From The Dead: The Tom Thorne Novels: Book 9 [Hardcover]

A man is burnt to death in a car in Epping Forest, the victim of professional hitmen. The evidence suggest that the dead man’s wife, Donna Langford, hired the killers, and she is found guilty of conspiracy to murder. A decade passes, and just before her release from prison, Donna is sent a photo: it is that of her supposedly murdered spouse. Is he, in fact, dead? And if not, whose was the charred body in the burnt-out Jaguar? Shortly after, DI Tom Thorne is contacted by a woman, Anna Carpenter. Anna is making a living (and hating it) by working for a detective agency that cynically uses her as a ‘pretend prostitute’ to trap men into sexually compromising set-ups in divorce cases. Anna is on the side of the worried Donna Langford, and asks a reluctant Thorne for help. The detective is not to be persuaded – until he realises that the supposedly late Alan Langford is very much alive, and wants payback – in the worst way.

Mark Billingham is (as ever) to be applauded for the sheer readability of his work on From the Dead, but his most impressive achievement is the sure-footed orchestration of tension. He avoids artificially pushing Thorne into uncharactistic behaviour, and trusts that we will accept the familiar character tropes, delivered as effectively as ever. But if there are no surprises in the development of his main protagonist, Billingham’s real achievement here is in the creation of the vulnerable, compromised tyro detective, Anna – she’s a wonderful creation. --Barry Forshaw

Q: How did you go about researching From the Dead?

A: I spent a couple of weeks in Spain, where a good deal of From the Dead is set. The writing always goes better for me if I've had a chance to sample something of the atmosphere of a place. It's also a good excuse to eat great food and sit in the sun drinking Spanish beer, but I did see and hear sorts of things that have found their way into the story. Notably an amazing religious festival that was happening while I was there which I could not possibly deny Tom Thorne.

Q: In From the Dead, Thorne leaves the UK for the first time. What inspired you to take your character further afield?

A: The story took him there. I've always fought shy of taking Thorne away from London as the city is such an important character in the book, but on this occasion I had no choice. The scenes in Spain only take place in the last part of the book, but I had a lot of fun with Thorne in a setting he was uncomfortable with. We see another side of him, I think.

Q: Thorne hits our TV screens on Sky One this autumn. Can you tell us a bit more about this project?

A: They have filmed the first two books in the series--Sleepyhead and Scaredy Cat--and they will be shown over six, hour long episodes this Autumn. I've been very involved in the project from the beginning which is unusual for a writer, but it has been a hugely rewarding experience and I'm very proud of what we've done. It will not be slavish to the books as there is such a huge difference between the page and the screen. I hope that fans of the books will judge the films in their own right and not just compare them to the books. The books are still there of course.

Q: David Morrissey will be playing Thorne. What do you think of this casting choice?

A: Well, David was always my choice to play Thorne, so obviously I'm delighted. He's a fantastic actor which is all any writer can hope for and he think he really conveys the empathy which Thorne has for the victims of crime. Readers always suspect that I am Thorne, so I'm very happy that David is younger and better-looking than I am!

Q: What are you reading at the moment?

A: I've just finished two fabulous novels by the Irish writer Stuart Neville: The Twelve and its sequel, Collusion. Fantastic stuff which I would recommend to anyone.

Q: Do you have a guilty pleasure read?

A: I NEVER feel guilty reading anything. Well...OK, I might blush a little if I was caught flicking through Heat, but generally I don't believe anyone should ever feel bad about reading anything. They should certainly not feel bad if they are not enjoying something which everyone tells them is marvellous. If you're not enjoying a book, for God's sake put it down and find one that you enjoy.

Q: Do you have any writing rituals?

A: Well I don't slaughter a chicken every morning or anything, but I always buy the same kind of notebook to start each book. And I start every day by re-writing what I wrote the day before. I can never just press on without feeling totally happy with what comes before.

Q: What are you working on now?

Q: Where do you think the next book may take Thorne?

A: It doesn't take him out of London like From the Dead, but he has to work very differently in this one. There's very much a 'race against time' element in this one, and a narrative that cuts back and forth between Thorne and Helen Weeks, who is the main character from In the Dark. I thought it would be interesting to put the two of them into the same book, though they will not come face to face until the very end.

Q: Do you have any plans to write another stand alone novel?

A: Yes, I'd like to as I was so pleased with In the Dark. Some readers will always want to see Thorne of course, and that's fine with me. I have no plans to kill him off just yet.