have shown Justin pictures and
explained who his father was. He picked him up and held him close and loved the silky feel of his thick curly hair and the smell of his baby skin as the boy said ‘Dada’ over and
over.
Karen continued to come back. She loved watching Colin with Justin, but their visits were always charged with sadness. It seemed that as soon as she relaxed and felt
comfortable with Colin, the visiting time was up and she had to leave.
They did not discuss divorce, and she did not seriously think about it. She still loved Colin and she wanted to help him get better so that they could have a life together. To add to her hopes,
her father had at last accepted her decision and was now writing to the authorities to say that he would have a job waiting for Colin on his release.
Colin was very different now, much calmer and quieter than he had been before.
Writing had proved to be an incredible means of healing for him, and he began to study with great enthusiasm. He often gave Karen a list of books he wanted to read and she happily brought stacks
of them in during her visits. Over time, he grew more confident in his ability and even planned to study journalism.
Karen treasured the letters she got from him, each one thoughtful and filled with his love for her and Justin. His writing gave her a greater insight into the person he really was, a tender man
who had known hardship, but whose desire now was only to make amends.
Colin’s description of seeing his son born was touching and very beautiful. Karen kept that letter closest to her heart. She planned to read it out in church at their son’s
christening, but she was waiting until Colin was released so they could celebrate that blessed event together, as a family.
She now knew why Colin had wanted to call their son Barry. They didn’t argue, but agreed with all their hearts that Barry would be his second name, and Barry himself would be
Justin’s godfather.
Justin Barry Burrows would never know the details of his father’s outrageous escape or the painful aftermath that had changed the course of his life. By the time Colin
was released from prison, his speech was nearly back to normal, he had won three writing awards and was beginning a career as a trainee journalist with a local paper. What Justin did know was that
he had a loving and happy family, and a kind-hearted Uncle Barry who drew great fake tattoos.
Lynda La Plante
BACKLASH
Two unsolved murders. Three confessions. One suspect.
But is the man in DCI Anna Travis’s custody a serial killer . . . or just a compulsive liar?
It is late at night on a notorious council estate in east London when the police pull over a van. Inside, they discover the body of a young woman.
The driver confesses, not just to one murder – but to three.
Five years earlier, a 13-year-old girl disappeared in broad daylight on a busy London street. The unsolved case has haunted DCS James Langton ever since. But when the case is reopened, it falls to Anna to investigate and bring the killer to trial.
Meanwhile, the murder team is hard at work verifying the details of the van driver’s confessions and desperately trying to uncover the identities of his other victims.
And then he changes his story . . .
Paperback ISBN 978-1-84983-336-3
Ebook ISBN 978-0-85720-185-0
Lynda La Plante
THE LEGACY
For three people, ‘The Legacy’ was a curse . . .
Hugh, a hard-drinking lion of the Welsh valleys. His daughter Evelyne – who lost her heart to a travelling gypsy. And handsome prizefighter Freedom – saved from the gallows to do battle for the heavyweight championship of the world.
From the poverty of the Welsh pit valleys to the glories of the prize ring, from the dangers of Prohibition America to the terrors of Britain at war, Lynda La Plante delves into the lives of a remarkable family and its fortunes, and the curse that forged their names.
‘A torrid tale of love, intrigue