Love Like Blood

May 1, 2017
DI Tom Thorne steps on more toes than usual to help out Nicola Tanner, a detective who's supposed to stay even further away from the case at hand than he is.Since Susan Best was nothing more than an inoffensive grade school teacher, Tanner is convinced the two men who squirted bleach into her eyes and stabbed her to death mistook her for Tanner herself, who was the dead woman's flat mate and lover. DCI Russell Brigstocke quite properly refuses to let Tanner work the case, so Tanner asks Thorne to take time out from his million other jobs (Time of Death, 2015, etc.) to look into the matter most likely to have made her new enemies: her work with the Honour Crimes Unit, which investigates the murders of young women whose Westernized behavior might have brought shame to their families. The HCU has focused lately on cold cases, but a hot one obligingly turns up: the murder of Amaya Shah, a Barnet College student found with her missing boyfriend's semen inside her. The activist Asian-English members of the Anti Hate Crime Alliance, Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus alike, bay for the blood of Kamal Azim, but the revelation that the missing boyfriend is actually gay persuades Thorne that the guilt lies elsewhere--perhaps within the ranks of the AHCA itself. To a case that cries out for tact, delicacy, and cross-cultural sensitivity, Thorne brings bulldog tenacity, a gift for reading people, and a determination to devote his every waking moment to its solution, especially after a second attack leaves Tanner's flat in flames. Most readers won't be surprised by the resolution, but very few will predict the unnerving coda. His emphasis on the thorny issues surrounding honor killings allows Billingham (Die of Shame, 2016, etc.) to put a new and urgent spin on his tried-and-true procedural formula.

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May 1, 2017
Billingham brings Detective Inspector Tom Thorne back (after Time of Death, 2015) for the fourteenth time in a team-up with DI Nicola Tanner from last year's stand-alone, Die of Shame. Tanner is on compassionate leave after the brutal murder of her partner, Susan. She fears the death sentence was actually meant for her because of her involvement in the Honour Crimes Unit. Determined to continue her investigations unofficially, she enlists Thorne's assistance. He finds his humanity sorely tested by the total lack of honour involved. Billingham's skillful plotting is everywhere in evidence here, and Thorne remains a compelling character, comparable to Connolly's Bosch and Rankin's Rebus.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2017

Series stalwart Tom Thorne helps DI Nicola Tanner (seen in 2016's Die of Shame) investigate when she loses her partner, Susan, to a brutal murderer Nicola believes was gunning for her. Look for promotion at ALA annual.

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May 15, 2017

London DI Tom Thorne (Time of Death) returns for another absorbing installment in Billingham's gripping police procedural series. Fellow officer Nicola Tanner (Die of Shame) returns, too, as she needs Thorne's contrarian intelligence to help solve a crime. Tanner is on compassionate leave: her partner was brutally murdered in their home, but Tanner believes that she was the actual target. She had recently been investigating links between two contract killers and possible honor killings in the local Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh communities, and is convinced that she was supposed to be the next victim. Her superior officers are skeptical, so she and Thorne pursue their own inquiries. Tensions are high, and when two young people go missing in what looks suspiciously like another honor killing, the stakes are raised substantially. Billingham brings the book to its conclusion with a stunning, surprising twist. VERDICT Superior writing, credible dialog, and creative plotting drive this deftly crafted crime novel. If you haven't encountered DI Tom Thorne yet, this would be an ideal introduction. [See Prepub Alert, 1/8/17; library marketing.]--Penelope J.M. Klein, Fayetteville, NY

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.