Cry Baby Synopsis
'One of the great series of British crime fiction' --- THE TIMES
It's 1996. Detective Sergeant Tom Thorne is a haunted man. Haunted by the moment he ignored his instinct about a suspect, by the horrific crime that followed and by the memories that come day and night, in sunshine and shadow.
So when seven-year-old Kieron Coyne goes missing while playing in the woods with his best friend, Thorne vows he will not make the same mistake again. Cannot.
The solitary witness. The strange neighbour. The friendly teacher. All are in Thorne's sights.
This case will be the making of him . . . or the breaking.
The gripping prequel to Mark Billingham's acclaimed debut, Sleepyhead, Cry Baby is the shocking first case for one of British crime fiction's most iconic detectives.
About This Edition
Mark Billingham Press Reviews
Cry Baby is the perfect prequel to send us back to revel in Tom Thorne's twenty years. As if we needed reminding how good Mark Billingham is. - Val McDermid
Tom Thorne is one of the most credible and engaging heroes in contemporary crime fiction. Mark Billingham is a master of psychology, plotting and the contemporary scene - making the Thorne novels the complete package. Twenty years in and better than ever. - Ian Rankin
The tense, double-edged ending shows he has become one of Britain's best crime writers - The Times
Mark Billingham is one the biggest names in crime fiction and one the genre's most formidable talents. - Peter James
Billingham is always a must read - Harlan Coben
That rare beast: a series that only gets better as it goes on. Mark Billingham is one of the best - John Connolly
What a treat. Cry Baby works as a way into the series, but it's even more entertaining for us aficionados to see the origin story of Billingham's hero, watching him become the man who would make his debut in Sleepyhead - Observer
Written with Billingham's characteristic flair and drive, with a protagonist who stalks every page - Daily Mail
Established fans and newcomers alike will be thrilled - Publishers Weekly
About Mark Billingham
Mark Billingham has been awarded the 2003 Sherlock Award as the creator of the Best Detective created by a British writer and has twice won the Theakston's Old Peculier prize for best novel of the year.
Each of the novels featuring Detective Inspector Tom Thorne has been a Sunday Times bestseller. Sleepyhead and Scaredy Cat were made into a hit TV series on Sky 1 starring David Morrissey as Thorne, and a series based on the novels In the Dark and Time of Death was broadcast on BBC1.
Mark lives in north London with his wife and two children.
Photograph © Charlie Hopkinson
Maxim Jakubowski's view on DI TOM THORNE...
A dogged London cop whose beat somehow invariably crosses into the dark side and confronts evil at its cleverest.DEATH MESSAGE is the 7th in the series, and BLOOD LINE appears in August 2009.
More About Mark Billingham
