Sleepyhead: The 20th anniversary edition of the gripping novel that changed crime fiction for ever

This review was first published at M's Bookshelf - (...)I had never read any of Mark Billingham's books before, but when his name came up as a suggested read on the cover of one of my favourite books, I decided it was time to change that. I picked up the first book in the Tom Thorne series 'et voilà'.Tom Thorne is not an easy character to like, or to warm up to. He's tortured by things that happened in his past but incredibly motivated to solve this murder case in the present. Only that motivation turns into obsession. Along with Tom Thorne, you think you got it all figured out. And you're waiting for that one misstep that will get this monster arrested. But this killer is playing a game.Mark Billingham alternates between Tom Thorne's perspective, that of the killer and even that of one of his victims. Hearing Alison's thoughts is incredibly. It's a very unique reading experience and she actually brings a humorous aspect to the story - how unbelievable that may seem. She's a star! Being able to "look inside the killer's head" makes him an even more disturbing villain, one who will haunt you even after you've closed the book.

This is a very clever take on a classic police procedural. It follows many of the procedural standards; the messed up, haunted, hard drinking policeman whose personal life has suffered because of his obsession with his job, the motley collection of colourful colleagues etc, but what saved it from being yawnworthy was a really clever story and some very sharp writing. A woman is in hospital suffering with locked in syndrome, after she is found, dumped on the hospital steps by an anonymous person who flees the scene. A particularly sharp medic makes the link between her condition and a bunch of dead bodies of young women who have been turning up in the morgue having suffered from a stroke. Tom Thorne is the detective put on the case to find out just why the attacker wants to do this to young women, and what it has to do with him, after he is left an anonymous note by the attacker himself.Gripping, well written and clever. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

My first encounter with the author's DI Tom Thorne novels was the excellent page-turner  Good As Dead  which encouraged me to read more of his books. Sleepyhead, being the first, was the obvious place to start. While the crimes are certainly inventive, I don't think the writing is as good as latter books and the structure of the novel is very bitty with short passages dealing with one set of characters quickly followed by another relating to others without any flag to to tell you that the narrative had changed location, which I found confusing at times. The sex-scenes felt inserted rather than flowing naturally from the story. Some of the characters are caricatures of detective fiction and the human relationships didn't ring true for me. I didn't feel drawn into the book and found myself speed reading some of the passages to get to the identity of the perpetrator. The pace of the book did improve toward the end. Not a bad first book, but Billingham has obviously matured as a writer. Good As Dead

Enjoyed and will likely buy more of the series. Am rather tired however of the 'damaged detective' genre although this is superior to many others I've read.

This took a little while to settle into. I enjoyed it and will seek out the follow ups in due course. The characters are of their time, even though the story is set relatively recently parts feel dated. Well worth a read if you like crime/detective novels.