Love Like Blood (Tom Thorne Novels)

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Groundbreaking... a gripping, unsensational take on a type of crime that is happening more frequently than many of us realize.”— The Sunday Times Billingham became the first crime writer to win the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award twice when his novel Death Message won in 2009, [10] against Reginald Hill, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin and Lee Child. I haven't read any of the other books in the author's DI Tom Thorne series but I did read the prior DI Nicola Tanner book, "Die of Shame", which I liked more than I liked this book. However, this book works as a standal

I am a great fan of Mark Billingham novels. I have read Sleepyhead, Scaredy Cat, Lazybones, Time of Death. Overall a really excellent, entertaining yet hugely thought provoking read that I would actually like to throw at everybody. Read it. Even if you are new to the series I see no reason you couldn’t start here. Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Billingham's skillful plotting is everywhere in evidence here, and Thorne remains a compelling character, comparable to Connelly's Bosch and Rankin's Rebus." — BooklistYou can read the full text of that letter here. In this review, meanwhile, we’re pleased to report that all that passion has been channeled into what is a gripping and at times brutal story. It feels relevant. It feels conflicted. It’ll give you a knot in the stomach. And, it’s pretty uncomfortable reading, too. A gritty, engaging novel that balances light with dark, offering wit and wisdom in equal measure. Billingham’s new lead detective, DS Miller, may not be able to dance, but he never misses a step when it comes to solving crime.”— Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid The general theme of Scaredy Cat is really the power of fear, and that fear is a very powerful weapon, and if you are prepared to instil it, you have a very powerful weapon that is every bit as dangerous as a gun or a knife. Also what happened to me in that hotel room fed directly into a sub-plot in Scaredy Cat with some very nasty crimes carried out in hotel rooms. [3] Television adaptations [ edit ] Around 1987 he decided to pursue a career in comedy, stating:"[The] one great advantage of stand-up comedy [is that] nobody gives a stuff about what you look like – as long as you're funny, and if you can do it, and people laugh, then you'll get bookings." [3] Billingham cites his breaking into stand-up as a simple progression from 5-minute, unpaid "try-out" spots to 10-, 20- and 30-minute paid slots. [3] Billingham has headlined at the Comedy Store, where he also appears regularly as a Master of Ceremonies. [3] In 2002, he was "in the middle of writing a screenplay for an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and about to write a screenplay for a cult children's show," a sci-fi drama for the BBC, but turned to writing novels. [3] [9] Novels [ edit ]

The novel opens with Tom Thorne bumping into DI Nicola Tanner whom he worked with in Die Of Shame. Nicola is grieving for her partner, Susan, who was murdered a couple of weeks earlier and is on compassionate leave. She is obviously excluded from the investigation which she believes was a case of mistaken identity linked to her investigation into contract honour killers and she wants Tom to help her in an unofficial investigation. Honor-based violence is a scourge in Britain, where the Crown Prosecution Service estimates that the 12 or so honor killings reported each year are only a fraction of the true number committed . . . In Love Like Blood, Mark Billingham puts human faces on one such case . . . Although 'dishonored' male relatives are prime suspects in most cases of punitive violence, squeamish families often prefer to shop the job to a middleman with access to professional hit men'thugs like Muldoon and Riaz, who collaborate efficiently but whose cultural clashes can be morbidly funny." —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review I feel that I am being overly generous to this book by even giving it two stars. One of the worst crime books I have read in a long time. This is one in a series but I have no desire to read any of the other books. Scaredy Cat (Little, Brown & Company, July 2002), ISBN 0-316-85954-0; Time Warner UK, November 2002, ISBN 0-356-23206-9; William Morrow US, June 2003, ISBN 0-06-621300-2 The idea of honour killings - be it for love or some other inferred shame - is the central premise of this book. Mark Billingham has not tried to retell Banaz's story. As he has said himself that is not his story to tell. But her story has most certainly inspired a book which becomes somewhat of a moral dilemma in the making. At the heart of this novel is real life horror dressed up here as a form of entertainment, art even. Should we really say that we enjoy it? Maybe, maybe not. However Billingham has found a near perfect balance, blending Thorne's irresistible charm, an element of humour and the day to day mundane realities of family life, with an overwhelmingly depressing set of statistics and a case which puts the lives of Thorne's friends and colleagues at risk. This is not a case of preaching the horrors of honour killings, although they are clearly outlined here, but it is also more than mere entertainment. Billingham skilfully gets his distaste at the subject across to the reader through Thorne's reactions, while still leaving them the scope to make their own minds up about what has occurred.

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In talking about the creation and development of Thorne, Billingham details his difficulty in trying to create a character different from those in other, popular works:

In September 2015 Billingham and co-host Michael Carlson released the six-part podcast The Crime Vault Live, [20] with the last episode released in January 2016. Billingham lives in North London with his wife Claire and their two children. He supports Wolverhampton Wanderers, although his protagonist Thorne supports Tottenham Hotspur. [22] Bibliography [ edit ] a b "Nominations for Theakston's Crime Novel of the year Award 2009". digyorkshire.com. 2 June 2009 . Retrieved 17 June 2009. In Maid Marian and her Merry Men, Billingham played Gary, a dim-but-lovable guard in the employ of the Sheriff of Nottingham ( Tony Robinson), as part of a double-act with Graeme ( David Lloyd). This is the 14th book in the Tom Thorne series by author Mark Billingham. I have read and enjoyed all the previous books in this series so it was a pleasure to read this one. As always the plot was excellent, the characters continue to develop and the overall story well paced.After graduating with a degree in drama from the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts, he helped form a socialist theatre company, Bread & Circuses, in Birmingham. Bread & Circuses toured with shows in schools, colleges, arts centres and the street. [3] In the mid-1980s he moved to London as a "jobbing actor", taking minor roles in episodes of TV shows Dempsey and Makepeace, Juliet Bravo, Boon, and The Bill. [2] [4] After playing a variety of "bad guy roles such as a soccer hooligan, drug addict, a nasty copper, a racist copper or a bent copper", he claimed that he had become disenchanted with acting and that the emphasis was not on talent, but on looks. [3]