Lynda La Plante: Twisted

As he got a little closer he could just about make out that there was someone under a black umbrella with their back to him. He watched as the umbrella was raised then lowered slightly, and suddenly a shaft of light appeared to reflect on something that sparkled and created a glistening white streak that shot across the horizon in front of him.

The distance was distorted like in a mirage and he was closer than he had realized, and as he moved silently nearer he felt an incredible excitement. Unable to see who was sitting beneath the umbrella, he continued, the black silk shifted sideways and again there was that shard of light, and he was within a few feet before he came to a halt, standing directly behind the umbrella. A delicate suntanned hand and arm moved out from beneath the shade and then pulled back in. He leaned forward until he could see who was beneath the umbrella.

The white-blonde hair was short and silky, the tiara was worn low and the sunlight hit the central diamond, making it appear as if an electrical current had lit it. She was wearing a white smock, her sandals lying side by side on the bright rainbow cotton rug. He was shaking and unable to speak, as she turned without any sign of surprise, rather child-like and inquisitive. Her eyes were thick-lashed and a vibrant blue, and she stared up towards him.

All the months, all the searching and wretched consequences faded into a quiet acceptance. He had found Amy Fulford, and the sense of relief was overpowering, because he knew now that it really was over.

Lynda La Plante (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.