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kbranfield's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars.
Mark Billingham's The Bones Beneath is another compelling mystery starring Tom Thorne. This twelfth novel in the series is not a typical whodunnit with Thorne attempting to solve a crime. Instead, it is more of a psychological thriller with Thorne matching wits with Stuart Nicklin, the convicted serial killer he helped put behind bars years earlier.
Thorne is still in the hospital recovering from wounds he received in the previous novel in the series, The Dying Hours, when DCI Russell Brigstocke comes bearing both good and bad news. The good news is that Thorne is going to be reinstated with the Murder Squad. The bad news? Thorne is tasked with accompanying Nicklin to the remote island to recover the remains of Simon Milner, the teen Nicklin murdered over twenty years earlier. Thorne is immediately suspicious of Nicklin's motives and he is equally puzzled by Nicklin's insistence that fellow inmate Jeffrey Batchelor accompany them but Brigstocke insists on co-operating with Nicklin's demands. Thorne keeps a close eye on the prisoners but it soon becomes clear that Nicklin has set into motion a diabolical plan that will force Thorne to make an unimaginable decision.
The tension in the novel remains high as the contingent begins their precarious journey from the prison to the isolated island. Thorne is continually on guard during necessary stops along the way and the forced overnight stays in a small coastal town. The voyage to and from the island is dependent on the capricious weather and the schedule of the local ferry. The search for Milner's grave is hampered by bureaucratic obstacles and Nicklin's manipulative tactics.
The events leading up to Milner's murder are interspersed with the unfolding drama of uncovering his remains. His youthful enthusiasm and endearing naiveté make his subsequent death all the more shocking and poignant. But this effectively reveals how the coldhearted and ruthless Nicklin is and gives the reader incredible insight into the evil lurking inside him.
The reader's attention is immediately captured by an intriguing and incredibly puzzling prologue where an unknown person is kidnapped. Glimpses of the victim are shown throughout the story, but the motive for the kidnapping along with everyone's identities are carefully concealed. These brief flashes certainly raise very interesting questions about how and why this crime fits into the overall plot, but it is not until the very end of the story that everything finally becomes heartbreakingly clear.
The Bones Beneath is an absolutely brilliantly executed novel that is incredibly suspenseful. The island is the perfect setting for this dramatic and compelling mystery. Mark Billingham brings the riveting story to a jaw dropping conclusion with a spectacular and unexpected plot twist that is absolutely impossible to predict.
Mark Billingham's The Bones Beneath is another compelling mystery starring Tom Thorne. This twelfth novel in the series is not a typical whodunnit with Thorne attempting to solve a crime. Instead, it is more of a psychological thriller with Thorne matching wits with Stuart Nicklin, the convicted serial killer he helped put behind bars years earlier.
Thorne is still in the hospital recovering from wounds he received in the previous novel in the series, The Dying Hours, when DCI Russell Brigstocke comes bearing both good and bad news. The good news is that Thorne is going to be reinstated with the Murder Squad. The bad news? Thorne is tasked with accompanying Nicklin to the remote island to recover the remains of Simon Milner, the teen Nicklin murdered over twenty years earlier. Thorne is immediately suspicious of Nicklin's motives and he is equally puzzled by Nicklin's insistence that fellow inmate Jeffrey Batchelor accompany them but Brigstocke insists on co-operating with Nicklin's demands. Thorne keeps a close eye on the prisoners but it soon becomes clear that Nicklin has set into motion a diabolical plan that will force Thorne to make an unimaginable decision.
The tension in the novel remains high as the contingent begins their precarious journey from the prison to the isolated island. Thorne is continually on guard during necessary stops along the way and the forced overnight stays in a small coastal town. The voyage to and from the island is dependent on the capricious weather and the schedule of the local ferry. The search for Milner's grave is hampered by bureaucratic obstacles and Nicklin's manipulative tactics.
The events leading up to Milner's murder are interspersed with the unfolding drama of uncovering his remains. His youthful enthusiasm and endearing naiveté make his subsequent death all the more shocking and poignant. But this effectively reveals how the coldhearted and ruthless Nicklin is and gives the reader incredible insight into the evil lurking inside him.
The reader's attention is immediately captured by an intriguing and incredibly puzzling prologue where an unknown person is kidnapped. Glimpses of the victim are shown throughout the story, but the motive for the kidnapping along with everyone's identities are carefully concealed. These brief flashes certainly raise very interesting questions about how and why this crime fits into the overall plot, but it is not until the very end of the story that everything finally becomes heartbreakingly clear.
The Bones Beneath is an absolutely brilliantly executed novel that is incredibly suspenseful. The island is the perfect setting for this dramatic and compelling mystery. Mark Billingham brings the riveting story to a jaw dropping conclusion with a spectacular and unexpected plot twist that is absolutely impossible to predict.
kirkw1972's review against another edition
4.0
Read in just over a day. Absolutely loved it. Will now and to go back and read the rest of the series
booked_becki's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
myrdyr's review against another edition
4.0
3.75/5 stars. It was all right. I read this on the heels of a spectacular book, so this one had big boots to fill, and it didn't really manage to do it. It felt more like a filler book than a book in its own right. It was like this book is just acting as a bridge between the last Thorne thriller and the next one. That said, there was a lot of tension as you waited for the inevitable to happen.
andrew61's review against another edition
4.0
The Tom Thorne series gets better and better and in this story Tom, recently returned from uniform and hospital, is blackmailed by his boss to accede to the request of an old adversary stuart nicklin.
Nicklin, from prison, has disclosed that the body of a victim is buried on a remote Welsh island but he wants Tom to be part of the team that escort him to find the remains.
A tense roller coaster of a read , a shocking ending, and a classic villain. Can't wait to keep reading this set of books.
Nicklin, from prison, has disclosed that the body of a victim is buried on a remote Welsh island but he wants Tom to be part of the team that escort him to find the remains.
A tense roller coaster of a read , a shocking ending, and a classic villain. Can't wait to keep reading this set of books.
lazygal's review against another edition
4.0
Maybe it's me, but this felt like the author didn't quite want to write a mystery but didn't know what else to do with the characters. We've met everyone before, and there's lots of referring to previous books/cases/events during the course of somehow moving this forward. The problem is that the movement is very, very slow despite a fairly fast start (an abduction and torture, but of whom? and why?). Setting this on a remote island is a variation on the locked room mystery, yet here we know we haven't met everyone so that felt like a loophole and lessened the impact of the setting. What worries me about this series is that the pattern of demoting Tom, promoting Tom and so forth will now be accompanied by lesser plots.
sophiewilliams's review against another edition
3.0
Spent the whole of this in suspense - you know it's going to be bad, because well, Nicklin... Was still stunned by how bad!
wendoxford's review against another edition
3.0
Didn't warm to this book as much as other Mark Billingham's...Effectively a locked room crime drama, set on a Welsh island. Horrific and well plotted but somehow less credible than previous Tom Thorne novels. Not his best but a compulsive read nonetheless