The Dirty Dozen

Lynda La Plante was born in Liverpool. She trained for the stage at RADA and worked with the National theatre and RDC before becoming a television actress. She then turned to writing - and made her breakthrough with the phenomenally successful TV series Widows. Her novels have all been international bestsellers.

Her original script for the much-acclaimed Prime Suspect won awards from BAFTA, Emmy, British Broadcasting and Royal Television Society as well as the 1993 Edgar Allan Poe Award. Lynda has written and produced over 170 hours of international television.

Lynda is one of only three screenwriters to have been made an honorary fellow of the British Film Institute and was awarded the BAFTA Dennis Potter Best Writer Award in 2000. In 2008, she was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to Literature, Drama and Charity.

If you would like to hear from Lynda, please sign up at bit.ly/ LyndaLaPlanteClub or you can visit lyndalaplante.com for further information. You can also follow Lynda on Facebook and Twitter @LaPlanteLynda.

The gritty new thriller from the Queen of Crime Drama and the fifth book in the Sunday Times bestselling Jane Tennison series.

Jane Tennison has worked hard to become the first female detective ever post to the infamous Flying Squad, or 'the Sweeney'. But the Dirty Dozen is a notorious boys' club, and Jane's new colleagues make it clear that they don't think a woman is up to the dangers of the job.

Dealing with some of London's most ruthless armed criminals, who think the only good cop is a dead cop, is no joke. Determined to prove she's as good as the men, Jane discovers from a reliable witness that a gang is going to carry out a massive robbery.

But she doesn't know who they are, or where and when they will strike . . .

Praise for Lynda La Plante

'Lynda La Plante practically invented the thriller' Karin Slaughter

'Classic Lynda - a fabulous read' Martina Cole

'Satisfyingly full of twists and turns' The Independent

'A rare ring of authenticity' Sunday Telegraph

'An absorbingly twisty plot' Guardian