Scaredy Cat - Mark Billingham

This second novel from stand-up comedian turned crime writer, Mark Billingham is something of an easy read but don't let that put you off as it is enjoyable nonetheless though at times the characters are a little 2-dimensional. Two women are found strangled to death, both on the same day and both linked to railway stations. Investigating the very strong possibility that both women were murdered by the same assilant, D.I Thorne and his able-bodied D.C Dave Holland soon discover links to another duet of murder that occurred several months before when two women were found stabbed to death. Before long, the case begins to take a turn for the worse when ...  Read the complete review

The police/serial killer market is pretty overcrowded. Virtually every crime book you pick up involves a murderer pitting his wits against a driven police officer determined to catch him. Ever since "Silence of the Lambs" the crime market has become obsessed with the closely related mindset of hunter and hunted. As such, any book from this genre is going to have its work cut out to stand out from the crowd. It's going to have to produce something new, or shocking or different. Scaredy Cat is not that book. Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly readable and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it: it's a good, solid yarn. Entertaining and ...  Read the complete review

I don?t seek out serial killer books, in fact, I normally avoid them. I devour most types of crime fiction but until fairly recently, books about a hunt for a deranged psychopath chopping people up, novel or true crime, generally went straight back on the shelf. I assumed they were all sensationalist rubbish aimed at exploiting people?s fears in a really tacky kind of way. Then a small number of writers produced books that forced me to revise my prejudice. Now I have to say, I will only read serial killer books if they are by authors I trust not to write sick trash. Mark Billingham is one of those authors. Scaredy Cat is the second book in a series (3 so far, ...  Read the complete review

This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while now, and recently I finally got round to reading it. I have never read a book by Mark Billingham before, so wasn't sure what to expect, but given that I do enjoy a good crime thriller, and also that his work is endorsed by Harlan Coben who is one of my favourite authors, I was looking forward to reading it. ~~~~~~~~ THE AUTHOR ~~~~~~~~ I was aware that Mark Billingham has wrote a number of novels, but was very surprised to read that he is actually a stand-up comedian, appearing regularly at the Comedy Store! He also is an award-winning television writer and lives in North ...  Read the complete review