Book Review: The Killing Habit by Mark Billingham - Brilliant to see the Thorne and Tanner double act in action again.- This is not for cat lovers

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So, this is the blurb for The Killing Habit and, after reading this I defy you not to be intrigued. 

How do you catch a killer who is yet to kill?

We all know the signs. Cruelty, lack of empathy, the killing of animals. Now, pets on suburban London streets are being stalked by a shadow, and it could just be the start.

DI Tom Thorne knows the psychological profile of such offenders all too well, so when he is tasked with catching a notorious killer of domestic cats, he sees the chance to stop a series of homicides before they happen.

Others are less convinced, so once more, Thorne relies on DI Nicola Tanner to help him solve the case, before the culprit starts hunting people. It's a journey that brings them face to face with a killer who will tear their lives apart.

I always look forward to a good Mark Billingham and whilst The Killing Habit doesn't evoke the gut wrenching anger that Love Like Blood did, it is an entertaining read with a hell of a lot of action and a fair few tense moments.  

Billingham again draws on a factual case, this time involving a serial cat killer, once more proving that Fact is indeed stranger (and often more deadly) than Fiction.

For me though, what really attracts is the relationship between Thorne and Tanner.  As she struggles through her grief, Thorne provides a foil to her anger.  The domesticity of Thorne's homelife is under threat and again that adds a valuable third dimension to the writing. 
Whilst the intrepid duo juggle their two cases: The cat killer turned (as you'd expect) serial killer and the drug gang that are killing with impunity throughout London we see Thorne question his lifestyle and Tanner face a truly horrible adversary, just as she's trying to put her life together again.

There are enough little seeds left dangling in The Killing Habit to make me look forward to Billingham's next offering, which I hope will continue this partnership.