Time of Death (Tom Thorne Novels)

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Needless to say I loved it and will be reacquainting myself with DI Thorne's escapades very soon. Thank you Mark for reminding me what I've been missing!! I read the first few books in the Tom Thorne series but lost touch with the series several years ago. While there is clearly a running story arc over Tom's relationship with Helen, this book works perfectly well as a standalone. Past cases are referred to but not in a way that affects the understanding of the plot of this book. Meanwhile, a teenage girl is held captive in a small room, knowing that her death is approaching, even as a person close to Thorne’s investigation unwittingly holds the key to her whereabouts. Thorne obtains some unexpected but very welcome help from an unlikely source, and slowly closes in on the remaining missing girl and the killer. Time, however, is running out. Time of Death sees Thorne and Weeks setting off on a romantic break to the Cotswolds only for Weeks to see the partner of her best friend from school being arrested for the abduction of two teenage girls.Weeks wants to return to her childhood home to support her former best friend and drags Thorne along. Ever the policeman, Thorne feels something's amiss and makes a nuisance of himself with the investigation team. But they don't want help from the big metropolitan detective. To sum up, a standard serial killer police procedural, quite well-written, slow in places, with lots of swearing, a bit of angst, the obligatory child abuse angle, and some gratuitous and silly police brutality. Same old, same old... 2½ stars for me, so rounded up.

Mark Billingham performs this book and how. I was gripped from the beginning, I was up all last night feeling emotionally wrenched around by the rollercoaster ending. I read and listen to so many thrillers that I'm amazed that I didn't see plot twists coming - I don't know if that was due to me be being so emotionally caught up in a harrowing story that seemed all to real. The pace and switching of narrative voices seemed just right to me - I wanted to know what was going on with each set of people and was worried about the other characters who were out of the action in the moment. Despite having no official roll to play, Thorne investigates on his own and becomes convinced that, despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt, the police have got the wrong man. There is still an extremely clever and killer on the loose and a missing girl who Thorne believes might still be alive. Always heart stoppingly addictive, I read this fast - when it comes to Crime Fiction Mr Billingham really is at the top of his game, each novel bringing something a little different and for such a long running series it maintains a fresh new feel each time. Not that easy to pull off but seemingly effortless in this case. Douglas, Joanne (11 July 2017). "Meet the characters of BBC One drama 'In The Dark' - which was filmed in Marsden". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Emma Fryer as Linda Bates, the wife of Stephen Bates who is the main suspect in the abduction of two young girls. [5]

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This is more of a slow burn than the last instalment (which left me only slightly less traumatized than Tom & Phil). When Thorne's partner Helen goes home to support a childhood friend, he tags along. There's a serious criminal investigation underway involving the friend's husband & Tom has no jurisdiction. But every instinct tells him the local cops have the wrong guy & with nothing but time on his hands, he starts to nose around. Douglas, Joanne (4 July 2017). "Watch: BBC release trailer for hit new drama In The Dark filmed in Marsden which starts next week". Huddersfield Daily Examiner.

Hogan, Michael (11 July 2017). "In the Dark is taut thriller with a credible cop-with-a-conscience heroine - review". The Telegraph. She doesn't know who she is, or where she is, or how long she's been there. She knows only that, whatever is coming, she's ready for the end."Unusually for a crime novel this book is as much about what happens to the family of a suspect when they are arrested as it is about the victims as well as the who, how and why element, and I really enjoyed it. Linda has two teenage children, trapped in an unfamiliar house while their own is combed by the scenes of crime officers, the tension between them all is palpable especially as they are being ‘looked after’ by the police and gawped at by the press camped outside the door. It takes a true story-teller to manage a disparate group of characters and maintain some of the most authentic dialogue I’ve read in quite some time.

This was an odd one - I have read most of the preceding DCI Thorne novels, and have (mainly) enjoyed them very much, but this felt a little less enjoyable than I remember the others. Perhaps this far into a series Mark Billingham is keen not to just repeat the same London-based police procedural themes which earlier books have had, and perhaps he knows many of his readers have invested in his characters... but for me this had a little too much 'soap opera' and a slightly contrived setting. In the small town of Polesford, Helen tries to re-establish some kind of rapport with someone she hasn’t seen for half a lifetime. Thorne, meanwhile, is drawn into the incident room where the disappearance of the two local teenage girls is being investigated. It doesn’t take him too long to outstay his welcome, particularly when he queries the conclusions that the local force jump to when a decomposing body is found in woodland – an area well frequented by dog-walkers.a b c d Percival, Ash (11 July 2017). " 'In The Dark' Cast: Here's Where You've Seen The Stars Of The BBC's Latest Drama Before". HuffPost UK. The Daily Telegraph 's Michael Hogan gave the first episode three stars out of five, noting that: " In the Dark did show promise and could yet come good. It was taut and tensely atmospheric with an intriguing premise which found its heroine caught in the middle between police and prime suspect." [10]

Having found questionable material on Bates’ computer, and clear DNA linking him to the corpse, the local police are convinced that they have their man. Despite having to field calls from his boss in London telling him to keep his nose out, Thorne senses that the body found in the woods is not the trump card that ends this particular game. As he tries to square the circle, Helen tries to console Linda Bates, who is in a safe house with her two teenage children while investigators search her home more forensic evidence that will slam Steve Bates’ cell door firmly shut.Ben Batt as DI Paul Hopkins, Helen's partner and fellow detective in the Greater Manchester Police. [5]