Book review: Time Of Death by Mark Billingham (Tom Thorne's 13th outing!)

I've missed the last two Thorne Books and was a bit worried that if I read Time of Death before I caught up with Thorne's life  I'd be at a disadvantage, however, rest assured that was not the case.  Billingham is such an intuitive and practised writer that Time of Death reads brilliantly as a stand alone and to be frank reading it served to give me a thirst to play 'catch up' pretty damn quickly; It's a good job I'm an insomniac!



Release Date 23rd April 2015
Tom Thorne and Helen Weeks are enjoying a romantic Valentines break when the husband of Helen's childhood friend is arrested for the abduction of two teenage girls in their home village in the flooded 
Midlands.  Helen, for a reason beyond Thorne's ken feels obliged to go and support her friend in her hour of need despite having no contact with her for twenty years.  Left to his own devices whilst Helen comforts her friend Thorne soon becomes interested in the investigation and when a body is discovered Thorne feels some things just don't add up.

Billingham as usual is a skilled narrator drawing the reader deeper and deeper into the plot.  His feel for the nuances of small town life and sparky dialogue give the book an edge that I'm sure is envied by many crime writer's.  The plot is  extraordinary, yet believable and I found myself becoming more and more invested in the book as he subtly layered the human sub plots with the main story.  Lot's of

twists and turns, Thorne is his usual curmudgeonly self,  the presence of the charismatic extrovert Phil Hendricks is welcome and the forensic intell is brilliantly researched and delivered.
All in all a great read for fans of great crime fiction... now I'm off to do a quick Thorne catch up!

Check out Romancrimeblogger's interview with Mark  On The Crime Warp http://thecrimewarp.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/author-interview-mark-billingham.html
Available in HB for £9 or kindle for £6.64
Check Out Mark Billingham's Amazon page  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mark-Billingham/e/B001HMPE0Q/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1429611844&sr=1-2-ent