Love Like Blood(2017)

Mark Billingham

This riveting novel marks the return of series character Tom Thorne as he pairs up with the perfectionist Detective Inspector Nicola Tanner on an investigation that ventures into politically sensitive territory. Tanner needs help. Her partner Susan has been brutally murdered, and Tanner is convinced that it was a case of mistaken identity and that she was the real target. The murderer's motive might have something to do with her recent work on a string of cold-case honour killings she believes to be related. She is now on compassionate leave but insists on pursuing the case off the books, and knows Thorne is just the man to jump into the fire with her. He agrees but quickly finds that working in such controversial territory is dangerous in more ways than one. When a teenage couple disappear off the subway, Thorne and Tanner have a chance to investigate a case that is anything but cold. As ever Billingham blends humanity, dimension and excitement in his crime fiction.