Those of you who may have read my reviews of earlier Billingham novels may wonder why exactly I figured I'd give his third novel a go but in all honesty I felt as though I needed to give him a fair crack of the whip.

Once again D.I Thorne is teamed up with D.C Holland as they investigate a series of murders occurring in hotel rooms. When it turns out the victims are ex-offenders, suddenly the case becomes a little more complicated and the lines between right and wrong begin to blur round the edges. Pressure comes down from above and their cheif suspect begins to be another ex-offender recently released from prison. But is he responsible or could he be the next in line in a chain of victims?

This time around, parts of the story are told from the viewpoint of a recently released felon and we are given a glimpse into the difficulties of adjusting to a society that has moved on and still blames you for actions in your past. We get a closer look at Holland's personal life and learn a little more of Thorne but still something seems to be missing.

Billingham has been around fore awhile now and it says something that,untill the last few months, he has managhed to escape my radar. This sums up exactly how I feel about this series as a whole- all of his books are okay but no more than that. Once again I quite enjoyed reading this at the time, but when I go away and read something else I can suddenly see the difference between okay-writing and brilliant, imaginative grab-you-by-the-balls writing and this is not the latter!!

I'm starting to feel as though I may give this author a miss from now on (which will no doubt be a relief to Billingham fans reading this review) but only because life is too short to be reading thrillers that oft seem a little mediocre for their own good.

If you're looking for something with a little more meat try Karin Slaughter or kathy Reichs.....this unfortunately is about as good as much of the british crime fiction available at present and that is not as good as its american counterparts.