Blurb:

The seventh book in the Tom Thorne series, from bestselling author Mark Billingham.

THE MESSAGE
DI Tom Thorne has seen plenty of dead bodies in his time. But when he starts receiving sick photos of murder victims on his mobile phone, he soon realises that the next body could be his.

THE KILLER
And even when the man who has been sending the photos is tracked down, the deadly threat remains, For some, the case is all but closed, but Thorne’s nightmare is just beginning.

THE TWIST
Because someone else is masterminding the death messages. The most vicious psychopath Thorne has ever faced is able to manipulate others even behind bars, and time has only deepened the deadly grudge he has against the policeman who put him away…

Review:

If you were in any doubt about how far behind I am with this series, the investigation in Death Message involves MMS messages and flip phones. That’s not the author’s fault, of course, and I was delighted to be back in the company of Tom Thorne and his colleagues. He remains the determined detective who sometimes goes slightly off-piste and I love his dark humour.

There are a few different strands to Death Message and I enjoyed following them all. The procedural aspect of the novel is well researched and I was intrigued by how the different strands would come together. It’s really well plotted and I particularly appreciated the references to previous novels in the series, which strengthen the overall story arc. It does mean that Death Message can’t be read as a standalone and I would recommend reading the other novels in the series first.

As the story gathers pace, the tension drew me in even further and I was on the edge of my seat. There were definitely some turns I didn’t expect and I really enjoyed the ride!

I definitely won’t wait so long before catching up further!

Death Message is available from Amazon.