I love Prime Suspect and have seen Jackie Malton (the real life Jane Tennison) on a number of shows over the years so was not disappointed to learn more about her life and how close her life has influenced Prime Suspect. Her story and life is fascinating which makes this book a great read.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly…
A very balanced memoir from this author, former police officer of twenty eight years and DCI with the Metropolitan Police. She was also the inspiration for Prime Suspect’s Tennison. It’s a very personal account, a journey through the trials and tribulations of her career, the good and the bad and the downright ugly. The struggles that she faced were not simply with the criminals and her tenacity and honesty is certainly to be applauded. Succinctly done, enlightening and engaging.

This is a fantastic memoir!! I’ve not watched Prime Suspect (*gasp*) but I am a huge fan of behind the scenes look at police procedures so this book was right up my street. And I now feel compelled to go and watch Prime Suspect which I will do later thanks to a streaming site!
Jackie sounds like a wonderful lady. Funny, conscientious, tough, incredibly good at her job and so honest it gives a wonderful antidote to the bent coppers we and Jackie know are in every force in the country.
Jackie is entirely without ego as she describes working with Linda La Plante and it really hit me when she said she thought Jane Tennison was a better copper than she was.
This is a fascinating look at late 20th century policing. Those of us who lived through it will nod our heads sagely and remember our own instances of being ill treated in the workplace and I suspect those born in the 21st century will be utterly disbelieving that a female police officer could be known as and called ‘Tart’ every day of her working life in one team. We have come far but this book and Jackies experiences remind us that society still has a long way to go.

Sometimes memoirs of very successful people come across as being a bit full of themselves, but this was never the case with Jackie's writing, who details her impressive career in the Metropolitan police in a very down to earth and engaging manner. Nor does she complain about the rampant sexism and homophobia she experienced, particularly during the earlier stages of her career, letting her descriptions of what she was up against speak for itself. It's interesting to have this insight into so many different areas of the police service, some of it is shocking, showing both the good work that the Met does, as well as its flaws. A fascinating read.

Jackie Malton is The ‘Real’ Prime Suspect, inspiration for the much loved TV series. Jackie’s career was used in Lynda La Plante’s character Jane Tennison in The Prime Suspect, and what a career she’s had!

When Jackie joined the police force in the 1970’s, it was very much a case of carrying out the most menial of tasks. Females in the force were in short supply, and in this era of macho men they were looked on by their male colleagues as someone only fit to make the tea, or deal with clerical work, and also somewhere that sexism was the order of the day and she was expected to endure it - and endure it she did. The ‘banter’ would be acknowledged as bullying today, so the fact that Jackie rose above it all and worked her way up through the ranks is a credit to her staying power, although her mental and physical health suffered because of it.

Gives an incredible insight into the workings of the Police Force at a time of great misogyny. We also take a look at the minds of the victims as well as the criminals. Illuminating and really interesting.

Being a huge lover of Prime Suspect and Lynda la Plante books I couldn't wait to get stuck into this one once I knew Malton was where it all began.

The Real Prime Suspect is a gritty, brutally honest account of Malton's life in the forces. The discrimination and treatment she received for her gender and sexuality abhorrent.

The book encapsulates Malton, her personality, determination and integrity in what was predominantly a male orientated world.

Thought provoking, eye opening and a forthright insight into her career.

Many thanks to Random Things Tours for my tour spot.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thanks to Jackie and NetGalley for allowing me to read The Real Prime Suspect.

I really enjoyed this book in which Jackie has pulled no punches, describing the reality of life for a woman working in the misogynistic environment of the police force starting in the 1970s. That she managed to climb the promotion ladder despite the impact that the work had on her health was amazing.

From the first day in service, women were at a disadvantage treated differently, from being paid less than male colleagues to the impractical uniforms which they had to wear.

The book gives the reader an insight into the structure of the Metropolitan Police and the specialist departments.
It also presents a different perspective of both the victims and the criminals that Jackie was dealing with.

Thank you for the advanced copy. I thoroughly enjoyed this, really well written and put together and shows you just what an amazing person and amazing career she had along with her own personal battles.

Highly recommended

The Real Prime Suspect is the story of Jackie Malton, whose career and input played a large part in forming writer Linda La Plante's Jane Tennison character in her classic "Prime Suspect" TV series.
Much against her family's wishes Jackie joined the police force in the 1970's when policewomen largely
did the typing and made the tea. Taking on the misogynist character of the force in those days Jackie took every opportunity to get out on the streets and prove herself. Battling endemic sexism as well as crime she went on to transfer to the Met and a variety of tough policing roles,including CID and the elite,but notorious, "Sweeney" as the Flying Squad was known. All through her career Jackie had to endure "banter" that would be seen as bullying these days and the pressures of hiding her sexuality in far less enlightened times as well as being treated as a pariah for outing a "Bent Cop" by those supposedly fighting crime.

As well as an extremely good true crime read the book tells of Jackie's quite amazing career after leaving the police as an advisor to a whole string of very well-known police series ,her battles with alcohol addiction,her struggles as a gay woman in a macho and predominantly male environment and her work helping others in a number of roles.

This is quite an amazing book by an amazing lady ,someone who battled her way through the ranks in an organisation where sexism ,homophobia and racism was rampant , dissenters victimised and those who reported criminal behaviour by corrupt officers were treated as if it was they who were the disgrace to the Met.
Just as interesting is how she battled her demons and went on to a life dedicated to helping others with theirs.

I read The Real Prime Suspect by Jackie Malton for Random Things Tours blog tour. I read this book as a hardback copy, and I’m so happy that I took place in this blog tour as I found this memoir/true crime book absolutely fascinating. I like reading crime novels, thrillers and police procedural novels anyway, but the fact that this novel tells a real life female detective’s story made it extra special. I found the memoir to be a thrilling and exciting read and it gave real insight into policing from a female perspective. It was like an evolution of police and detective work and I found it very interesting and fascinating. Even more so as my dad is a retired policeman. He was part of a small Finnish police force where female detectives were almost unheard of.
I really loved reading Jackie Malton’s memoir, and learning more about each case, some of which seemed to be very harrowing. What an incredibly insightful book. I’m giving The Real Prime Suspect 5 stars as I really liked it and I know that readers who like reading memoirs or true crime books will love it too.