Although I'm an American, I'm generally a big fan of British crime fiction. But this book... not so much.

It feels like something I've read a dozen times before. The narrative, the characters, the way the story unspools are all so completely familiar that I was simply never drawn into the book. Finishing it was a chore.

Another wonderful installment in the DI Thorne series. As a prequel, it gives a wonderful view into Tom’s early life on the police force, his divorce, and his meeting with Hendricks. If this is your first book in the series, go back and read them all you lucky duck.

A young boy is abducted from a park in broad daylight and Thorne, reeling from a previous failure, wants to get it right this time. He is consumed with guilt and dreams about the incidents.

The characters are well drawn and you really get to know them. The writing is spare but exactly what is needed. I actually prefer this to too much description.

Suffice it to say I could not put it down and went through it in two days (and many chores were ignored in the process). Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for my advance copy and the chance to review the book. If you are a DI Thorne fan you will enjoy this latest tale.

3.5 stars

This author’s Tom Thorne series has been running for years & with this instalment, he gives readers a look at how it all began.

It’s 1996. “Portable phones” are beginning to appear, John Major is PM & you can still enjoy a smoke with your pint at the local pub. Tom Thorne is a young hotshot detective, newly separated & already haunted by what he’s seen.

He & his squad catch the kind of case they all dread. Two little boys were playing at a park & while the moms were distracted, one disappeared. The area is searched, witnesses tracked & endless interviews held…..not one sign of the child is found.

The format of this book is a bit different from those that follow. Chapters alternate between Tom & the parents of the 2 boys. We’re kept up to date on the investigation but it flounders & there’s little tension until the final 10%. Instead, we spend time with these MC’s (plus others) & gradually learn their histories, lives & problems. It’s less of a police procedural & more about how these very different people react to each other & the situation.

It feels like this was written for long time fans. Those familiar with returning characters will enjoy meeting their younger selves. My favourite bit was “When Tom Met Phil”. IMHO their relationship is a highlight of every book so I found Tom’s thoughts after their first conversation particularly entertaining.

“All being well, once the post-mortem was out of the way, he wouldn’t have to see the bloke again, because it was a long time since he had come across anybody he’d taken a dislike to quite so quickly”. Ah, little does he know…

This was an OK read for me. I enjoyed it more as a fan of the books in general than as an individual police procedural. Overall, it’s a slower, more reflective read that gives us a glimpse at the roots of this popular series.

It is great to see Tom Thorne back and to go back to where it all began.Cry Baby is set in 1996 when Thorne was only a DS.The story is based around the disappearance of Kieron Coyne who goes missing while out playing with his best friend,Thorne is also haunted by a case 10 years ago in which he thinks he was responsible for deaths that occured,also set against the backdrop of the European Championships held in the UK that year Cry Baby is a superbly written book as we get an insight into Tom Thorne's early days especially how his friendship with the brilliant character that is Phil Hendricks started up and how he coped with the breakdown of his marriage to Jan.I must confess i am a huge Mark Billingham fan and have read everyone of his books and this one is no different than all the others in that it is an excellent read and just confirms to me that Mark Billingham is still at the top of his game when it comes to this genre.Read and enjoy ! a superb 5 star read as always.

Two boys playing in the park being watched by their Mothers. Both boys go into the woods skirting the park, only one comes out. Two murders connected to the disappearance. Can Tom Thorne figure out what happened, find the missing boy and figure out how it's all wound together? Set in the mid 90's, this is a prequel to the Tom Thorne series. Tom is a DS that is going through a divorce and butts heads with his boss. He's haunted by a 10 year old case that won't quit invading his dreams. Will this case make him a hero or cost him his career?

I liked the book well enough. I didn't realize this was a prequel so it took me a while to figure out why he was referencing 80's and 90's things, jargon, etc. I'd read some of the other books in this series a long time ago and that's why requested this ARC to read. It was a different kind of read for me in that it seemed to skip from one thing to another without any warning. I'd be reading about one character or event and then in the next sentence, I'm reading about something that's got nothing to do with it/them. I'd have to go back an re-read what I'd just read to make sure I didn't miss something. Took me a while to get used to that.

The story moved along fairly rapidly and I had a hard time trying to figure out who did it. I'd be thinking one person was the culprit and then 5 minutes later, I'd be thinking it was someone else. I like stories like that. Kept me guessing until the very end. It's dark and moody with a bit of humor thrown in. A good English detective novel.

I think fans of English detective novels or darker crime novels would like this book.

Cry Baby the newest Tom Thorne novel is a resounding 5 stars for me !

It is a prequel to the series and though I am not a fan of prequels, I loved this one !! You get to meet and know the younger Tom Thorne how he becomes what he does and how he meets his good friend Phil the pathologist.

Tom and crew try to solve the disappearance of a young school boy and suffice to say Mark Billingham throws a few curve balls at you to keep you guessing.

I hope Tom Thorne would be on my side if I ever needed him ( he is real to me )

Having a new Tom Thorne novel is a like a birthday present !!

Thanks to Net Galley and Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Monthly Press for allowing me to go on this journey with Tom .

Cry Baby by Mark Billingham(Tom Thorne #17) I've enjoyed all of Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne books that I've read, but this one was different as it takes place before the first novel in the series(Sleepyhead) and makes reference to the facts of the early nineties, no cell phones, little real camera surveillance, no social media, and little internet footprint in daily lives. It's about a child kidnapping and from there it's a pretty straightforward police procedural with all the dead-ends and hidden surprises of an ongoing investigation. Billingham is great at steering you from one suspect to another and letting you wonder which one it could be, then dropping a bomb when you've got it all figured out. I always look forward to these books. Thanks to Netgalley for giving me this ARC.

Mark Billingham continues to write classic British crime novels. This is a prequel that goes back twenty five years to the beginning of the Tom Thorne novels. It is a great well thought out read that continues to give insight into the Tom Thorn we all read about.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and the author, Mark Billingham, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Cry Baby in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I was so excited at the prospect of reviewing this book by an author I really enjoy reading. The premise of the storyline had me intrigued. It is the beginning of Detective Tom Thorne's career, the central character in Mr Billingham's previous novels.
The storyline was well thought out and written. The characters are well drawn and intriguing. The author has certainly delivered a rollercoaster plot that will keep you guessing until the end.
Well worth a read.

A throw back novel where we meet a young Tom Thorne and discover the beginnings of his friendships and career. He is charged with solving every parent’s nightmare as a child is snatched from the park. As intriguing for the stories behind the characters as for the events that involve them, while the emotions evoked dramatically bring realism to each situation. A surprisingly enjoyable prequel, thanks to netgalley for an advance copy.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance copy of Cry Baby, the seventeenth novel to feature the then DS Tom Thorne of The Met, set in 1996.

Tom Thorne is haunted by an old case and its terrible consequences when he didn’t act soon enough, so when seven year old Kieron Coyne disappears from the woods he was playing in with his friend, Josh, Tom is determined to leave no stone unturned.

I thoroughly enjoyed Cry Baby which is a tense read as the hunt for Kieron goes nowhere and the pressure mounts on the detectives and Kieron’s mother, Cat. Surprisingly it is also a historical novel. 1996 doesn’t seem so long ago to an oldie like me but when I look at the technology, the attitudes and some of the contemporaneous events it is definitely history. I think the author does a great job of it, bringing it alive and introducing some well known faces and locations from the other books in the series.

The novel is told from various points of view, including the perpetrator, but the main voices are Tom Thorne as the investigator and Cat Coyne as the victim/survivor/face of the crime, I don’t really know what to call her. I liked the way the investigation followed the leads, examining various suspects and hunting down any scrap of information. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to note that Thorne is as bolshie as ever and not one to back down from an argument so there’s plenty to keep the reader occupied on that front. I think Cat Coyne is well drawn as the helpless mother, assailed by grief and the unknown, besieged by the press and forced into revealing secrets she’d rather have kept hidden. I found her fascinating And realistic with her tumultuous emotions.

The plot is well done with several other crimes arising from Kieron’s disappearance and a rousing finale with several unexpected turns. There is never a dull moment.

Cry Baby is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I have read all the Tom Thorne series, but it is not necessary to enjoy this one. Crybaby takes you back to 1996, at the time when he met his good friend, Phil Hendricks. He’s in the midst of a divorce as well as being haunted by a past mistake that led to a horrific crime. There is a good lot of suspense and when you think you figured it out, the author throws you a curve ball and sends you in another direction. I enjoyed the read and once started it was hard to put down. I highly recommend it to all that like crime and suspense.

Cat and her friend Maria are out with their sons Josh and Kieron. The boys go into the woods to play and only one comes out. Now it's up to DS Tom Thorne and his team to find the boy. The book alternates between the action of what is going on with the mother's and what the police are doing. Story is well written and told, if you are a fan of the gritty crime procedural. Thorne has his own problems with his parents and impending divorce, but is dedicated bti finding the boy. I liked the book very much because I had seen two movies based on these books on Netflix, starting David Morrissey from Walking Dead as Thorne. My only issue was the story dragged on a bit when I get author was expanding on Thornes love of soccer. It could have been shortened a bit. I was surprised at the ending. The kidnapper was a real surprise! N

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MarkBillingham for the opportunity to read "Cry Baby" in return for a fair review.

Having read many of #MarkBillingham's Tom Thorne novels, I was happy to be able to read this 'prequel' to the much lauded "Sleepyhead' (which I thoroughly enjoyed).

When young Keiron goes missing from the playground where he was playing hide-and-seek with his best friend - while their mothers are close by - it's all hands on deck. And Tom Thorne quickly identifies the prime suspect - someone close to home. But when their witness fails to identify the suspect, he slips through their hands. Unfortunately, due to a leak to the press, the suspect's name is released and he's hounded by reporters; and because he's an actual neighbor of the missing boy, the boy's mother is equally hounded. Until disaster strikes.

Working off the witness's statement, Thorne and his team are left with the unenviable task of trying to trace a red Fiesta, no license plate number, no other identification. A seemingly hopeless task.

In the meantime, Thorne is dealing with the dissolution of his marriage, his wife's infidelity and the need to eventually sell off the family home.

Throughout this 'prequel' we are introduced to some of the characters who will become pivotal to future books - including Bridgstocke and Hendricks ("that's with 'icks' NOT ix like the musician") the new pathologist.

To complicate matters, suspects are dying gruesomely. As it turns out that the boy's father is an incarcerated criminal, he of course becomes a suspect in their demises.

We're thrown a number of red herrings in the course of this highly entertaining entry in the Tom Thorne series until the final climax when all is revealed, and some characters even find themselves in danger from close to home.

As a prequel to the series this novel can be read as a standalone, and those of us who have read the other entries won't be let down.

The latest Tom Thorne book is set 25 years ago, when Thorne was a relatively new policeman. It was great because we got to see how the ending of his first marriage came about. We also saw him meet his best friend, the new morgue doctor, Phil Hendricks, whom he didn’t really like at first. Most of all we got to see that good old Tom hasn’t changed much in 25 years, a great policeman back then and still one now.

What author Mark Billingham accomplished here is amazing. He crafted an intricate story and populated it with a variety of interesting and intriguing characters. He kept my interest throughout as I gobbled the book in less than 48 hours. I never really suspected the true culprit and was aghast when I learned who it was. I felt for these characters, and that's not always the case. Ultimately none of them are perfect, which only adds to their credibility. Thanks, Mr. Billingham, NetGalley, and the publisher for the ARC It's a winner!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a gripping police procedural that takes you on the journey of the investigation and throws in a few twists along the way.
It is the latest in a series of books based around the detective Tom Thorne but you don't miss out if you haven't read any of the others as it takes place in his past. It is 1996 and brings home just how far we have progressed with technology these days.
Having read other Tom Thorne books I particularly enjoyed witnessing the arrival of Phil Hendricks on the scene and his initial meetings with Thorne.
I was a little apprehensive when starting the book as missing children are not an easy read but by halfway through I could not put it down and just sat and devoured it until it was completed.

I’m a huge fan of the Tom Thorne series and this book is the best of them all! It’s a prequel to the others so we learn a lot more about Tom and how he became who he is. The mystery involves a missing boy back in 1996 and then moves through more murder and some background on Toms marriage, his early career and London during the late 1990’s. This was one the better books I’ve read in a while. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

I’m not usually a fan of prequels as they often seem like ‘filling in the gaps’ after inspiration has failed the author. In Mark Billingham’s hands, however, this book is a valuable addition to the Thorne series. It is darker and more gloomy than many of the others, with a lot of flashback dreams to Thorne’s first major case, which haunts him. I felt some of the exposition was rushed (why did the kidnapper do what he did?) but the secondary story about Kieron’s parentage was well handled and did keep the reader guessing. The present day coda was also a tad hurried, but maybe that will resurface in subsequent novels (I’m trying not to give spoilers, but it concerns a pivotal character and what happened to them after the case covered in this book).
It’s a competent and assured book full of backstory and shows how policing was different even 25 years ago.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the eARC.
This is a prequel to the Tom Thorne series and what an enjoying read it is. It's 1996 and Thorne is a DS and his personal life is a mess; he's in the midst of a nasty divorce when he gets a case involving the disappearance of a 7-year old boy.
I found the fact there wasn't today's preponderance of electronic devices refreshing; a lot of old-fashioned sleuthing makes for a more intense read and shows what a good detective Thorne was, even then. He's one of my favorite characters in the mystery genre. It was fun to find out how his friendship with Phil Hendricks started, as well as discovering the details of the end of his marriage.
The mystery of the missing boy is intense, I had to stop from racing through the book because I like to savor the Thorne books. The ending was a cracker; heart stopping and surprising, I loved it!
Highly recommended!