything did actually happen xx
January 5, 2023
Another extremely uncomfortable yet unputdownable read! Disgraced LAPD detective Lorraine Page, her only friend, Rosie, and ex-copper, Rooney, are pulled into a sordid, voodoo-related disappearance of a an ageing movie star’s daughter. The trail takes them to New Orleans where the town is preparing for Mardi Gras and the temperature’s are rising. Nobody, including the missing girl’s parents, tell the truth and Lorraine is at her hard-nosed, badly behaved worst, determined to get to the truth. I thought the first book in the series was tough, but I think this one matched it - it’s so unlike Lynda la Plante’s usual style, but I couldn’t look away. You can’t love Lorraine, she’s so flawed and sometimes cold or cruel, but she’s a brilliantly written character and the story never lets up. Actor Laurence Bouvard gives an amazing audio performance, covering different accents, ages, and genders with ease.
February 2, 2020
Anna Louise, daughter of a fading film star disappeared 11 months ago without trace. Lorraine an alcoholic ex cop runs a detective agency with Rosie, also an alcoholic and Bill and ex cop. Later joined by Nick, another ex cop. They are employed to find Anna Louise and if found, dead or alive, they will get a $1 million bonus. Police and other agencies have searched without results, will this little team be able to find out more. The book takes us to New Orleans at Mardi Gras, we are introduced to a colourful cast of characters along the way, also drugs, corruption and Voodoo. I couldn't put the book down, I was fully engaged throughout.
June 20, 2019
Not for the faint of heart. Modern noir, set in the dark hearts of Hollywood and New Orleans. Lorraine Page, former cop, recovering alcoholic, has opened an private investigating agency with the help of her former partner, now-retired cop Bill Rooney, and Rosie, her AA buddy. A rich girl disappeared in New Orleans eleven months prior. Page, et al. have two weeks to find her (for a million dollar bonus). The problem is, that the police and other PI agencies hit nothing but dead ends for eleven months. What chance do these folks have?
August 14, 2020
I don't normally read stories that are set in the US; I never seem to enjoy them, but I enjoyed this story. The narrative sped along and kept my attention throughout and with well written characters (despite a few stereotypes - why do authors mostly make cops alcoholics?
I only spotted one anomaly, on page 91 Juda is described as having, 'tiny, delicate hands'. yet on page 135 she has, 'fat, sweaty hands'. Maybe she had too many hamburgers between those pages.
Joking aside, it's a good read and despite not reading the first in the series it didn't spoil the plot or story line.
I only spotted one anomaly, on page 91 Juda is described as having, 'tiny, delicate hands'. yet on page 135 she has, 'fat, sweaty hands'. Maybe she had too many hamburgers between those pages.
Joking aside, it's a good read and despite not reading the first in the series it didn't spoil the plot or story line.
July 15, 2023
1/5 did not finish - it dragged on, and on, and on, and on...
I finished in terms of skim reading the end half because I could not care at all, I just wanted to know the murderer, and it was a very disappointing read overal, with an underwhelming ending.
I own all of Lynda's books and am slowly churning through them, this series is underwhelming compared to Tennison and Prime Suspect and Widows, I will not read the final book, as this and the first were such long drags and very difficult to stay engaged.
I finished in terms of skim reading the end half because I could not care at all, I just wanted to know the murderer, and it was a very disappointing read overal, with an underwhelming ending.
I own all of Lynda's books and am slowly churning through them, this series is underwhelming compared to Tennison and Prime Suspect and Widows, I will not read the final book, as this and the first were such long drags and very difficult to stay engaged.
December 19, 2024
Did want to find out what happened to the girl who disappeared, but for the rest this was a let-down. The main private investigator is an unprofessional drunk and I can't imagine why she would employ her 'best friend' she hates as an assistant, she is totally incompetent and misses even more clues than her boss.
Jumping from one conclusion to the next. I wouldn't read any other novel in this series and now I know why Lynda LaPlante was om my 'to-don't list' in the first place.
Jumping from one conclusion to the next. I wouldn't read any other novel in this series and now I know why Lynda LaPlante was om my 'to-don't list' in the first place.
February 4, 2025
Second book I’ve read of the Lorraine Paige series. Not entirely gripped. Basically a rewrite of the first book over again with a different plot. Way too much focus on her addiction and spiral and rebound and spiral and rebound and spiral….you get my drift. Apart for that the story was good and had the writer focussed more on that and less on the rewrote of the addiction loop would have been a much better book. Enjoyable to a degree when the story went elsewhere.
September 9, 2021
I enjoyed the second in this series, not as much as #1, but that happens. My real issue was the very unreal portrayal of LA. during a search for truth. It was just so wrongly spoken, literally, I was listening audio, the actors portraying the Cajuns, and Voodoo Priestesses had never heard the drawl, and cadence of Louisiana. Maybe this says just read it don't listen.
July 16, 2024
It is like a thick mille-feuille. As I turn the pages, I go from one layer to the next, the previous one forgotten. I gasp for air, waiting for someting to happen A pot-pourri of themes, in LA some dirty sex scenes, in NO a romantic twang. Lots of booze, smoking. Dope. Voodoo. Rich mansions, expensive furniture. Resilient, driven heroin.
January 19, 2022
I hated the 1st book in the series 'Cold Blood' but this is much better it's almost as if it was written by a different person. Lots of twists and turns, good characterisation and keeps you guessing until the end. Interested to see what book 3 in the series 'Cold Heart' is like .
February 13, 2022
For me, not one of the author’s good novels.
The plot was complicated, needlessly so. The character’s point of view often changed abruptly mid section with no indication that this was going to happen or that it had happened.
The plot was complicated, needlessly so. The character’s point of view often changed abruptly mid section with no indication that this was going to happen or that it had happened.
January 11, 2023
Disappointing second book in this series. Listened to the audiobook, read by the same actress who is using the same voices from the first book, but for different characters. Quite off-putting and confusing. Won't be listening to the third.
January 26, 2024
2nd in this series. What a tangled web we weave!! What a complicated story for sure. Delving into the mind of an alcoholic is riveting .. Lorraine is definitely a complicated woman. I will need a break before I read #3 in the series.
November 2, 2024
Disappearance of a movie star's daughter starts a race to claim a reward for the missing daughter which leads to New Orleans. Ex lieutenant Lorraine Page fights to found the truth. A very interesting gripping story entwined with terrifyingly deceit of lies and violence
January 14, 2025
3.5. Lorraine (plus Bill and Rosie) finds rich teen missing 11 months with a dodgy 'dad' and troubled friend. Mother is rich moviestar funding Lorraine's search. Continues to battle with alcohol addiction.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2017
Ok but I have read better stories by this author
August 7, 2017
Great read!
February 8, 2018
Never skimmed once. She wrote Prime Suspect and I really enjoyed that series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews