Buried by Mark Billingham

Buried by Mark Billingham
Publisher: Sphere
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Luke Mullen, the missing teenage son of a former police officer, was last seen getting into a car with an older woman. No one knows whether he went willingly or was abducted, whether he’s living or dead.

Then the videotape arrives . . .

On special assignment, Detective Inspector Tom Thorne is in charge of the investigation into Luke’s disappearance. But it’s the information that Tony Mullen, the boy’s father, is not freely sharing that Thorne finds particularly disturbing—like the names of dangerous criminals who have openly threatened the tough ex-detective and his entire family. Something shocking and deadly may well be buried deep in old cases and past lives. But Thorne knows he doesn’t have the luxury of time to dig—especially when a kidnapper brutally demonstrates that he is willing to kill.

Teenager Luke Mullen is last seen near his school, getting into the car with an older woman. When he still hasn’t turned up after the weekend even his parents acknowledge something has gone wrong and begin to call in favours from the retired detective’s former colleagues to help trace what happened to his missing son. DI Tom Thorne is part of the team called in to help bolster the case – but as three crucial days have already been lost, can they make up for lost time?

I have been greatly enjoying this British police procedural series. I was happy to note this book had a few key differences. Most of the previous books have felt quite bleak and harsh to me and I was very pleasantly surprised that while still a gritty and edgy read, this didn’t feel hopeless or too bleak to me. I think part of this came from the fact two other cases completely unrelated to the kidnapping were given a strong boost from the two police teams working together and that was a delightful surprise to me. I really feel much of the tone of the book was lightened in that – while the main kidnapping case continued to progress slowly – other links and other cases were aided from the dedicated and strong work performed by the police teams. This helped lighten the tone to my mind.

I additionally feel that having more characters in the two police teams working together and interweaving helped make the tone and feel of the working relationships feel a little more flexible and a little less weighted. I certainly had the feeling that having more crossover between the teams and having people pair up differently and yet still clearly work together gave the story a different tone.

I would certainly add this isn’t a light or easy read still. We do get a few snippets from Luke’s perspective throughout the book and while nothing too overly graphic is described – I do feel a kidnapped teenager and seeing what he’s going through likely won’t be easy ready for some. This is not a happy or light book – but I have to admit I strongly felt it wasn’t the bleak or emotionally taxing read I was expecting it to be when I began. I am glad the author has changed his tone somewhat and I hope this might continue on into the further books in the series.

A strongly plotted and highly realistic British Police procedural mystery novel, this book was a good addition to this series. While I don’t feel it will suit all readers, those looking for a UK style, tightly plotted and strongly written mystery should feel this is a series to look into.