TOM THORNE IS BACK . . . AND SO IS HIS WORST NIGHTMARE

A gripping, grisly read. Mark Billingham is a terrific crime writer' ----- ANTHONY HOROWITZ


Tom Thorne has it all.

In Nicola Tanner and Phil Hendricks, Thorne has good friends by his side. He finally has a love life worth a damn and is happy in the job to which he has devoted his life...

He has everything to lose.

Hunting the woman responsible for a series of grisly murders, Thorne has no way of knowing that he will be plunged into a nightmare from which he may never wake.

And he'll do anything to keep it.

Finally, Thorne's past has caught up with him and a ruinous secret is about to be revealed. If he wants to save himself and his friends, he must do the unthinkable.


PRAISE FOR MARK BILLINGHAM

'Mark Billingham is a master of psychology'
Ian Rankin

'Fast-paced and twisting'
Paula Hawkins

'At the very least it should reach the shortlist of this year's Booker prize'
The Times

'One of the great series of British crime fiction' The Times

From multi-million-copy number one bestseller Mark Billingham comes a twisting, unbearably gripping DI Tom Thorne and Nicola Tanner thriller inspired by a dramatic real-life case.

How do you catch a killer who is yet to kill?

We've all heard about the signs: coldness, cruelty, lack of empathy. DI Tom Thorne knows the psychological profile of a psychopath all too well, so when pets start disappearing on suburban London streets, he sees a chance to stop a future murderer.

Others are less convinced, so Thorne relies on DI Nicola Tanner to help him solve the case, before the culprit starts hunting people. The journey brings them face to face with a killer who will tear their lives apart.

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'A new Mark Billingham is always a treat and The Killing Habit hurls the reader straight into the action. Thoroughly enjoyable for being so very real' SUSIE STEINER

'Mark Billingham on superb form. A finely paced and polished procedural, with twists and turns galore and an ending that will chill your soul' CARA HUNTER

'An unconventional literary superstar' MAIL ON SUNDAY

'As ever with Billingham, a rich cast of characters and tense situations are marshalled with panache, leading to a final terrifying encounter' FINANCIAL TIMES

'Thorne is a terrific invention' IRISH INDEPENDENT
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'One of the great series of British crime fiction' --- THE TIMES

***THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER***
***THE TIMES CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR***

My name is Alice. I'm a police officer.
I'm trying to solve a murder on a psychiatric ward.
But I'm also a patient...

They were meant to be safe on Fleet Ward: psychiatric patients monitored, treated, cared for. But now one of their number is found murdered, and the accusations begin to fly.

Was it one of his fellow patients? A member of staff? Or did someone come in from the outside?

DC Alice Armitage is methodical, tireless, and she's quickly on the trail of the killer.

The only problem is, Alice is a patient too.
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'Fast-paced and twisting'
Paula Hawkins

'At the very least it should reach the shortlist of this year's Booker prize'
The Times

'A deeply compelling read'
Harriet Tyce

'The most cunning, complex, claustrophobic mystery'
Louise Candlish

'Immense skill and heart'
Eve Chase

'Brilliant, suspenseful, poignant, heartbreaking, surprisingly funny'
Linwood Barclay

'One of the most consistently entertaining, insightful crime writers working today'
Gillian Flynn

'A world-class crime writer'
Karin Slaughter

'Mark Billingham is a master of psychology'
Ian Rankin

'Billingham is always a must read'
Harlan Coben

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

'Hugely intelligent and authentic' BELINDA BAUER, AUTHOR OF SNAP

She says she's an ordinary mother.
He knows a liar when he sees one.

Sarah thinks of herself as a normal single mum. It's what she wants others to think of her. But the truth is, she needs something new, something thrilling.

Meanwhile, DI Tom Thorne is investigating a woman's suicide, convinced she was driven to do it by a man who preys on vulnerable women.

A man who is about to change Sarah's life.

From number one, five-million-copy bestseller Mark Billingham comes a breathless new thriller starring Thorne and Tanner that readers will devour.


PRAISE FOR MARK BILLINGHAM

'One of the great series of British crime fiction' THE TIMES

'An unconventional literary superstar' MAIL ON SUNDAY

'Billingham is a world-class writer' KARIN SLAUGHTER

'A new Mark Billingham is always a treat' SUSIE STEINER

'Finely paced and polished procedural, with twists and turns galore' CARA HUNTER

'Perfectly executed and with a thoroughly unnerving twist' GUARDIAN

'Thorne is a terrific invention' IRISH INDEPENDENT

'Mark Billingham gets better and better' MICHAEL CONNELLY

Available together for the first time at a special price, the classic, thrilling, groundbreaking books 2-4 in the iconic Tom Thorne series by No.1 Sunday Times bestseller Mark Billingham.

'[Thorne] is one of the most compelling figures in contemporary crime fiction' DAILY MAIL

'Billingham is always a must-read' HARLAN COBEN

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SCAREDY CAT

A vicious killer follows his victim home and strangles her in front of her child. Across London a second body is discovered at the back of King's Cross station. And these grisly events eerily echoes the murder of two previous women, stabbed to death months before on the same day.

DI Tom Thorne sees the link and comes to a horrifying conclusion: two killers are way more deadly than one . . .

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LAZYBONES

It's only ten days since Douglas Remfry's release from prison, having served seven years for rape, and now he's dead: naked on a bare mattress in a grubby north London hotel room. Someone knew he was coming out. Someone wanted to mete out some punishment of their own.

And when a second sex offender is found dead, DI Tom Thorne knows he has a vicious vigilante on his hands . . .

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THE BURNING GIRL

X marks the spot - and when that spot is a corpse's naked back and the X is carved in blood, DI Tom Thorne is in no doubt that the dead man is the latest victim of a particularly vicious killer.

But when an X is carved on Thorne's own front door, he knows the smouldering embers of this case are about to erupt into flames . . .

'Groundbreaking and gripping' Sunday Times

A BLOODY MESSAGE

As DI Nicola Tanner investigates what appears to be a series of organised killings, her partner Susan is brutally murdered, leaving the detective bereft, and vengeful.

A POWERFUL ALLY

Taken off the case, Tanner enlists the help of DI Tom Thorne to pursue a pair of ruthless killers and the broker handing out the deadly contracts.

A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE

As the killers target their latest victim, Thorne takes the biggest risk of his career and is drawn into a horrifying and disturbing world in which families will do anything to protect their honour.

From number one bestseller Mark Billingham comes a masterful, intense crime novel that pits DI Tom Thorne against an evil beyond comprehension, yet shockingly real.

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'One of the great series of British crime fiction' The Times

'Billingham is a world-class writer' Karin Slaughter

THE FIRST NEW SERIES FROM #1 BESTSELLER MARK BILLINGHAM IN 20 YEARS.