Time of Death

I've always liked Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne novels. It wasn't until i got to the previous book in the series, where Thorne is stuck on an island with the tiresome Nicklin character, that i felt the quality was starting to drop and the book was too slow and full of padding .Unfortunately this continued in this book. For the first 500 pages almost nothing interesting happens and the book is full of boring padding and too much detail about what the characters are having for dinner and stuff like that. Then at the conclusion its all wrapped up very quickly and felt very flat and unexciting. This book could have had at least 200 pages of pointless material cut, what was the point of the endless Linda and her kids stuff which went no where and added nothing to the story?The other problem i had is that i don't like Thorne's dreary girlfriend Helen Weeks. This character has the personality of a dead trout and just seems miserable and cranky all the time. Nothing fun about their relationship. I didn't like her assault on a teenage boy who had spat at her. As bad as what he had done was she should have found a better way to deal with it, its hardly profession behaviouri do hope things improve as there are another 3 books and another one coming out soon and i plan to read them too to see if things pick up again. If they don't then maybe Billingham's Tom Thorne series has simply run out of steam and he might need to think about calling it a day. But i will read the next book with an open mind and think positive about it.

What can you say? Another Mark Billingham epic - as ever, human, gripping, believeable with underlying twists and turns - the kind of book you love to be repelled by - well written and well researched - discovered him a few months ago and read nearly every book now - once I open cover, I'm in another world - one of the best and most consistent writers I have ever read - usually has a deep dark psychological subplot with crime investigation on top and the interplay of the two mean that you never work out who dunnit til the final paragraph - can highly recommend not just the writer and this book but every one of his books - not one that hasn;t had same power and can't wait to find another book...usually good thick books as well so excellent value for money but not for the faint hearted - I really enjoy these books and whenever I want to relax into a gutsy plot, these would be my choice - well done Mark, another brilliant book - more pl aap!! Squirrel 59 - 23.2.17

I gave this book two stars because it took some skill to write 434 pages where NOTHING HAPPENS!!!! I like to buy hardbacks of the authors I like because I think that if they have gone to the trouble of writing a book they should get the proper commission. However, I certainly didn't get my moneys' worth here. As if the tediousness of the narrative wasn't bad enough, to throw in a cliched abuse story at the end was the final straw. Sorry Mark, it will be from a charity shop if I ever buy another of your novels.

Having read other books by this author - saw this. Great price so ordered it. Delivery was spot on. Packaging excellent.Not read it yet but looking forward to a good read. Thank you.

I usually love Mark Billingham but this is disappointing. New characters poke their way in for apparently no really good reason. Story seems totally unbelievable - why would a police officer from one area poke their nose in and be accepted? It is sad when I just want to get a book finished and out of the way because it is not enjoyable. I hope there is better to come from Mark Billingham.