Book Review: Bloodline by Mark Billingham

Title: Bloodline
Author: Mark Billingham
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Publication Date: July 14, 2011
Hardcover: 352 pages
ISBN: 978-0316126663
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

From the Publisher:

A killer is on the loose. The victims: children whose mothers can’t protect them.

The past is coming back to haunt the people of London: a murderer is targeting the children of victims of Raymond Garvey, an infamous serial killer from London’s past.

When Murder Squad veteran Detective Tom Thorne, who solves the London Police Department’s most difficult cases, is called into what seems like, for once, an ordinary domestic murder, he thinks he’s caught a break. A woman has been murdered by someone she knows. A positive pregnancy test found on the floor beside her. Thorne plans to question the husband, arrest him and return home to deal with his own deteriorating personal life.

But when a mysterious sliver of bloodstained X-ray that was found clutched in the victim’s fist is replicated at other crime scenes around the city, Thorne realizes that this is not a simple case. As the bits of X-ray begin to come together to form a picture, it becomes clear that the killer knows his prey all too well and is moving through a list that was started long ago.

As Thorne attempts to protect those still alive, nothing and nobody are what they seem. Not when Thorne is dealing with one of the most twisted killers he has ever hunted.

My Review:

Bloodline by Mark Billingham is a mystery thriller continuing with the Detective Inspector Tom Thorne series and is not one mystery fans will want to miss.  As a new reader of Billingham’s work, I found the plot and backstory were covered well enough to jump in, in the midst of the series without feeling uninformed.  Through his masterful style and talent in mystery writing, Billingham places DI Thorne on the search for answers in a murder where the victim’s mother was previously a victim of a notorious serial killer, Raymond Garvey.  On several occasions, the story leads the reader to a point where it appears that the case will be cracked, but then Billingham throws in a twist or a turn that sends DI Thorne back a few steps in the hunt for what appears to be another serial killer on the loose.  Readers will be well-poised to read this latest in the series in one sitting thanks to excellent character descriptions, the continued evolution of the character of DI Thorne, who is dealing with his own personal challenges and tragedy, well-placed plot shifts, and, drawing from Billingham’s talent in comedy, some dark and witty humor.  I highly recommend Bloodline to mystery fans and despite it being far along in a well-developed series, it reads well as a standalone; nevertheless, I intend to get caught up on the DI Thorne series after finding Bloodline to be so captivating.

About the Author:

Mark Billingham worked as an actor, a TV writer and a stand-up comedian before becoming one of the most critically acclaimed crime novelists in the world. He lives in North London with his wife and two children.

To learn more about author Mark Billingham and his books, please visit his website.

I received a complimentary arc of Bloodline by Mark Billingham from Mulholland Books. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.