Time of Death by Mark Billingham

Time of Death by Mark Billingham

The stunning thirteenth Tom Thorne novel, from a writer called one of the most consistently entertaining, insightful crime writers working today by Gillian Flynn

Time of Death is the astonishing thirteenth Tom Thorne novel from British crime master Mark Billingham, whose books have sold more than four million copies worldwide. In Time of Death, he weaves a gripping story of kidnapping, the tabloid press, and a frightening case of mistaken identity.

Reeling from a particularly difficult recent case, Tom Thorne is enjoying a Valentine's Day break with his girlfriend DS Helen Weeks in the picturesque English Cotswolds. But their romantic weekend is disturbed when they hear about an arrest made in Helen's hometown of Polesford, Warwickshire. Two young girl have been abducted, and the town has been overwhelmed by a media storm, the local hotels and pubs brimming over with journalists and police. The prime suspect in the case is the husband of an old school friend of Helen's, and Helen and Tom rush to Polesford to try to find out more. It is Helen's first time back home in twenty-five years, and she finds the town much changed, but old secrets and buried memories are lingering under the surface. As Helen faces up to a past she has tried desperately to forget, Thorne becomes convinced that, despite overwhelming evidence of the man's guilt, the police have got the wrong person. There is an extremely clever killer on the loose and a missing girl who Thorne believes might still be alive.

Brilliantly plotted and intensely gripping, Time of Death is a masterly thriller from one of England's best-loved crime writers and will keep readers guessing until the final page.

Mark Billingham is the author of nine novels, including Sleepyhead, Scaredy Cat, Lazybones, The Burning Girl, Lifeless, and Buried--all Times (London) bestsellers--as well as the stand-alone thriller In the Dark. For the creation of the Tom Thorne character, Billingham received the 2003 Sherlock Award for Best Detective created by a British writer, and he has twice won the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. He has previously worked as an actor and stand-up comedian on British television and still writes regularly for the BBC. He lives in London with his wife and two children.