Winner of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2009. The first message sent to Tom Thorne's phone was just a picture - the blurred image of a man's face, but Thorne had seen enough dead bodies to know that the man was no longer alive. But who was he? Who sent the photograph? And why?
While the technical experts attempt to trace the sender, Thorne searches the bulletins for a reported death that matches the photograph. Then another picture arrives. Another dead man....
It is the identities of the murdered men which give Thorne his first clue, a link to a dangerous killer he'd put away years before. Now Tom Thorne must face one of the toughest challenges of his career, knowing that there is no killer more dangerous than one who has nothing left to lose.
©2007 Mark Billingham (P)2008 WF Howes Ltd
"Good but a confusing number of characters"
As with Mark Billingham's other Tom Thorne novels this is a well-crafted story following all the ups and downs of criminal investigations. There are two investigations running in parallel, which, for me, led to confusion over who was whom and which story-line they were in as there are so many character names to keep track of. Some books are better in written form rather than audio. I think this is one of those books.
The reader is very good.