From the Dead

Relations. The crime novel titled, From the Dead, by Mark Billingham, is another in his series featuring Detective Inspector Tom Thorne. Two cases preoccupy Thorne: a new case in which Thorne and the prosecutors were unable to convict a suspected child abductor; and an old case in which someone who was thought to have been murdered seems to be alive. That’s enough to generate an engaging plot. What Billingham does so well is develop the tension in the relationships between so many complex characters. Parents and children, lovers, husbands and wives. The range of behavior for all the characters is a mix of good and bad, just as it is with each of us. Thorne himself behaves in ways that display a wide range of his strengths and weaknesses. The revelations of feelings among closely linked people made this crime novel deliver an extra bonus to those readers who like to read fiction that resembles the complexity of our own lives. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase From the Dead from amazon.com.