BOOK REVIEW - LOVE LIKE BLOOD, Mark Billingham

It's always a joy to visit with Tom Thorne who makes firm decisions according to his own moral code and does not sweat the consequences of his actions.  Thorne's personal life, now fourteen novels in, has settled into that of (mostly) peaceful cohabitation with his partner Helen and her son.  There is less of Thorne's presence here as he shares the stage with colleague DI Tanner, and Tanner’s personal back story has greater relevance to the events of LOVE LIKE BLOOD.   Thorne still shows us that he has firm personal convictions and plenty to say, but it's a more muted Thorne we encounter in this series entry.

LOVE LIKE BLOOD being the first crime novel that this reviewer has read on this type of murder, it has delivered quite an education.  It beggars belief that this kind of reasoning behind the killing of family members is still considered acceptable by so many, and this is the frustration that the police convey in the novel.  Billingham's author note at conclusion references a real life tragedy that is replicated in this novel, a fictional work.  In different hands this novel could have been a much more bitter piece but the contemporary crime with a very old motive is delivered with Billingham's usual confidence and assurance.  Whilst not being the most fast paced novel in the series, it is one of the more thoughtful and deliberate works.