The more that they look into the reasons for Susan's murder, the clearer it becomes that it could well be linked to a series of open cases, potential honour killings, that Tanner had been working on. Could it be that her enquiries within the local Asian community had ruffled one too many of the wrong feathers. When two young Asian friends go missing after a night out, it becomes clear that this is no straight forward case of families taking revenge. It runs far deeper than that and the consequences of the investigation are potentially lethal. Much less a whodunnit and much more a twisted tale to the full truth of the matter, Tom is pulled into a contrary situation by Nicola Tanner (see Die Of Shame ) who having suffered a horrific personal lost is determined to bring those responsible to justice. Convinced it is tied into a theory she was investigating she hopes Thorne will show his usual disregard for procedure and follow the leads unconsidered in the main investigation. So there we begin.. Billingham has received nominations and awards related to all aspects of his various careers. What's That Noise (which he wrote and presented) won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for "Best Entertainment Programme", [9] while Knight School was nominated for the RTS's "Best Children's Drama" award two years running. 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. Dancing Towards The Blade" in Men From Boys by John Harvey (ed.) ( Arrow Books, September 2004), ISBN 0-09-946152-8

This is a serious topic revolving around the control of women by men who consider that the rules and mores of today's society do not apply to them and more worryingly is that a younger generation of males are learning and adopting the same culture. Fortunately is this story a confession leads to the links in the religious organisations and several arrests. The subject matter, honour killings, is not something I know much about as it is necessarily secretive and a political hot potato, as is made abundantly clear in the novel. Mr Billingham, however, is informative on both the mindset and the politics and does an excellent job of presenting all sides of the argument although some of it is quite distressing. 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. Like many people, I watched the first episode of the TV series Written In Blood in which Simon Toyne interviewed Mark Billingham about the case which inspired his book, Love Like Blood. Now I don’t know anybody who wouldn’t have been moved and indeed horrified by the true story of Banaz Mahmod and the way in which she suffered at the hands of family for the simple act of falling in love with the wrong man. It is something in Western culture that we take for granted – the basic right to love and be loved by those whom we choose not those who are chosen for us. And yet in some cultures, this still remains an impossible dream. To those who disobey or ‘dishonour’ their family, a fate such as that which befell Banaz is sadly far more prevalent than any of us would like to accept. Admonish and scourge. There is a debate here about causation. Maybe it’s just easier (but, in some ways, not easy at all) for an ex-Muslim to make a case against religion than a white guy born Church of England. But what both writers agree on is the fundamentally criminal aspect of “honour”. It conflicts with the basic human right not to have the life squeezed out of you. Billingham’s book, perhaps without intending to, makes Hirsi Ali’s argument for a “reformation” of her own rejected religion all the more cogent.

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Other contributors include: Laura Lippman • Lee Child • John Connolly • Lynda La Plante • John Harvey • Peter Robinson • Fidelis Morgan • Val McDermid • Karin Slaughter• Emma Donoghue• Denise Mina • Kelley Armstrong • Jane Haddam Prior to this book, I had no idea that honour killings existed outside countries like India or Pakistan. So I was horrified upon reading Marks notes at the end of the story, to find that this is a growing problem in The UK. The Burning Girl (Little, Brown & Company, July 2004), ISBN 0-316-72574-9; William Morrow US (June 2005), ISBN 0-06-074526-6

I would like to thank Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance copy of Love Like Blood, the 14th police procedural to feature DI Tom Thorne.

The more that they look into the reasons for Susan’s murder, the clearer it becomes that it could well be linked to a series of open cases, potential honour killings, that Tanner had been working on. Could it be that her enquiries within the local Asian community had ruffled one too many of the wrong feathers. When two young Asian friends go missing after a night out, it becomes clear that this is no straight forward case of families taking revenge. It runs far deeper than that and the consequences of the investigation are potentially lethal. This was fabulous writing and excellent reading and I highly recommend it. I've loved the Thorne books for a long time, and now enjoy the character of Nicola Tanner. The topic definitely will stimulate discussion of this heinous practice and hopefully lead to its termination. Learning the unpleasant differences between crime fact and crime fiction...". Article by Billingham for The Sunday Times. Accessed 10 February 2008. When her domestic partner Susan is brutally murdered, Nicola Tanner is convinced that she was the intended target. The murderer’s motive is likely connected to her recent work on a string of cold case honor killings. Despite being placed on leave, Tanner insists on pursuing justice for Susan—and she turns to fellow DI Tom Thorne for help.

Nuff said about the main plot line. There are plenty of zigs & zags to keep you guessing, especially 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.Lifeless (Little, Brown & Company, May 2005), ISBN 0-316-72752-0; Scorpion Press, June 2005, ISBN 1-873567-70-7; William Morrow US, September 2006, ISBN 0-06-084166-4 Billingham's novel Lazybones won the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2004 and he won the same award in 2009 for his novel Death Message. [10] In The Dark was nominated for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. [18] In 2011, Billingham was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame. Hard-headed yet big-hearted, DS Declan Miller will have you on the edge of your seat—screaming with laughter one moment and surprise the next. Billingham blends caustic humor, raw emotion, and rollercoaster thrills. His new series is bursting with wit, charm and intriguing, complex characters. Save The Last Dance for when you want a fast, fresh, and totally absorbing read.”— Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal

You] worry that you will be entering that world of the strange cliche-ed cop, but you soon realise that you have to get comfortable in that world. You think "Hang on, some of the clichés are part of that territory". It would like writing a Western and going "Oh no I've given him a horse! What a terrible cliché!" It's not a cliché – It's part and parcel of the genre – cowboys have six-guns, horses and stetsons and detectives have [a] past... problems [and] flaws, because if they don't, then there is nothing to read about. [3] 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] 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.In Love Like Blood , DI Tom Thorne, ��the next superstar detective,” teams up with perfectionist DI Nicola Tanner, the protagonist of Billingham’s acclaimed stand-alone thriller Die of Shame (Lee Child). As to the wider state of the crime nation, he detects that the Scandi-crime era may be coming to an end. "And that's probably not a bad thing. One of the downsides has been that it has slightly closed the door to crime fiction in translation from other countries, and there have been fewer Spanish or French or Italian writers published in the UK than there might have been. But in general terms we are, arguably, living through a golden age. Crime is the biggest genre in libraries and in bookshops, and it is hugely varied. From the gentlest reworkings of vicarages and cups of tea right through to things that come pretty close to torture porn. Go to a bookshop in America and there are golf mysteries, cat mysteries, cooking mysteries, cat and cooking mysteries … " What’s a little hard to believe is that Tanner isn’t given more police protection from the start, considering how and why her girlfriend was murdered. The major twist in the plot is a little too easy to foresee as well. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, on the other hand, puts the blame squarely at the door of the religions in question and especially draws attention to the violence against women that she sees inherent and explicit in the Koran. “It specifically mandates unequal and cruel treatment of women,” she wrote in Nomad. “For instance, chapter four, verse 34 instructs men to beat the women from whom they fear possible disobedience.”