It’s been quite some time since I read any of this series. I didn’t really care much for the Thomas Thorne character...but the title of this one intrigued me so thought I give Thomas another try. The story centers around a serial killer, who, while in prison confesses to another murder many years previously. The victim was a young boy whose mother has longed to find his body. I found it a bit unbelievable that a prisoner convicted of murder would have been transported such a great distance by boat and by car and with only one police official and so little security. To make matters worse there was a second prisoner along for the ride. The motive for the kidnapping along with everyone’s identities are carefully concealed giving the reader only brief flashes...but these brief flashes certainly raise very interesting questions about how and why this crime fits into the overall plot. It is not until the very end of the story that everything finally becomes heartbreakingly clear. ( )

The Bones Beneath. A Tom Thorne Novel. Mark Billingham. 2014. This is the first book I have read in this series, and it is a later one. Since I read it as I was getting ready for surgery, I really didn’t do it justice. A notorious murderer, a vicious pOlachopath who is in prison, has said he’ll show the authorities the location the body of a young boy that he killed years ago. The body is located on the property now-close reform school on a remote island off of Wales. He has demanded that Thorne, who actually arrested him, be one of the accompanying officers. Thorne and a troupe of police officers, correction officers, and crime-scene investigators go to the island. You know the prisoner is going to escape and that is a big part of the suspense. I think I may go back and read the first novel is the series as I think he has possibilities ( )

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. ( )

From Amazon:

The Bones Beneath, the twelfth novel in the internationally bestselling Tom Thorne series shows Thorne facing perhaps the most dangerous killer he has ever put away, Stuart Nicklin. When Nicklin announces that he wishes to reveal the whereabouts of one of his earliest victims and that he wants the cop who caught him to be there when he does it, it becomes clear that Thorne’s life is about to become seriously unpleasant. Thorne is forced to accompany Nicklin to a remote island off the Welsh coast which is cut off from the mainland in every sense. Shrouded in myth and legend, it is said to be the resting place of 20,000 saints and as Thorne and his team search for bones that are somewhat more recent, it becomes clear that Nicklin’s motives are far from altruistic. The twisted scheme of a dangerous and manipulative psychopath will result in many more victims and will leave Tom Thorne with the most terrible choice he has ever had to make.

My Thoughts:

Well...for those readers of the Thorne books will see that not only does Tom Thorne not get fired after the fiasco of his action in The Dying Hours, but he actually gets promoted...or rather, reinstated back to his position as Detective Inspector. We find Thorne in a new environment. Away from the London-based books and into the Welsh countryside which was fascinating...at least to an American...even if the names were unpronounceable. The island is the perfect setting for this dramatic and compelling mystery with a conclusion that was filled with unexpected plot twist that was absolutely impossible to predict. Was it the best of this author's work I have ever read? No. But well worth the time. ( )

Der gefährliche Serienkiller Stuart Nicklin sitzt schon seit Jahren im Gefängnis, damals hinter Gitter gebracht hat ihn Detective Tom Thorne. Nun möchte er scheinbar der Polizei helfen, und verraten, wo er eine Leiche begraben hatte. Allerdings stellt er zwei Bedingungen: Er möchte, dass das Unternehmen von Tom Thorne geleitet wird und er möchte, dass ihn einer seiner Mithäftlinge begleiten darf. Versteckt ist die Leiche auf einer nahezu menschenleeren Insel.
Dieser etwas konstruierte Plot sorgt nach meinem Dafürhalten aber für grandiose Spannung. Denn unterschwellig ist immer klar, dass etwas passieren wird- das Buch lebt also von einer latent bedrohlichen Stimmung. Menschliche Abgründe werden deutlich, wenn es um die beiden Täter geht. Einerseits die Geschichte um Stuart Nicklin: Mir persönlich wurde sein Opfer Simon richtig vertraut und ich fand diesen Mord so unnötig. Simon hätte sein Leben in den Griff bekommen und sein eigentlich gutherziger Kern kam aus meiner Sicht gut raus. Umso schlimmer ist dazu im Kontrast eben Nicklin. Und Nicklins Mithäftling Jeff: Diese Geschichte um den Selbstmord seiner Tochter hat mich ebenfalls sehr beschäftigt. Das sind alles so unnötige Tode und sie werfen bei mir tatsächlich über den Krimi hinaus die Frage nach unnötigen Toden auf. Warum verlaufen manche Leben so schwer, warum gibt es manchmal Weggabelungen, die falsch genommen werden.
Wie Nicklin im Einzelnen die Geschehnisse auf der Insel planen und in die Wege leiten konnte, ist mir übrigens dennoch ein Rätsel. Manches ist einfach doch sehr konstruiert. Insgesamt aber fand ich das Buch gut, und auch vieles, das unterschwellig mitschwang (Thornes Entscheidung am Ende z.B.) gab mir zu denken.
Noch zwei Sachen: Aus meiner Sicht kann man das Buch gut als Standalone lesen. Man muss die anderen Teile der Serie nicht kennen. Ich werde sie auch nicht lesen.
Und am Ende des Buches findet sich eine Playlist von Thornes Lieblingssongs, die er auf der Fahrt zur Insel abspielen wollte. Ich hab dazu auf Spotify Playlist gemacht, betitelt „manipulator/ the bones beneath“, mein Spotify-Name ist „Astrid_liest“. ( )