This was my first Mark Billingham novel and so I came into Tom Thorne and Nicola Tanner's story at least half-way through. Although the hints at what had happened previously intrigued me it didn't spoil my reading of this thriller. There are things that stretch credulity, particularly around the parents at the school drop off but I went with it. The novel didn't have the usual dash to catch the bad guys at the end that many thrillers have, instread it demonstrated more realistically the hard work detectives put into solving cases and the paperwork involved. Interesting and entertaining but a few ends that weren't tied at the end and so niggle. ( )

I have often thought that Mark Billingham’s protagonist, Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, has a lot in common with Sir Ian Rankin’s John Rebus. They are both highly experienced and know their respective patches well, have had a chequered relationship with authority figures and are viewed by their colleagues as very grumpy (or ‘thrawn’ in the case of Rebus). There are, of course, some difference – Thorne prefers the mournful end of the Country and Western spectrum to the vintage rock in which Rebus takes refuge. In recent years, Thorne has also acquired a female work partner, DI Tanner, who offers a counterweight to his occasionally maverick approach to investigation. While their relationship is less charged than that between Rebus and Siobhan Clarke, it does offer a usual pivot for plot twists.

This story starts off with Thorne attending the scene of a suicide on the London Underground. While the death seems to be fairly straightforward, Thorne follows up by contacting the dead woman’s family and becomes intrigued about the man with whom she had been involved, and whose actions had driven her to such a desperate act. He initially comes up against a brick wall – the man has disappeared, presumably moving on to search for a new ‘mark’ and there is the added difficulty of developing a sufficiently robust case.

That is not the end of the story, however, as the suspect’s DNA is subsequently recovered from the body of a young man found murdered in Marqate. What meagre evidence that is available from local CCTV footage suggests that the killer was not working alone, and that his accomplice may have been a woman. This provokes a challenging investigation that will throw up some unexpected results.

Tanner and Thorne, like Rebus and Clarke, are a powerful investigative team, and their respective strengths and weaknesses complement each other effectively. As always, Billingham captures the reader’s attention straight from the start. His characters, no matter how evil, are always highly credible, and his plots are soundly constructed. ( )

I enjoyed this book; it was exciting and had a diabolical twist at the end BUT I could not leave behind my questions about how Sarah was able to hang around the school every day, meet with the other parents for coffee and no one ever was troubled that they never saw her with her child. Also that she was ,on a least two occasions in different schools, able to enter the schools so freely. This gnawed at my mind throughout the story and led to my rating of 3.5 as opposed to a 4 or 4.5. ( )

Loved it. Another great book by a great writer. ( )

Although this is part of quite a long series, with several minor plot threads connecting to previous novels, it works quite well as a stand-alone.

The novel begins with the aftermath of a middle aged woman throwing herself under a train. Although this is obviously a suicide Tom Thorne becomes concerned with why she did it. He meets her sister and niece who tells him about how a con artist fleeced her of her savings. He would dearly like to find the con man and charge him with manslaughter.

In the second chapter we meet Sarah, a young mum who has just dropped her son Jamie off at his new school. She is meeting other mums for coffee and she meets an older man.

From these two starting points the novel quickly develops complexity and in surprising ways.

A very good read. ( )