Review: Lazybones

"Thorne had seen victims of enraged spouses and jealous lovers. He had stared at the bodies of business rivals and gangland grasses. He knew when he was looking at something out of the ordinary."

Detective Inspector Tom Thorne and his colleagues from the Serious Crime Group are in a seedy North London hotel room. The dead man on the bed is naked, on his knees with his hands tied together by a belt and his face covered in a black leather hood. The man has been strangled with a blue plastic washing line.

As the team is investigating the crime scene the phone suddenly rings. All seven, still living, people in the room stand frozen for a moment and Thorne is the one to break out of it and answer the phone. After some confused and slightly flirtatious conversation with the woman on the other end he finds himself listening to a taped messaged from the killer. "I'd like to order a wreath."

When the victim turns out to be a convicted rapist the investigating officers have to battle with the notion that perhaps the killer is doing society a favour. But the killer doesn't plan to stop with one victim and Thorne's team need to find out how he finds his victims, how he lures them to meet him and, obviously, catch him before the death toll rises.

This is a great crime novel. The plot is inventive and without holes. The police officers are depicted as real human beings doing a sometimes boring and repetitive job while struggling with their private lives. Some of them can still feel the occasional buzz when pieces click together. Some of them are jaded by what they've seen on the job, so disillusioned by human nature that they find it refreshing when a criminal states that 'sure he's sorry, sorry he got caught'. They still do the job, and I think this gives a very realistic view of police work. No brilliant grey cells instantly seeing who did it, but hard work, leaving no stone unturned and paying attention to details.

As a reader you're offered insight into the background of the killings through historical flashbacks and the occasional chapter written from the point of view of the killer. This is very cleverly done though. The killer's identity is still hidden from the reader. And Mark Billingham is very ingenious in describing events and having characters act in such a way that too many of them seem suspicious to be narrowed down to one.

Towards the end the suspense is increasing and you will hold your breath wondering who will win, the police or the killer. As the identity of the killer is finally revealed you will also realise that all the clues were there for you to find.

I started this book yesterday and literally couldn't put it down until I'd finished. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a good crime novel; there are no annoying unrealistic characters in this book, and no gratuitous or excessive violence or gore. There's even a cat which could be said to provide a clue, if you like and believe in that sort of thing. ;-)

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Katarina - RAM Sweden

Book Review: Lazybones