Blood Line by Mark Billingham

Blood Line by Mark Billingham
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Detective Tom Thorne specializes in solving the London Police Department’s most difficult murder cases. When he’s called into what seems like an ordinary domestic crime scene, he thinks he’s caught a break. A woman has been murdered by someone she knows. Thorne plans to question the husband, arrest him, and get back to his own deteriorating personal life. But something doesn’t fit . . .

A sliver of X-ray was found in the victim’s fist. When bits of the same X-Ray are found at other crime scenes around the city, Thorne realizes he has a grisly puzzle to solve. As the pieces begin to form a picture, a terrifying truth is revealed: the murderer is following in the footsteps of infamous serial killer Raymond Garvey—hunting the children of Raymond’s victims.

Now, as Thorne attempts to protect those still alive, he gets dangerously close to one of the most twisted killers he has ever hunted.

What appears to be a standard domestic murder quickly turns out to be connected to another case when a sliver of an x-ray is found clenched in the dead young woman’s fist. DI Thorne and his team soon find a far larger series of connections linking all the way back to a notorious serial murderer – who died in prison a number of years ago. Can Thorne and his team capture this twisted killer before all hell breaks loose?

I have been greatly enjoying this series – a British police procedural but quite gritty and even noir at times. I was very pleased this book shows a bit of the main character starting to thaw a very little bit with some of the connections he’s been building both within his police team and with a few select people on the periphery of his work. While this is still a gritty and complicated mystery book I was thrilled it didn’t feel quite as harsh to me as many of the others – even though there is quite a bit going on in this mystery.

Readers who enjoy a complicated plot should find this an excellent book. There was quite a twist toward the end that I loved. The plot had been clearly leading somewhere, and I knew there would be a twist, but there was quite a lot in the big reveal that I hadn’t guessed and the last quarter or so of the book was absolutely at a break-neck speed and I really enjoyed it. With plenty of layers I found this to be an engrossing read and there was just enough personal stiff – especially in the first quarter or so of the book – for me to feel like we’re getting to know DI Thorne a little better and have the murder and mystery elements balanced just a bit out by character growth and deepening knowledge of the main protagonist.

A well written and delightfully plotted complicated mystery, this is a series I am enjoying and a book I enjoyed. I’m looking forward to the next in the series.