Good As Dead by Mark Billingham

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

The Crime

The customers in a London convenience store are taken captive. Among them is young mother, Detective Helen Weeks. She is told her life depends on the co-operation of one of her colleagues – detective Tom Thorne.

The Demand

Akhtar is desperate to know what really happened to his beloved son, who died a year before in prison. He is convinced the death was not an accident and forces the one man who knows more about the case than any other, Thorne, to re-investigate.

The Twist

What Thorne discovers will upend everything he thought he knew about the fate of those he’s put away…but will it be enough to fulfill the wishes of a grieving and potentially violent father?

Single mother and police officer Helen Weeks stops off in her local newsagents on her daily morning stop on the way to work. Waiting at the till it’s the last place she expects to come across any violence – and in the blink of the eye she finds herself being held hostage. The Indian owner has finally been pushed over the edge and his only demand is that DI Tom Thorne re-investigate the sudden death of the newagent’s son a year earlier in youth custody. Thorne immediately springs into action and is quickly astonished to find that the death really is suspicious and well worth looking into again.

I have found this to be an excellent British police procedural style mystery series – gritty and at times bleak. These last few books have been a little less harsh and while I still find these books gripping Thorne is definitely growing as a character and has a few – tenuous – connections and relationships. The fact a civilian and police officer are being held hostage absolutely gives this book a push into making crazy fast decisions and Thorne definitely crosses a few lines to keep the momentum of the case moving forward. Readers looking for a gentle or softer style of police mystery might not find what they’re after here – but readers who have some experience of this series should absolutely know what a ride they’re in for.

I was pleased this book resolved everything within the confines of the book – occasionally the author can leave threads hanging or leave small items unresolved and I was glad that didn’t occur here. Indeed we’re given a brief glimpse of Thorne sorting through the consequences of his actions and I really enjoyed this resolution to the story and his actions. I was very happy with the ending of this book and am eager to begin the next in the series.

Readers looking for a gritty, fast paced British mystery should find this an enjoyable book. While it’s definitely not required to read anything previous to this to thoroughly enjoy the story, characters and plotline I will admit having at least a few of the previous DI Tom Thorne books under you belt will help the reader understand the style and set up of the series and might make this a richer and deeper experience. That said, it would be just fine to pick this book up by itself and begin enjoying this series immediately.