The Dying Hours (Tom Thorne)
Detective Inspector Thorne, long with the London Police Murder Squad (Billingham has chronicled his adventures in 10 previous ­mysteries), has been demoted to regular copper and suffers accordingly. Billingham shows the glee with which other police regard Thorne’s demotion and the eager way they shove him aside. He also shows—and, unfortunately, overshows—how this rankles Thorne. But even a depressed, demoted cop must carry on, and Thorne finds himself growing suspicious of a number of deaths of elderly people. The deaths have all been ruled suicides, but Thorne is convinced they may be homicides. In a way that is just far too predictable, the Murder Squad won’t believe Thorne, and Thorne must investigate on his own. As the mystery progresses, however, the psychology and strategy of murder become more intriguing. Thorne is a little hard to take here. His gloom is pretty one-note and seems at odds with his enterprise in tracking down a killer. This acclaimed series has, however, hit many high notes (especially Lazybones, 2004), and fans will take one subpar effort in stride. --Connie Fletcher