Tom Thorne
15 primary works • 19 total works
Book 2
The second book in the Tom Thorne series from bestselling author Mark Billingham, Scaredy Cat is a gripping, chilling tour-de-force; a book to keep you reading until deep into the night.
'Assured and shocking' Guardian
It was a vicious, calculated murder. The killer selected his victim at Euston station, followed her home on the tube, strangled her to death in front of her child. At the same time, killed in the same way, a second body is discovered at the back of King's Cross station. And this grisly event eerily echoes the murder of two other women, stabbed to death months before on the same day.
It is DI Tom Thorne who sees the link and comes to the horrifying conclusion. This is not a serial killer the police are up against.
This is two of them - and two killers are way more deadly than one . . .
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Read what everyone's saying about the heart-racing Tom Thorne series:
'Literary superstar' Mail on Sunday
'Ingenious' Guardian
'Ground-breaking' Sunday Times
'Mark Billingham gets better and better' Michael Connelly
'A cracking read . . . I couldn't put it down!' Shari Lapena
'A damn fine storyteller' Karin Slaughter
'Twisted and twisty' Linwood Barclay
'One of the most consistently entertaining, insightful crime writers working today' Gillian Flynn
'The next superstar detective is already with us. Don't miss him' Lee Child
Book 3
Winner of the Crime Novel of the Year, Lazybones is the third novel in the bestselling Tom Thorne series, a shocking, unputdownable novel from the master of psychological thrills.
'Never loosens its grip on your throat' Daily Mail
It's only ten days since Douglas Remfry's release from prison, having served seven years for rape, and now he's dead: naked on a bare mattress in a grubby north London hotel room, his head hooded and his hands tied with a brown leather belt.
Someone knew he was coming out. Someone wanted to mete out some punishment of his own.
And when a second sex offender is found dead, DI Tom Thorne knows he has a vicious, calculating vigilante on his hands...
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Read what everyone's saying about the heart-racing Tom Thorne series:
'Literary superstar' Mail on Sunday
'Ingenious' Guardian
'Ground-breaking' Sunday Times
'Mark Billingham gets better and better' Michael Connelly
'A cracking read . . . I couldn't put it down!' Shari Lapena
'A damn fine storyteller' Karin Slaughter
'Twisted and twisty' Linwood Barclay
'One of the most consistently entertaining, insightful crime writers working today' Gillian Flynn
'The next superstar detective is already with us. Don't miss him' Lee Child
Book 4
The fourth book in the Tom Thorne series, from bestselling author Mark Billingham.
A MAN WHO KILLS FOR MONEY
X marks the spot - and when that spot is a corpse's naked back and the X is carved in blood, DI Tom Thorne is in no doubt that the dead man is the latest victim of a particularly vicious killer.
A BRUTAL VENDETTA
This is brutal turf warfare between north London gangs. Organised crime boss Billy Ryan is moving into someone else's patch, and that someone is not best pleased.
A COP WHO IS PLAYING WITH FIRE
And when an X is carved on DI Tom Thorne's front door, he knows the smouldering embers of this case are about to erupt into flames...
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Read what everyone's saying about the heart-racing Tom Thorne series:
'Literary superstar' Mail on Sunday
'Ingenious' Guardian
'Ground-breaking' Sunday Times
'Mark Billingham gets better and better' Michael Connelly
'A cracking read . . . I couldn't put it down!' Shari Lapena
'A damn fine storyteller' Karin Slaughter
'Twisted and twisty' Linwood Barclay
'One of the most consistently entertaining, insightful crime writers working today' Gillian Flynn
'The next superstar detective is already with us. Don't miss him' Lee Child
Book 5
The fifth book in the Tom Thorne series, from bestselling author Mark Billingham.
A SERIES OF KILLINGS
Three men, sleeping rough on London's mean streets, have been found brutally murdered - each victim kicked to death and found with a £20 note pinned to his chest. But were they killed at random, or were they targeted for a reason?
A DEADLY MISSION
Tom Thorne is posted to the same streets - working undercover, disguised as a homeless man. In a harsh and harrowing underworld, Thorne discovers the horrifying link between the homeless victims and the perpetrators of a fifteen-year-old atrocity.
A RUTHLESS ENEMY
Those who know are keeping quiet. But the word on these streets is that the killer is a cop...
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Read what everyone's saying about the heart-racing Tom Thorne series:
'Literary superstar' Mail on Sunday
'Ingenious' Guardian
'Ground-breaking' Sunday Times
'Mark Billingham gets better and better' Michael Connelly
'A cracking read . . . I couldn't put it down!' Shari Lapena
'A damn fine storyteller' Karin Slaughter
'Twisted and twisty' Linwood Barclay
'One of the most consistently entertaining, insightful crime writers working today' Gillian Flynn
'The next superstar detective is already with us. Don't miss him' Lee Child
Book 6
The sixth book in the Tom Thorne series, from bestselling author Mark Billingham.
A MISSING BOY
Teenager Luke Mullen was last seen getting into a car with an older woman. No one can understand why he has disappeared. His father - a former police officer - knows all too well that the longer he is missing, the more likely he is to turn up dead.
A TERRIFYING VIDEO
Then Luke's parents receive an anonymous video. It shows their son, eyes wide with terror, as a man advances towards him holding a syringe.
A RACE AGAINST TIME
DI Tom Thorne recognises a psychopath when he sees one. And the scene on the tape chills him to the bone - he knows that a child's life hangs in the balance, and that every minute counts...
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Read what everyone's saying about the heart-racing Tom Thorne series:
'Literary superstar' Mail on Sunday
'Ingenious' Guardian
'Ground-breaking' Sunday Times
'Mark Billingham gets better and better' Michael Connelly
'A cracking read . . . I couldn't put it down!' Shari Lapena
'A damn fine storyteller' Karin Slaughter
'Twisted and twisty' Linwood Barclay
'One of the most consistently entertaining, insightful crime writers working today' Gillian Flynn
'The next superstar detective is already with us. Don't miss him' Lee Child
Book 7
The seventh book in the Tom Thorne series, from bestselling author Mark Billingham.
THE MESSAGE
DI Tom Thorne has seen plenty of dead bodies in his time. But when he starts receiving sick photos of murder victims on his mobile phone, he soon realises that the next body could be his.
THE KILLER
And even when the man who has been sending the photos is tracked down, the deadly threat remains, For some, the case is all but closed, but Thorne's nightmare is just beginning.
THE TWIST
Because someone else is masterminding the death messages. The most vicious psychopath Thorne has ever faced is able to manipulate others even behind bars, and time has only deepened the deadly grudge he has against the policeman who put him away...
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The outstanding new Tom Thorne thriller, THEIR LITTLE SECRET, is out now!
Book 9
The ninth book in the Tom Thorne series, from bestselling author Mark Billingham.
It has been a decade since Alan Langford's charred remains were discovered in his burnt-out car. His wife Donna was found guilty of conspiracy to murder her husband and served ten years in prison.
But just before she is released, Donna receives a nasty shock: an anonymous letter containing a photo of her husband. The man she hates with every fibre of her being - the man she paid to have murdered - seems very much alive and well.
How is it possible that her husband is still alive? Where is he? Who sent the photo, and why?
DI Tom Thorne becomes involved in a case where nothing and no one are what they seem. It will take him much further from his London beat than he has ever been before - and closer to a killer who will do anything to protect his new life.
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The outstanding new Tom Thorne thriller, THEIR LITTLE SECRET, is out now!
Book 10
Book 11
The eleventh book in the Tom Thorne series, from bestselling author Mark Billingham.
'Expertly crafted, with a slam-dunk ending. The Dying Hours is a terrific read' Guardian
A cluster of suicides among the elderly. Such things are not unknown to the police and the deaths are quickly dismissed by the police as routine. Only one man is convinced that something more sinister is taking place.
However, no one listens to Tom Thorne anymore. Having stepped out of line once too often, he's back in uniform and he hates it. Patronised and abused by his new colleagues, Thorne's suspicions about the suicides are dismissed by the Murder Squad he was once part of and he is forced to investigate alone.
Unable to trust anyone, Thorne must risk losing those closest to him. He must gamble with the lives of those targeted by a killer unlike any he has hunted before. A man with nothing to lose and a growing list of victims. A man with the power to make people take their own lives.
Tom Thorne returns in Billingham's most compelling thriller to date - The Dying Hours is a haunting portrait of London's dark heart, and the darker heart of a twisted killer bringing terror to its streets.
'One of the great series of British crime fiction' The Times
'Billingham is a world-class writer' Karin Slaughter
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The outstanding new Tom Thorne thriller, THEIR LITTLE SECRET, is out now!
Book 12
The Deal
Tom Thorne is back in charge - but there's a terrifying price to pay. Stuart Nicklin, the most dangerous psychopath he has ever put behind bars, promises to reveal the whereabouts of a body he buried twenty-five years before. But only if Thorne agrees to escort him.
The Danger
Unable to refuse, Thorne gathers a team and travels to a remote Welsh island, at the mercy of the weather and cut off from the mainland. Thorne is determined to get the job done and return home before Nicklin can outwit them.
The Deaths
But Nicklin knows this island well and has had time to plan ahead. Soon, new bodies are added to the old, and Thorne finds himself facing the toughest decision he has ever had to make...
Tom Thorne returns in this utterly gripping, brilliantly plotted thriller. The Bones Beneath is Mark Billingham's most ambitious and accomplished work to date.
Book 13
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.
Book 14
DI Nicola Tanner needs Tom Thorne's help. Her partner, Susan, has been brutally murdered and Tanner is convinced that it was a case of mistaken identity--that she was the real target. The murderer's motive might have something to do with Tanner's recent work on a string of cold-case honor killings she believes to be related. Tanner is now on compassionate leave but insists on pursuing the case off the books and knows Thorne is just the man to jump into the fire with her. He agrees but quickly finds that working in such controversial territory is dangerous in more ways than one. And when a young couple goes missing, they have a chance to investigate a case that is anything but cold.
Racing towards a twist-filled ending, Love Like Blood is another feat of masterful plotting from one of Britain's top crime novelists.
Book 15
Two distinctive killers, two detectives with distinctly different styles--Thorne and Tanner again end up joining forces in the new thriller from internationally bestselling author Mark Billingham
From "one of the most consistently entertaining, insightful crime writers working today" (Gillian Flynn), The Killing Habit again brings together favorite wild-card detective Tom Thorne and straight-laced DI Nicola Tanner on a pair of lethally high-stakes cases.
While DI Nicola Tanner investigates the deadly spread of a dangerous new drug, Tom Thorne is handed a case that he doesn't take too seriously, until a spate of animal killings points to the work of a serial killer. When the two cases come together in a way that neither could have foreseen, both Thorne and Tanner must risk everything to catch two very different killers.
Book 16
In the latest novel by internationally bestselling crime master Mark Billingham featuring Tom Thorne, "the next superstar detective" (Lee Child), a seemingly straightforward suicide turns into a chilling story of obsession, deception, and murder.
When DI Tom Thorne is called to conduct a routine assessment at the site of a suicide, he expects to be in and out in no time. But when he arrives at the metro station, where a woman named Philippa Goodwin threw herself in front of an underground train, Thorne inexplicably senses something awry and feels compelled to dig deeper. He soon discovers that she was the victim of a callous con-man who preys on vulnerable women, and whose deception plunged Philippa to her end. Thorne enlists DI Nicola Tanner to help him track down the swindler and bring him to justice. But the detective duo gets more than they bargained for when a young man's bludgeoned body turns up on the shore of a nearby seaside town. The two cases come together in a way that neither of the detectives could have foreseen.
Book 17
'One of the great series of British crime fiction' --- THE TIMES
'Cry Baby is the perfect prequel to send us back to revel in Tom Thorne's twenty years. As if we needed reminding how good Mark Billingham is' --- VAL MCDERMID
It's 1996. Detective Sergeant Tom Thorne is a haunted man. Haunted by the moment he ignored his instinct about a suspect, by the horrific crime that followed and by the memories that come day and night, in sunshine and shadow.
So when seven-year-old Kieron Coyne goes missing while playing in the woods with his best friend, Thorne vows he will not make the same mistake again. Cannot.
The solitary witness. The strange neighbour. The friendly teacher. All are in Thorne's sights.
This case will be the making of him . . . or the breaking.
The gripping prequel to Mark Billingham's acclaimed debut, Sleepyhead, Cry Baby is the shocking first case for one of British crime fiction's most iconic detectives.
'Tom Thorne is one of the most credible and engaging heroes in contemporary crime fiction. Mark Billingham is a master of psychology, plotting and the contemporary scene - making the Thorne novels the complete package. Twenty years in and better than ever'
IAN RANKIN
'Mark Billingham is one the biggest names in crime fiction and one the genre's most formidable talents'
PETER JAMES
'Billingham is always a must read'
HARLAN COBEN
A stunning 20th anniversary paperback edition of the groundbreaking first Tom Thorne novel, a case that changed crime fiction forever . . .
Alison Willetts has survived a stroke, deliberately induced by a skilful manipulation of pressure points on the head and neck. She can see, hear and feel but she is completely unable to move or communicate. In leaving Alison Willetts alive, the police believe the killer's made his first mistake.
Then DI Tom Thorne discovers the horrifying truth: it isn't Alison who is the mistake, it's the three women already dead.
Thorne must find a killer whose agenda is disturbingly unique, and Alison, the one person who holds the key to the killer's identity, is unable to say anything . . .
'One of my favourite authors'
Harlan Coben
'A terrifically stylish debut novel'
Independent on Sunday
'The next superstar detective'
Lee Child
The eighth book in the Tom Thorne series, from bestselling author Mark Billingham.
When a dead body is found in a North London flat, it seems like a straightforward domestic murder until a bloodstained sliver of X-ray is found clutched in the dead woman's fist - and it quickly becomes clear that this case is anything but ordinary. DI Thorne discovers that the victim's mother had herself been murdered fifteen years before by infamous serial killer Raymond Garvey. The hunt to catch Garvey was one of the biggest in the history of the Met, and ended with seven women dead.
When more bodies and more fragments of X-ray are discovered, Thorne has a macabre jigsaw to piece together until the horrifying picture finally emerges. A killer is targeting the children of Raymond Garvey's victims. Thorne must move quickly to protect those still on the murderer's list, but nothing and nobody are what they seem. Not when Thorne is dealing with one of the most twisted killers he has ever hunted...
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The outstanding new Tom Thorne thriller, THEIR LITTLE SECRET, is out now!
The tenth book in the Tom Thorne series, from bestselling author Mark Billingham.
'Billingham's most desperately gripping read yet' Daily Mirror
Police officer Helen Weeks walks into her local newsagents on her way to work. It's the last place she expects to be met with violence, but she is about to come face to face with a gunman.
The hostage-taker is desperate to know what happened to his beloved son, who died a year before in youth custody. By holding Helen at gunpoint, he will force a re-investigation into his son's death. And one man knows the case better than any other - DI Tom Thorne.
As the body count rises, Thorne must race against time to bring a killer to justice and save a young mother's life.
Taking place over three action-packed days, this is the fastest and most surprising Thorne thriller yet from Sunday Times bestseller Mark Billingham.
'One of the great series of British crime fiction' The Times
'A new Mark Billingham is always a treat' Susie Steiner
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The outstanding new Tom Thorne thriller, THEIR LITTLE SECRET, is out now!
"Three dead coppers, Tom, maybe four by lunchtime."
The targeted murder of four officers is only the first in a series of attacks that leaves police scared, angry and, most disturbingly of all, vengeful.
As Tom Thorne and Nicola Tanner dig into the reasons for the violence, a deeper darkness begins to emerge: the possibility that these murders are payback. The price paid for an unspeakable betrayal.
To uncover the truth, Thorne will be forced to question everything he stands for. He can trust nobody, and the shocking secrets revealed by one terrible night will fracture his entire world.