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Love Like Blood: A Tom Thorne Novel

Review

Love Like Blood: A Tom Thorne Novel

LOVE LIKE BLOOD brings Mark Billingham’s DIE OF SHAME further into the world of London Detective Inspector Tom Thorne. Fans will recall that, while Thorne played a brief but pivotal part in the prior novel --- ostensibly a stand-alone work --- the focus of the story was upon Detective Inspector Nicola Tanner. LOVE LIKE BLOOD pairs up Tanner with the quirky yet driven Thorne in an investigation that has personal repercussions for Tanner and political implications for both detectives.

This latest Thorne novel opens in the aftermath of DIE OF SHAME. The introduction is chilling, with Tanner’s significant other being brutally attacked and murdered. Tanner, of course, has been disqualified from the investigation into her lover’s death, but also understandably wants to see justice done, particularly since she believes that the killing was a case of mistaken identity. So she approaches Thorne, whose acquaintance she briefly made near the conclusion of DIE OF SHAME, following a murder trial that puts the events of that book to rest.

"Billingham has always been a smart writer, one who delves into the nooks and crannies of the police procedural genre where others don’t think of going, and once again he takes the genre to new heights here with its clever murder hypothesis that is as current as today’s headlines."

Thorne’s reputation precedes him, and Tanner, who is as driven in her own way as Thorne is, sees a kindred spirit in him, and for good reason. Tanner is of the opinion that the killers were after her and believes that she has been targeted as the result of her investigation into a series of honor-related killings that have taken place around London. She wants Thorne to join her in her investigation into these killings while they also engage in an off-the-books investigation into her lover’s murder, believing that solving one case will solve the other.

Tanner also has a theory about the killings, a unique one that is so plausible as to make the reader wonder if it does not have a real-world basis. I’m being deliberately coy as to what it is, given that Billingham reveals the truth of it in the early pages of the book and obviously spent a great deal of care in crafting it. The result, regardless, is a bit of a cat-and-mouse tale, with Thorne and Tanner investigating the murderers who operate with seeming impunity. There are any number of plot and narrative twists and turns as a result.

As always, Thorne strikes a balance between his personal and professional lives as the investigation proceeds, and Tanner...well, her troubles are by no means over at the beginning. The baddies are just getting started as LOVE LIKE BLOOD opens, and nothing gets properly sorted out until near its conclusion. The book ends on a relatively upbeat note, a welcome change for Thorne, who more often than not finds himself physically and emotionally damaged.

LOVE LIKE BLOOD hums along on all six cylinders. Billingham has always been a smart writer, one who delves into the nooks and crannies of the police procedural genre where others don’t think of going, and once again he takes the genre to new heights here with its clever murder hypothesis that is as current as today’s headlines. One is also reminded that Billingham is a fine stand-up comedian. His penchant for one-line, off-the-cuff humor is displayed throughout this book in the most unexpected of places, providing a counterpoint to the grim primary proceedings.

Billingham doesn’t get near the recognition in the United States that he has earned and deserves. Hopefully LOVE LIKE BLOOD will change that.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub on June 30, 2017

Love Like Blood: A Tom Thorne Novel
by Mark Billingham

  • Publication Date: June 19, 2018
  • Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Grove Press
  • ISBN-10: 080212786X
  • ISBN-13: 9780802127860