Love Like Blood (Tom Thorne Novels)

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In Maid Marian and her Merry Men, Billingham played Gary, a dim-but-lovable guard in the employ of the Sheriff of Nottingham ( Tony Robinson), as part of a double-act with Graeme ( David Lloyd). Lifeless (Little, Brown & Company, May 2005), ISBN 0-316-72752-0; Scorpion Press, June 2005, ISBN 1-873567-70-7; William Morrow US, September 2006, ISBN 0-06-084166-4 As always I cannot fault a Mark Billingham book. His characters are old friends and the places Tom Thorne and his cohorts frequent are as known to me as if I had actually been there The Burning Girl (Little, Brown & Company, July 2004), ISBN 0-316-72574-9; William Morrow US (June 2005), ISBN 0-06-074526-6 The more that they look into the reasons for Susan's murder, the clearer it becomes that it could well be linked to a series of open cases, potential honour killings, that Tanner had been working on. Could it be that her enquiries within the local Asian community had ruffled one too many of the wrong feathers. When two young Asian friends go missing after a night out, it becomes clear that this is no straight forward case of families taking revenge. It runs far deeper than that and the consequences of the investigation are potentially lethal.

DI Nicola Tanner is convinced her partner’s murder was a case of mistaken identity & she was the real target. Tanner has a theory about some recent honour killings in London. It’s a sensitive subject & she hasn’t exactly endeared herself to members of the religious communities involved. Billingham's detective character Inspector Tom Thorne first appeared in his 2001 debut novel Sleepyhead. The character has since appeared in the majority of his works, except In the Dark, Rush of Blood, and Die of Shame (May 2016), in which Thorne has minor roles. Billingham claims to have imbued Thorne with many of his own characteristics, such as a birthday, a locale (London), and a "love of country music both alt and cheesy". [3] [11] This was fabulous writing and excellent reading and I highly recommend it. I've loved the Thorne books for a long time, and now enjoy the character of Nicola Tanner. The topic definitely will stimulate discussion of this heinous practice and hopefully lead to its termination. The subject matter, honour killings, is not something I know much about as it is necessarily secretive and a political hot potato, as is made abundantly clear in the novel. Mr Billingham, however, is informative on both the mindset and the politics and does an excellent job of presenting all sides of the argument although some of it is quite distressing. The author’s rage, together with his skill as a crime writer, makes this a gripping and genuinely tragic story.Billingham's skillful plotting is everywhere in evidence here, and Thorne remains a compelling character, comparable to Connelly's Bosch and Rankin's Rebus." — Booklist Dancing Towards The Blade" in Men From Boys by John Harvey (ed.) ( Arrow Books, September 2004), ISBN 0-09-946152-8

A novel that probes the phenomenon of honor killings and casts doubt on the work of the Metropolitan Police's Honor Crimes Unit." — New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice And then Thorne decides to play judge, jury and executioner himself in the most pathetic and unbelievable confession. The novel opens with Tom Thorne bumping into DI Nicola Tanner whom he worked with in Die Of Shame. Nicola is grieving for her partner, Susan, who was murdered a couple of weeks earlier and is on compassionate leave. She is obviously excluded from the investigation which she believes was a case of mistaken identity linked to her investigation into contract honour killers and she wants Tom to help her in an unofficial investigation. The general theme of Scaredy Cat is really the power of fear, and that fear is a very powerful weapon, and if you are prepared to instil it, you have a very powerful weapon that is every bit as dangerous as a gun or a knife. Also what happened to me in that hotel room fed directly into a sub-plot in Scaredy Cat with some very nasty crimes carried out in hotel rooms. [3] Television adaptations [ edit ] From an early age, Billingham wrote often "funny" stories for popularity and enjoyment. As his interests moved towards crime fiction, he set an early novel (the unpublished The Mechanic) in his native Birmingham. Inspired by the comic-crime work of Carl Hiaasen and other authors, he attempted to use his experience as a stand-up comedian and crime fan to write a similarly comic novel. [2] Ultimately he abandoned the unfinished novel and the comic-crime genre to focus on another book that would become Sleepyhead.The idea of honour killings - be it for love or some other inferred shame - is the central premise of this book. Mark Billingham has not tried to retell Banaz's story. As he has said himself that is not his story to tell. But her story has most certainly inspired a book which becomes somewhat of a moral dilemma in the making. At the heart of this novel is real life horror dressed up here as a form of entertainment, art even. Should we really say that we enjoy it? Maybe, maybe not. However Billingham has found a near perfect balance, blending Thorne's irresistible charm, an element of humour and the day to day mundane realities of family life, with an overwhelmingly depressing set of statistics and a case which puts the lives of Thorne's friends and colleagues at risk. This is not a case of preaching the horrors of honour killings, although they are clearly outlined here, but it is also more than mere entertainment. Billingham skilfully gets his distaste at the subject across to the reader through Thorne's reactions, while still leaving them the scope to make their own minds up about what has occurred. Honor-based violence is a scourge in Britain, where the Crown Prosecution Service estimates that the 12 or so honor killings reported each year are only a fraction of the true number committed . . . In Love Like Blood, Mark Billingham puts human faces on one such case . . . Although 'dishonored' male relatives are prime suspects in most cases of punitive violence, squeamish families often prefer to shop the job to a middleman with access to professional hit men'thugs like Muldoon and Riaz, who collaborate efficiently but whose cultural clashes can be morbidly funny." —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review What’s a little hard to believe is that Tanner isn’t given more police protection from the start, considering how and why her girlfriend was murdered. The major twist in the plot is a little too easy to foresee as well. This is an important novel, as well as a thriller with all Billingham’s characteristic wit and perception.

Prior to this book, I had no idea that honour killings existed outside countries like India or Pakistan. So I was horrified upon reading Marks notes at the end of the story, to find that this is a growing problem in The UK. If you can kill your own flesh and blood because something they've done means you don't think you can hold your head up in a temple or in some poxy neighbourhood cafe...Jesus, I think I understand serial killers better than that."What I love generally speaking is the way this author brings a strong emotional core to the centre of all the stories he writes – the ongoing interpersonal relationships (I’m the biggest fan of Phil you will find) are always layered beautifully into each individual plot, whilst the supporting cast are given just as much depth. The writing is always immersive and completely addictive – as a reader you genuinely live with these people for a while. No different with Love Like Blood which I read fast, often angrily, the best reads are the ones that grip you by the heartstrings, not letting go and send you through a gamut of emotions as you head towards the finale. And this finale had me clutching my hair. Other contributors include: Laura Lippman • Lee Child • John Connolly • Lynda La Plante • John Harvey • Peter Robinson • Fidelis Morgan • Val McDermid • Karin Slaughter• Emma Donoghue• Denise Mina • Kelley Armstrong • Jane Haddam A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural whose heroine, a deft mix of compassion and attitude, would be welcome to return and tie up the gaping loose end Box leaves. The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read. Billingham has received nominations and awards related to all aspects of his various careers. What's That Noise (which he wrote and presented) won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for "Best Entertainment Programme", [9] while Knight School was nominated for the RTS's "Best Children's Drama" award two years running. Every religion is an alibi for regulating and controlling the sexuality of women. But as regards, specifically, the phenomenon of honour killing, the three religions which are most culpable are Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism. Honour, said Shakespeare’s Falstaff, is “air”. Now it means something like the defence of male entitlement, at all costs. Billingham tries to distinguish between the religion, which he respects, and the crime, which he abhors. He argues that honour killing is “a cultural thing not a religious thing – it comes out of South Asia.” He has a believer, in the novel, making the case that the true religion is really all about peace: “Do not harm yourselves or others”, quoth the Prophet.