Fabulous prequel to the Tom Thorne series whether you have read the other books or not. Great introductions to characters as they try to uncover the truth behind a child's disappearance from a game of hide and seek. The atmosphere and writing were spot on with the case being investigated, persuading your brain to think it could be anyone behind the crime.

Ooh just what I wanted for a humid summer evening to go with my G&T! Two single mums whose still young boys have grown up together are sat in the local park talking, grabbing a quick ciggie, whilst behind them one of their boys is being led out of the woodland.

In this step back in time Tom Thorne leads the charge to find Kieran before its too late. Weeks pass with no clues, we meet a stroppy pathologist, have unknown colleagues feeding the press with tragic consequences and finally his estranged wife and her hairy backed lover - that made me chuckle!

Time is running out but read and enjoy, I know I did. With thanks to #NetGalley

Well, i thought i has 2 suspects but was wrong on both counts! was very surprised by the ending, especially Angie's involvement.... who'd have guessed that! amazing book loved it!

# Cry Baby # Netgallery

I have been a massive fan of Marj Billingham Tom Thorn novels as far back as I can remember. The Sequel to sleepy heas. When it goes back to a era that a lot of under 40 year olds would probably not remember, how times were so much different back then, it's gone back to when Tom Thorn was a lot younger, and just really starting up on the promotion ladder. He's a DI in 1996 and around the time that mobile phones were not really heard of and the very few that has been released where do big. No one through they would hit off. Tom is called in to a missing boys case. Who disappeared in a busy park in broad daylight. Cartrin coyen had just nipped to wash her hands leaving her best Friend in Charge of Watching her son Kerion and Josh Marie's son who were the best of friends Marie' could see the boys especially as Josh cost was a banana yellow and Kieron being a light green check the boys were playing in the woods in a busy park she could see the flashs of the yellow one she had bought for her own son Josh.. Marie decided to sit and have a cigarette while the boys were plsying. Catrrin asked Marie for a cigarette and just as she was asking if they boys where ok when Josh can screaming and sobbing because he could not find kerion. Cat ran as fast as she could to were they where playing no sign of kerion. A book so full of twists and turns. With no mobile phones were you could still smoke in a pub. The press get ripped of his. Tom's DCI made mistakes by one man who was arrested his DCI Boyle had fancied they guy that has been pulled in for the kidnapping of Kerion. He fails to check his alibi and not look for anyone else. After all these years of reading the Tom Thorn books. Mark Billingham just goes to prove what a master writer he hiz. No two novels have ever been the dame. Of simlar at all. You can not help but to acknowledge what a absolutely brilliant well known author Billingham his. No other other that I know have been writing about the same officer for almost 20 years and just shows what a pure genius Mark Bilingham is. Most definitely a bloody excellent read, coming from the master of crime himself

I am a huge fan of Mark Billingham and of his character, Tom Thorne, and have avidly followed the series and so I was absolutely thrilled to see a prequel was available which went back to the beginning in 1996 when "portable" phones are a novelty, smoking in pubs was the norm and England weren't doing too badly in the Euro's!

Tom is a young Detective Sergeant going through a bit of a rough patch after separating from his wife and experiencing recurring nightmares of an old case when along comes every persons worst nightmare ... the abduction of a little boy from a local park. The book follows the investigation into the abduction where everyone is a suspect and the mystery deepens when the body of one of those suspects turns up, quickly followed by the body of the boy's father.

This is a tense read written mainly from the perspectives of Tom, Cat (mother of the abducted child) and Kieron (the abducted child); the pace built up as the investigation progressed and I loved it. I particularly enjoyed meeting the characters that I have grown to love at the beginnings of their relationship with a particular highlight being the first meeting between Tom and Phil Hendricks which made me literally laugh out loud.

I would most definitely recommend this book and you don't have to have read any of the others in the series as this makes a really good starting point for those of you who haven't discovered the delight that is Tom Thorne and who have clearly been living under a rock!!

I was extremely lucky to have won a copy of this book via a Facebook competition but thanks also to Little, Brown Book Group via NetGalley for an e-copy in return for an unbiased and honest review.

A gripping thriller featuring Tom Thorne.
This is a historical thriller featuring Tom Thorne that goes back to the 90's and sees him look at a case of a missing child.
This book is compulsive reading and the way the plot flows is intriguing.
The characters are all visually described and believable.
There are twist and turns that you don't see coming and it is an addictive read.
Not guessable and recommended to all thriller lovers.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley in allowing me to read in return for a review.

I really enjoyed this book and will give it a huge thumbs up. With a great story line and excellent main characters - I would highly recommend this book.

Just brilliant. An absolute page turner. The early days of the Tom Thorne story which introduces a couple of much loved characters and incorporates some great social memories from 24 years ago. I wish I could give this more than 5 stars, Mark Billingham really is a cut above the rest.

I've been reading Mark Billingham books for years, so it was a complete treat to be able to read an advance copy of his latest. I hadn't read the blurb before starting, so it was a little strange to find myself reading Thorne's thoughts about how mobile phones would never really catch on, and hearing about all the smoking! It did take me a couple of chapters to settle into the book, but once I was in I enjoyed it a lot. Great addition to the Thorne series.

Very entertaining and rousing prequel to the DI Tom Thorne crime series. Set during Euro '96, two seven-year-old boys are playing hide & seek in Highgate Park woods but one disappears. Can DS Thorne bring the little boy home safe? Highly recommended as either a standalone, newcomers to the series or die-hard fans.

Absolutely love reading this without a material he never lets the reader down ,
I was totally engrossed from start to finish couldn't put it down
Look forward to the next read by this author highly recommend.

Another Mark Billingham good thriller, set in 1996 a child goes missing whilst playing in the woods with his friends and their Mums are only yards away. The story evolves about the 2 families and relationships. The little boy is made to keep an awful secret about what happened to his friend. Good read

CRY BABY is Mark Billingham's 20th novel in 20 years and the 17th in his Tom Thorne series. The story takes place 24 years ago in 1996 and sees Thorne as a 35 year old, less experienced but well on his way to becoming the character who first appeared in SLEEPYHEAD in 2001. Thorne investigates the disappearance of a 7 year old boy, a case which echoes another, years before in which a family died, deaths for which Thorne, unfairly, takes some of the blame. An empathetic investigator, Thorne is driven to find the boy, and to fight against the incompetence in the police team, which threatens to hamper progress.

Along the way, we see Tom Thorne's first meeting with Hendricks, a very funny beginning to their friendship, and the aftermath of the breakdown of his marriage, another source of black humour. Billingham, despite downplaying his ability to write historic novels in his afterword, perfectly captures north London in the '90s, particularly in the characters' obsessions with the Euro '96 football tournament, but also in the lack of mobile phones and internet. It feels authentic and is an entertaining and exciting police procedural. A fitting 20th anniversary tribute to the character but also a worthy addition to the series.

What a great book. I have been reading about Tom Thorne for about 10 years now and thoroughly enjoy all of them. I think because they are set in London I can visualise where these things are happening. I was a little confused at first, because I didn't read the blurb, Why are his parents still alive? An ex-wife? then I realised that this was a prequel to his first book and it all became clear. It was a great story that was well paced and I loved that it was set when no-one had mobile phones, looking back it must have made life so much harder. The villains of the story were very believable as were all the characters. The only downside of reading such a good book, is knowing we now have to wait for the next book in the series.

Excellent! I loved finding out where it all started with Tom Thorne. This is essentially a missing persons case with a young boy apparently being kidnapped whilst playing with his friend. What plays out next is a story of dodgy relationships, unsympathetic characters and twisted revenge - fantastic! I think this book works well as a prequel to the Tom Thorne books and has made me want to go back to the beginning and reread them all. Tom meeting pathologist Phil Hendricks as well as an insight into his early family life was a gem! So much going on in this story and as it all fits together expertly as facts unfold. Set during Euro 96, although I am not a football fan, it did help to portray the time period.

This is the first book I've read in the series, so thank you to Netgalley for a preview of this book. It kept my attention for while but it didn't grab it and I read several other books before finishing this, I think it was the characters in this book who were very unlikeable and unrealistic that made it to8to finish the book. It was overall a good read.

The year is 1996 and seven-year-old Kieron Coyne has vanished wle playing with his friend in the woods. With an eyewitness stating that he saw the child being led away by a man, Detective Sergeant Tom Thorne knows that time is against him if he is going to find him alive. With a mole in the ranks, however, feeding information to the vulture-like journalists, how many more people are going to find themselves collateral damage?

For long-time Mark Billingham fans like myself, this is the book we didn’t know we wanted until we read it! Twenty years since the first Thorne book, we have now been taken back to where it all started, giving us an insight into the early life and career of the detective.

Mark Billingham transported me back to the summer of 1996, with references to the sport and popular culture of the day. Memories of Euro 96 came flooding back, the belief that the ‘thirty years of hurt’ could finally be over swiftly followed by the inevitability of a loss on penalties against the Germans! It’s strange to think that a book set in 1996 could now be seen as historical, but this is exactly what it is, the methods of policing showing how quickly time has moved on.

Knowing what happens in previous (or should that be future?) books, it was good to see Thorne with his parents and also witness the relationship he currently has with his soon-to-be ex-wife. My favourite parts, though, had to be the first meeting with Phil Hendricks, and how quickly this developed into the strong friendship that they still have today. It was fascinating to see Hendricks, who we know as a confident, straight-talking man, struggling to tell Tom about his sexuality.

Cry Baby has a well-written, readable plot, with enough dodgy characters thrown in to make you really think about who the guilty party could be. With nods to police corruption and the role the press have in cases such as this, Mark Billingham definitely has another hit on his hands. Long may Thorne reign!

Another 5 star for Mark. Taking us back in time to a case that played heavy on Thornes mind but crosses over in some ways to a current case.

I really enjoyed the cross over.

In the year of the 20th anniversary of the debut Sleepyhead Mark Billingham has written a prequel in Cry Baby. The novel doesn't work up to the events in his debut story but instead shows us Tom Thorne in his earlier state. Investigating the disappearance of a young boy which then leads to the murder of an adult. There are nods to his loyal fans with the first meeting between Thorne and Hendricks and several other elements that will raise a wry smile from those familiar with the other Thorne stories. This is a good story in its own right, using the unravelling Euro 1996 football tournament as background we enter a world without mass mobile telephony and where Thorne is trying to deal with his divorce, his parents and solve the case. An entertaining read.

I read Cry Baby by Mark Billingham in staves with other Pigeonholers as part of a group.

Although this is book seventeen in Mark Billingham’s 'Tom Thorne' crime fiction collection, Cry Baby is only the second one I’ve read. It worked well enough as a standalone for me, but admittedly, I would prefer to read them in chronological order.

This was a fabulous, mean, psychological thriller with some very twisted characters. I loved Mark Billingham's writing style, the complexity of the story and the many surprises along the way. Set in 1996, I liked the haunted protagonist and nightmare-sufferer Detective Sergeant Tom Thorne very much. All of the characters were distinct and well-developed and I was hooked by this compelling storyline with its welcome humorous snippets. There were stacks of plot twists and I appreciated the thorny and smart finale.

There are tonnes of other novels in the series for me to enjoy (well fifteen, anyway) and I plan to start with Sleepyhead.

A special thank you to Little, Brown Book Group UK, Mark Billingham, NetGalley and Pigeonhole for a complimentary copy of this novel at my request. This review is my unbiased opinion.