Backlash: An Anna Travis Novel

La Plante breaks no new ground in her eighth Anna Travis novel (after 2012’s Bloodline). Anna, now detective chief inspector for Specialist Casework, uses lateral thinking to restart stalled murder investigations, including one involving Henry Oates, the driver of a van that contained birthday party supplies—and a corpse. During his initial interrogation, Oates alluded to having committed other murders, and Anna must help determine the truth of his statements. Dull, routine police work focuses on identifying people who can provide information on Oates’s life and on looking for evidence to connect him with other killings. The interrogations themselves and the devising of strategies to get under the suspect’s skin have been done better elsewhere, including the TV series Prime Suspect (the author’s breakthrough). La Plante takes no risks in this installment. Agent: Gill Coleridge, Rogers, Coleridge & White (U.K.). (Oct.)