Trial and Retribution IV

Trial and Retribution #4

by Lynda La Plante

Continuing the Trial & Retribution story, James McCready has been granted leave to appeal and suggestions of police misconduct have left their mark. But did DS Michael Walker really frame an innocent man?

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Audiobook, Mystery

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2000

About the author

Lynda 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.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great entry in the series. This story focuses on re-examining a case for an appeal. The author tells the story from both sides, the accused and the police, in a skillful way. Personal tragedy hits the main characters also. Colin Mace voices this series wonderfully well.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to do a review for the series as a whole and post it for each book, this is because I feel that the further along the series and especially the last book are mostly about the private lives of the detectives rather than the crimes themselves.

I do feel that of all the series of Linda La Plante's that I've read/watched this is probably the weakest as far as story and character development go.

The character of Mike Walker is not someone I like, yes he may get the job done, but he really is a dinosaur, and frankly I don't think he is that good of a detective. He guesses a lot or plays a hunch, which by luck has been proved correct, so often no more follow up is done once a case has either had a confession or thought to be proved. Finding evidence whilst the case is going through trial seems really far fetched to me and also not professional.

The character of Pat North has a lot of potential, she should have stayed well away from getting involved in a relationship with Mike Walker, and frankly that whole scenario is completely unnecessary.

The Detective Sargent character of Dave Satchwell starts off predictable, seems to move forward, and then de-evolves by the last book.

How much of all of this is due to the fact that the author was writing for television, rather than writing a "book" I don't know, but the story does seem to suffer because of it.

I won't be revisiting the tv series, and I doubt very much that I will listen to the books again.

[lyny · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old case where gay man James McCready was convicted of killing his partner Gary Meadows is being re-opened because of new testimony evidence that seems to support his story that it was an accident. DI Pat North is put on the investigation, even though from the start it is known that her partner, the non-PC gruff Scot, DI Mike Walker was the one who was in charge of the original conviction. Walker and North are now living together but in a somewhat scratchy relationship. [Spoilers follow] And while the case begins to expose the background, including Walker’s anger at McCready over an earlier case where a policeman was killed but someone else wrongly took the rap, North finds she is pregnant. It appears she is considering an abortion, to Walker’s dismay, but eventually decides to go ahead – only at 6 months to have an accident where she loses the baby. Not a bad story and you can see la Plante working to keep the key characters afloat with new elements of their relationship.

[Wide Eyes, Big Ears! · Rating 2 out of 5]

Languishing in prison for the murder of his lover, James McCready is still maintaining his innocence when new evidence sparks a series of police and media investigations into his conviction. Suspicion is cast on DSI Mike Walker, the chief investigating officer at the time. I got through 60% but couldn’t finish this - I expect the criminals to have bad character, but none of the police were any better. I’ve never warmed to Walker who is intense, insensitive, manipulative and self-centred, never more so in this story. He breaks every rule in the police book. While I’ve sympathised with DI Pat North who is pleasant enough, she is such a disempowered door mat here, letting the aptly named Walker walk all over her. Lynda La Plante’s excellent writing is not enough to make me continue with these characters. Audio narrator Colin Mace does his usual excellent job.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS WAS AN AUDIOBOOK NARRATED BY COLIN MACE

Absolutely BRILLIANT!

Awesome narration by Colin Mace, yet again, so I’m devouring these audiobooks one after another.

Colin does different voices and accents for different characters which really helps the listener follow the story and engage with them individually.

Will be listening to number V (5) next and also would love to listen to more narrators by Colin Mace who is absolutely brilliant!

[Kirstin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm didn’t like this one so much … was just a bit bored, not a lot seemed to happen, maybe that is why Mike walker starting grating on me… misogynistic, racist, homophobic

Hopefully it’s not put me off finishing the series but I feel it may have

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superintendent Mike Walker gets suspended after the Police Complaints Authority investigate a 8 year old murder conviction and his relationship with DI Pat North stregthens despite some difficult times. I will move on to the next in the series.

[TONI HARRIS · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was again narrated by Colin Mace and he is so good

[Kathleen Hagen]

Trial and Retribution IV, By Lynda La Plante, B-plus. Read by Christian Rodska. Produced by BBC-WW, downloaded from audible.com.

In this, the fourth in the series, we have District Superintendent Mike Walker and District Inspector Pat North living together. Pat is offered the opportunity to get leadership training aimed at mentoring her for a leadership role in the police. She is assigned to a unit which is reviewing cases formerly investigated by officers. The case to which she is assigned is a case investigated previously by Walker. The man is appealing his conviction and further arguing that Walker is homophobic, and that he was biased against him because he is gay. Walker, who does convey, at least in private, some homophobic tendencies, contends that he got the right man. It puts a strain on an already strained relationship for Pat to be assigned to the case. On top of that, Pat finds herself pregnant. This is one of the better books in this series so far, but it strains credibility to think that no one would think there wouldn’t be trouble assigning someone to review a case that had been previously investigated by the man she lives with. Of course, there wouldn’t have been such a good story if she hadn’t been assigned, but it is one of those times when you have to suspend belief. Also, I continue to fail to see why she is with Walker. I hope that before the series ends, she moves on.

[Juliana Jura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story line runs through at a pace. The characters are already known through the TV series...as are the stories...but still enjoyable to read,

[Catherine Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good novel