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BURIED
Written by
MARK BILLINGHAM

Luke Mullen, sixteen year old son of a former, high-ranking police officer has disappeared, presumed kidnapped. While nobody quite dares to voice the fear that he could also be presumed dead, Detective Inspector Tom Thorne is brought in to beef up the squad dedicated to locating the missing boy. The first thing the team looks for is anyone with a grudge against Luke's father, a man who'd put a lot of tough villains away in his time. A list quickly emerges, but Thorne discovers that ex-DCI Tony Mullen has omitted the name of the most obvious suspect; a man who'd once threatened him and his family, and who, after serving time for his original crime, is now the main suspect in a murder which has been unsolved for four years. Is this a simple oversight - understandable considering the trauma of his son's disappearance? Aware that he does not have the luxury of time, Thorne searches desperately for connections and leads, but learns that secrets are as easily buried as bodies.

Sometimes, when an author become mega-successful, they can become guilty of “box-ticking”. Not so Mark Billingham and here, again, he has delivered a gem of a book that is guaranteed to sweep the reader away from the moment its first page is opened, with its descriptive essence and quick-fire dialogue as compelling as they have ever been. Yet there is nothing easily given. The reader needs to work alongside the author to establish the characters for themselves and, so, makes Thorne, his colleagues and his enemies as individual and original as they come.

Tight, authentic and, at times, shocking, Buried is a true feast for all those who feed gratefully from the table of crime, Mark Billingham’s Tom Thorne is surely the heir to the throne of British Crime Fiction once Rebus retires.
9/10

www.markbillingham.com

Order this book online - Linghams Booksellers

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