Product Description

It was a vicious, calculated murder. The killer selected his victim at Euston station, followed her home on the tube, strangled her to death in front of her child. At the same time, killed in the same way, a second body is discovered at the back of King's Cross station. It is a grisly coincidence that eerily echoes the murder of two other women, stabbed to death months before on the same day...It is DI Tom Thorne who sees the link and comes to the horrifying conclusion. This is not a serial killer the police are up against. This is two of them. Finding the body used to be the worst part of the job. Not any more. Now each time a body is found, Thorne must live with the knowledge that somewhere out there is a second victim, waiting to be discovered. But whilst the methods might be the same Thorne comes to realise that he is hunting two very different killers. One is ruthless and in control, while his partner in crime is submissive, compliant, terrified. Thorne must catch a man whose need to manipulate is as great as his need to kill; a man, who will show him that the ability to inspire terror is the deadliest weapon of all...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25731 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Mark Billingham's Scaredy Cat is as inventive his previous serial killer novel a Sleepyhead. Detective Inspector Tom Thorne has the job of watching out for patterns and thinks he spots one--two similar killings on the same day; women followed from a mainline station and then strangled. Rapidly, though, it becomes clear that the methods differed in all sorts of ways--one killing was controlled, the other frenzied--and the timings do not work out. On a hunch, Thorne checks for other such pairings and finds them--this time two killers are working as a team, one setting the other challenges.

We know what Thorne does not, that all of this has to do with things that happened at school years ago; we also know a lot more than Thorne about the demons that drive some of his own investigating team. Billingham sets himself some complicated technical challenges here--flashes back and forwards, and closeups of killers' minds that keep crucial information from us--and some of the complications don't quite work. Overall, though, this is a terrifying exploration of brutal madness, made all the more so by touches of compassion for the killer's victims--the killer may think this a game, but we and Thorne know it is not.--Roz Kaveney

Review
'Brisk, racy read.' The Times 'Assured and shocking thriller.' The Guardian 'A cunning variation on the serial-murder theme.' Sunday Telegraph 'Scary, pell-mell, cliff-hanging thriller.' Literary Review

About the Author
Mark Billingham is a stand-up comedian, appearing regularly at the Comedy Store. He has been awarded the 2003 Sherlock Award as the creator of the Best Detective created by a British writer. He has also written drama for children's television, including Knight School which won the Royal Television Society Award for best children's drama.

Customer Reviews

New Kid on the Block
Great precis on the back cover and this book was in my hand ready to be bought. Then, slight hesitancy; written by a stand up comedian ! Still, can't pigeon-hole the guy, so paid up and read it in a day.

This book was completely engrossing from start to finish. DC Tom Thorne and his team battling to catch not one serial killer, but two working as a team; albeit one of them unwillingly. A screenwriter would have little to do to translate this novel on to small or big screen as the style of writing lends itself seemlessly to a HSBC sponsored drama on ITV.

The story is told through frequent use of flashbacks, which are an extremely effective way of keeping the story fast-paced and on track whilst at the same time developing the characters of the killers.

Oh, and like me if you think you've pieced the puzzle together and with a blinding flash of light you've figured out who "he" is, then you'll be equally shocked with the twist in the tale.

Mark Billingham is a fresh talent to the very popular, and some would say saturated genre of murder, mystery. He immerses the reader from page one and does not let go.

One word of advice. Don't go walking alone for a few days after reading this one, as in your mind's eye you never quite know who's watching.

Scaredy Cat
Any budding crime writers out there could learn a lot from Mark Billingham. He approaches the genre with original and creative storylines which grip the reader and hold interest throughout. Anyone can write a whodunnit, but Billingham gives us a whole lot more for our money. We are treated to some chilling insight into the mind of the killers (yes, two of them). I liked the way the author planted seeds of suspicion upon various characters, sometimes very subtlely indeed. There are some good twists and turns toward the end of the story, and the final confrontation is a vivid piece of storytelling. The unknown killer's identity surprised me, but made perfect sense. Well done to Mark for misleading this dumb reader!

My only criticism of this story would be that it starts with a very slow pace, although it does pick up very well.

This was the 2nd of his books that I've read (the first being SLEEPY HEAD) and I will certainly aim to read the rest of this series.

Enjoyable but forgettable.
I read a lot of crime fiction and there is a lot of crime fiction out there to be read. Perhaps it is more due to that, than any fault of the author's then, but I personally found this book to be fairly average.

Its plot follows the kind of formula known well to crime fiction readers - the fiendishly clever serial killer (this time there are two working together) pitted against the essentially good but flawed law enforcement officer determined to solve the case, and of course the twist at the end when you discover who the killer is.

The book is well paced and well written but perhaps its biggest failing is the author's failure to create truly interesting and believable characters. Although he does reasonably well with one or two of the main ones, a lot of the supporting cast never really feel like more than names on a page and some of the subplots surrounding them seem very cliched. Even at the end when I discovered the perpetrator of the crimes I was thinking more 'oh, of course' that 'wow, I would have never guessed'.

The book's cover contains a number of quotes praising the book (and isn't every crime thriller these days 'shocking', 'gripping', 'tense' etc etc) one of which likens the author to Ian Rankin and Val McDermid. In my opinion both those authors are vastly superior and far more masterful at creating engaging characters and original plotlines. I would recommend purchasing any title from either author or more particularly 'Along came a Spider' by James Patterson for a more thrilling and satisfying read.

I would not be surprised to see this book appear as a film or, more likely, a made for TV drama some time in the future. Like the book I am sure a lot of viewers will find it enjoyable but ultimately forgettable