‘Rush of Blood’ By Mark Billingham

Published by Little, Brown,
August, 2012.
ISBN: 978-1-84744-421-9

This standalone from Mark Billingham is a far cry from his Tom Thorne series, but of the same high quality one has become accustomed to from this author.  And it is a most unusual story.  It begins with three British couples becoming acquainted while on vacation in Sarasota, Florida.  When they return to England, they visit one another for dinner at the home of each, and we become familiar with the characters in three separate phases.

Toward the end of their stay in Sarasota, a girl goes missing.  And the police, both in the United States and England, conduct an investigation.  When a second girl goes missing in England, the British detective becomes suspicious of the six, suspecting that one of them could be responsible.

The novel is suspenseful and delves deeply into the characters and their relationships.  It is less a police procedural seeking to solve the crimes than a series of surprising revelations leading to an unusual denouement. Cleverly constructed and carefully written, it is
recommended.
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Reviewer: Ted Feit

Mark Billingham was born and brought up in Birmingham. Having worked for some years as an actor and more recently as a TV writer and stand-up comedian his first crime novel was published in 2001. Sleepyhead was an instant bestseller in the UK. It has been sold widely throughout the world and was published in the USA in the summer of 2002. The series of crime novels featuring London-based detective Tom Thorne with Scaredy Cat, Lazybones, The Burning Girl, Lifeless, Buried, Death Message, Bloodline, From the Dead and Good as Dead. Mark is also the author of the standalone novel In the Dark as well as a series of children’s thrillers – Triskellion – written under the pseudonym Will Peterson. An acclaimed television series based on the Thorne novels was screened on Sky One in Autumn 2010, starring David Morrissey as Tom Thorne. An adaptation of In The Dark is currently in development at the BBC.
Mark lives in London with his wife and two children. He is currently writing his next novel.

Ted and Gloria Feit live in Long Beach, NY, a few miles outside New York City.  For 26 years, Gloria was the manager of a medium-sized litigation firm in lower Manhattan. Her husband, Ted, is an attorney and former stock analyst, publicist and writer/editor for, over the years, several daily, weekly and monthly publications.  Having always been avid mystery readers, and since they're now retired, they're able to indulge that passion.  Their reviews appear online as well as in three print publications in the UK and US.  On a more personal note: both having been widowed, Gloria and Ted have five children and nine grandchildren between them.