Cry baby - Mark Billingham

'One of the great series of British crime fiction' --- THE TIMES

'Cry Baby is the perfect prequel to send us back to revel in Tom Thorne's twenty years. As if we needed reminding how good Mark Billingham is' --- VAL MCDERMID

It's 1996. Detective Sergeant Tom Thorne is a haunted man. Haunted by the moment he ignored his instinct about a suspect, by the horrific crime that followed and by the memories that come day and night, in sunshine and shadow.

So when seven-year-old Kieron Coyne goes missing while playing in the woods with his best friend, Thorne vows he will not make the same mistake again. Cannot.

The solitary witness. The strange neighbour. The friendly teacher. All are in Thorne's sights.

This case will be the making of him . . . or the breaking.

The gripping prequel to Mark Billingham's acclaimed debut, Sleepyhead, Cry Baby is the shocking first case for one of British crime fiction's most iconic detectives.


'Tom Thorne is one of the most credible and engaging heroes in contemporary crime fiction. Mark Billingham is a master of psychology, plotting and the contemporary scene - making the Thorne novels the complete package. Twenty years in and better than ever'
IAN RANKIN

'Mark Billingham is one the biggest names in crime fiction and one the genre's most formidable talents'
PETER JAMES

'Billingham is always a must read'
HARLAN COBEN

Mark Billingham has twice won the Theakston's Old Peculier Award for Crime Novel of the Year, and has also won a Sherlock Award for the Best Detective created by a British writer. Each of the novels featuring Detective Inspector Tom Thorne has been a Sunday Times bestseller. Sleepyhead and Scaredy Cat were made into a hit TV series on Sky 1 starring David Morrissey as Thorne, and a series based on the novels In the Dark and Time of Death was broadcast on BBC1. Mark lives in north London with his wife and two children.

Cry Baby is the perfect prequel to send us back to revel in Tom Thorne's twenty years. As if we needed reminding how good Mark Billingham is.
Val McDermid

Tom Thorne is one of the most credible and engaging heroes in contemporary crime fiction. Mark Billingham is a master of psychology, plotting and the contemporary scene - making the Thorne novels the complete package. Twenty years in and better than ever.
Ian Rankin

The tense, double-edged ending shows he has become one of Britain's best crime writers
The Times

Mark Billingham is one the biggest names in crime fiction and one the genre's most formidable talents.
Peter James

Billingham is always a must read
Harlan Coben

That rare beast: a series that only gets better as it goes on. Mark Billingham is one of the best
John Connolly

What a treat. Cry Baby works as a way into the series, but it's even more entertaining for us aficionados to see the origin story of Billingham's hero, watching him become the man who would make his debut in Sleepyhead
Observer

Written with Billingham's characteristic flair and drive, with a protagonist who stalks every page
Daily Mail

Established fans and newcomers alike will be thrilled
Publishers Weekly