If you haven't read these novels before, this is a fine place to start. Billingham has created two dynamic characters in Nicola Tanner and Tom Thorne. He alternates their voices in this well plotted procedural. Thorne is working a case of cat killings- which seems beneath him (and thank goodness they aren't described in detail) but he goes down the as yet unproven path that they are connected to a serial killer. You'll also get some insight into that fiend's mind. Nicola, at the same time, is working a topical case of bad drugs. Things really get going when the Nicola and Tom team up again. No spoilers but this has some good twists and devilish complexities but it's never hard to keep track of what's going on. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

As always this author tells an intricate, complicated tale that, rather than baffle, makes the reader feel very clever and pleased with themselves. This is a superbly written tense tale of good verses bad, told in the most exciting and gripping way. The characters are so vivid, so painfully real, that when given a glimpse into the chaotic mind of the killer I feared for them. I was thoroughly entertained throughout.

I found this book a bit disjointed and the ending didn't fit. Not the best Thorne book in the series.

This is the #15th installment in the Tom Thorne series by Mark Billingham. I always enjoy these books, Thorne & Tanner are investigating two very different cases, one involving drugs and the second "cat killings" which Thorne doesn't take very seriously at first until he discovers that a more sinister plot is at play in the form of a serial killer!

As always the book is very well written and I find them easy to read as I love detective series, the police procedures, the investigative minds to unleash & follow clues.

I had no idea who the killer was until it was presented and that to me is everything a good crime thriller should be. Hats off to Mark Billingham!

Thanks to Netgalley & Grove Atlantic for affording me the opportunity to review an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’ve been reading Mark Billingham since his first Tom Thorne novel and he just seems to get better with each new book and this is no exception. These books offer a gritty procedural look at a damaged London cop and in this one we find Thorne on the case of a cat killer. There is also another case being worked on by Nicola Tanner who fans will know from previous books.
What follows is a tight thriller where both cases run simultaneously until we are led, quite skilfully to a stunning climax. Keep them coming Mr Billingham.

This is the 15th book in the DI Tom Thorne series based in London by author Mark Billingham.
I have read this series from the very start and always eagerly await the next book, so when offered the opportunity to read this one I couldn't wait.
While DI Nicola Tanner investigates the deadly spread of a dangerous new drug, Tom Thorne is handed a case that he doesn’t take too seriously, until a spate of animal killings points to the work of a serial killer. When the two cases come together in a way that neither could have foreseen, both Thorne and Tanner must risk everything to catch two very different killers.
This is an excellent police procedural novel that brings together two excellent characters to give an added interest to this already excellent series.
I find Mark Billingham a very capable author who never disappoints with each book he writes. Bring on the next, please.
I would like to thank both Net Galley and Grove Atlantic for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

We are back in the presence of Tom Thorne and Nicola Tanner,and the irreverence,sexual banter of the London Police force.
Tom is put in charge of finding the person responsible for murdering and mutilating pet cats. Cue several remarks about Pussy and cans of cat food . Thank heavens,NO gruesome details are given,I must admit I had serious misgivings when I started this book.
DCI Turner is in charge of a shooting that is rapidly turning out to be more complex than initially thought. A blind leap of faith,leads Tom to wonder if the two cases are connected,could the cat killer,be responsible for attacks on women and could the mysterious Duchess be the key?
The identity of the killer was a complete surprise to me,but as my detective husband states, ' you meet them early on,all quiet and meek,helpful and ingratiating ,then wallop! , the last person you would expect', and so it proved to be!
I love the sarcasm and black/ gallows humour of the police. I have suffered it for 30years plus,but know it is a necessary safety release. When you understand what they deal with,day in and day out, you need a strange sense of humour.
I found this a scary book and a very intriguing read. It was well detailed and researched,Mark Billingham has a very good police informant!! There seems to be no sign of Tom Thorne anticipating his retirement,perhaps he will last as long as Sherlock Holmes or Dixon of Dock Green?!!
I have posted this review to Goodreads today.

For me Mark Billingham can do no wrong,i have read everyone of his books and once again he has penned another winner in the superb Tom Thorne series.Thorne is brought in to catch a cat killer who they think may just be working his way up to murder,DI Nicola Tanner is back to help in the case and as ever the excellent Phil Hendricks is as always on hand to give his wisdom when needed.With things a bit rocky with his relationship with Helen on the home front Thorne is determined to catch the killer.The story is actually based on a true life case and once again Mark Billingham has excelled in writing another brilliant gripping police procedural that ticks all the right boxes.Long may the Tom Thorne series continue because it just keeps getting better and better!!

Love, love, love the Tom Thorne series. Excellent book.
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A dark and twisty thriller which walks the mean streets with Billingham's usual originality and flare for pacing.

4 stars

DI Tom Thorne and DI Nicola Tanner are back in this latest novel by Mark Billingham.

DI Thorne doesn’t want to take it too seriously when his is assigned a case of someone who is killing cats. But he knows that killing animals is often one of the signs of a serial killer in the making. He takes the case to liaise with Detective Superintendent Fulton from his old stomping ground in Kentish Town. When he sees the horrific pictures of what was done to the animals, he knows that he is on to something.

Meanwhile Nicola’s straightforward investigation of a shooting is not as cut and dried as it seems at first. The accused killer claims he didn’t do it. He tells an odd tale about a “Duchess” and being set up for murder. As she teams up with Tom to assist him with his investigation, they suspect that the animal killings are not this murders only fascination. They suspect him of a string of unsolved strangulations that have occurred around the country. The two cases run along at the same time.

The mind of the strangulation killer is shown through vignettes. He describes what he feels about women, and about how appearances are everything.

Thorne and Tanner learn that the murderer and the women are meeting online, via a website. They have a suspect, but no evidence. The identity of the killer comes as a surprise – at least to me it did. The conclusion to the story is explosive and terror-filled.

I am so glad that Mr. Billingham didn’t go into the cat killings in depth. If there is anything I cannot tolerate, it is the indiscriminate killing of helpless animals – especially cats. I was so glad that the investigation turned to the murders people. Not that people are less important than cats, but, oh, what am I trying to say?

This book was remarkably well written and plotted as are all of Mark Billingham’s novels. It is written in linear fashion, following both investigations closely and painstakingly. I did not enjoy the interminable meeting and the political shenanigans between all the big wigs associated with the case. I was disturbed at Tom Thorne’s self-doubts. He seemed to be questioning his every move and wondering if he was in the wrong work. Is this a prelude to Tom’s retirement, I thought. This is an exciting and action-filled (political meeting among big wigs aside), nook. I enjoyed reading it. I very much look forward to Mark Billingham’s next novel.

I want to thank NetGalley and Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance copy of The Killing Habit, the fifteenth novel to feature Met detective Tom Thorne.

Thorne is tasked with finding the person killing domestic cats around London. Working on the theory that he/she will not stop there he ropes in DI Nicola Tanner, now working at MIT with him, to help but she has a case of her own, the murder of a refugee, so they end up working both cases together.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Killing Habit which is an absorbing procedural with some good twists. I like Mr Billingham's idea of taking an open, unsolved real life crime as his base and building a credible novel from it. His take on the cat killer is believable and very possible so it adds a certain realism to the read. The novel is told mainly from Thorne and Tanner's points of view as the novel progresses with various interjections from several other characters and a nice irony at the end but initially there is a different viewpoint in every chapter. This makes the novel hard to get into at first as the reader juggles all these characters but it soon settles down and I found myself avidly following each character's story. It doesn't end well for all of them but again this adds a certain realism.

Thorne and Tanner work well together with each bringing different skills to the investigation, Tanner is the analyst and Thorne the ideas man. They are both experiencing change with Tanner trying to move on from the death of her partner, Susan by downsizing, which becomes a bit of a running joke as she tries to get Thorne to help her. Thorne is not getting on so well with his partner, Helen. Time to move on?

The Killing Habit is an intelligent procedural which I have no hesitation in recommending as a good read.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thorne is (despite being a Homicide detective) tasked with looking into the violent killing of cats. He decides (in a leap which is taken on faith) that the perpetrator is killing cats as he "comes down" from killing women. In a further leap, he posits that the method of murder will be strangulation and manages to cobble together a group of unsolved strangulation murders to pin on the cat killer. (Of course, the murdered women do all turn out to have a common link eventually).

Tanner is investigating the shooting of a drug addict and believes the prime suspect when he claims to have been framed. Tanner and Thorne end up helping each other out with the two cases. The opening was strong and I enjoyed the first two-thirds of the novel, despite struggling a little to keep on top of the enormous cast of characters (I only came into this series one book ago). Thorne is a flawed hero, which is OK, I suppose, although I fear for his future with Helen - he would rather go flat-hunting (something he claims to hate) with Tanner than go home to his family?

I'm deducting one of my stars for the scene where the perpetrator was apprehended, which was initially faintly absurd and then (to me) totally unacceptable. The perpetrator was some one I did at one point suspect, but then the author threw me off course, so that was clever.