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.

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

Thorne investigates a troubling case of conspiracy—a wife who arranges to have her husband murdered. He turns up alive… and other people begin to turn up dead.

A decade ago, Alan Langford’s charred remains were discovered in his burnt-out car. His wife Donna was found guilty of conspiracy to murder her husband and sentenced to ten years in prison. But before she is released, Donna receives a nasty shock: an anonymous letter containing a photo of her husband. The man she hates with every fibre of her being—the man she paid to have murdered—seems very much alive and well. But how is it possible that her husband is still alive? Where is he? Who sent the photo, and why?

It’s been over a decade since Donna Langford was imprisoned for hiring a man to murder her husband. Having admitted to the crime and pled guilty – even with the evidence of her husband’s abuse and criminal dealings she still was sentenced for a lengthy time in jail. Just before her release, she’s sent photos. Of her husband. Tanned. Enjoying himself. Living free and happy to indulge in all his desires. Against his better judgement, DI Tom Thorne finds himself drawn into this case where nothing and no one appear to be what they are.

This British police procedural has a gritty knack for turning plotlines on their head and writing uncomfortable things in such a manner you just have to keep turning the pages. I found this book to be no exception to that rule. Thorne finds himself with quite a bit on his plate, two or three cases weaving around each other as well as his ongoing relationship with Louise. I found myself nervous at a few points and while everything absolutely resolved none of it was quite how I was expecting and some parts were a little messier than I originally thought they’d be.

Readers should also be aware that for some of the plotlines there wasn’t a “usual” type of ending and one in particular finished on a bit of a cliffhanger/unresolved note for me. I definitely feel the reader is left to fill in the blanks and it could have gone a few different ways to my mind so readers who don’t enjoy vague endings might not find this as satisfying as many of the other book conclusions in this series.

That said, I’ve noticed a number of times previously that this book series is a lot grittier and harsher than many other British police procedurals and so while leaving threads hanging is not my favourite thing – the overall style and plotting is just so good and so different to most other series out there I can’t help myself I know I’ll keep reading the next book along. I also expect there will be an answer hopefully early on in the next book – this series does tend to (eventually) tie off all the loose threads so hopefully this won’t be any different.

Readers looking for a different, gritty and at times dark/lonely type of series should absolutely find this a great book. They can be read and enjoyed out of order – but personally I prefer reading things systematically so it’s well worth going back to the start and reading these in sequence.

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.

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

Delivering the “death message.” That’s what cops call those harrowing moments when they must tell someone that a loved one has been killed. Now Detective Investigator Tom Thorne is receiving messages of his own: photographs of murder victims sent to his cell phone.

Who are the victims? Who is sending the photographs? And why is he sending them to Tom Thorne? The answer lies in the detective investigator’s past, with a man he had once sent to prison for life. But even behind bars, the most dangerous psychopath Thorne has ever faced is still a master at manipulating others to do his dirty work for him. And Thorne must act fast because the photos keep on coming, and the killer’s next target is someone the detective investigator knows very well . . .

When a convicted murderer is given the death message that his wife and young son have been killed in a hit and run “accident” a few weeks before his release from prison – the police didn’t give it too much thought. But then bikers and other “associates” are found killed and it’s DI Tom Thorne who is being sent photos directly of these murders. Thorne and his team quickly find the connections, but all too soon the case becomes murky, and Thorne begins to struggle to find which side is right and which side he’s meant to be acting on behalf of.

I have been really enjoying this British police procedural series and found this to be yet another strong book. With a number of excellent supporting characters – now becoming quite familiar this far into the series – and with a number more well written supporting characters I feel this is a strong book that should appeal to many readers.

While the plot is delightfully complicated readers should absolutely be aware of the fact the usual lines between black and white, good and bad are far more shaded in this series and far less clear cut than in many other British mystery series that I’ve read. And while I absolutely feel a number of the previous books could be quite gritty, harsh and even bleak, this book is not quite as stark as I’ve found the others to be. I feel this could be partly because the strong cast of secondary characters are playing more of a role now and so Tom’s world feels a bit more “peopled” and less harsh, but also the plots – which still are heavily complicated – are more intertwined with other cases and feel less isolated and more layered in reality and regular lives.

I still definitely feel this is a strongly written murder mystery – but while we know the “who” fairly early on, the “why” is deeply complex and has quite a few interesting twists and layers to it which is really what make this an excellent mystery book. I also feel the fact Thorne is flawed – and knows it yet continues to do his best – also helps make this an addictive read.

Like many of the previous books in the series this is not an easy read, but I did not find it an uncomfortable read either – which I definitely struggled with in some of the previous works. I found this book gripping reading and much like Thorne at times I deeply empathized with the “bad” guy and found some of the “good” guys quite questionable. So, this might not be everyone’s cup of tea – but I look forward to the next book in the series.