“We’ve got a pig of a job on.”

“Dead police officers, right?”

“Right,” Thorne said. Well, that’s how it started.

And indeed, that is how it all started. At a police raid on a local ne’er-do-well’s house, four policemen are delighted when someone drops off a box of doughnuts in appreciation. Tom Thorne is a bit miffed that there wasn’t enough for him, but that thought quickly vanishes when three of them die and one is hospitalised due to the large amount of poison they ingested.

Naturally a huge operation swings into force, and when a second killing takes place, it seems that this is going to get worse before it gets any better. Well, that’s half right – it’s going to get far worse. Whether it gets any better… that’s another question entirely…

This is the nineteenth book in the Tom Thorne series, including the prequel Cry Baby, and apart from that one, I’ve been away from the series for a while. Never entirely sure why, I’m pretty sure I’ve got the missing books upstairs somewhere. Anyway, this is one of those books that makes you feel like an idiot for staying away so long.

I’m going to stay away from any plot spoilers at all – the Amazon blurb promises “The Most Shocking, Gripping Tom Thorne Thriller Yet!” – and while, iirc, they’re all pretty shocking and gripping, I can’t feel I can argue with that. Billingham himself in the afterword asks reviewers not to spoil events – as if I would – but there are some major upheavals here. I joked a while ago on ex-Twitter that it would be nice if Thorne had an uneventful book where he got a puppy or something – this almost seems to be the antithesis of this.

However, I should be clear, this is not a miserable tale lumping endless piles of poop onto our hero. It’s an outstanding thriller, constantly moving forward (and upping the stakes) every time things seem a little stale. There are even some… hints (clues is definitely overstating it) as to… whatever is going on.

The overriding thought I have is that, being away from the series for a while, I’ve lost my connection a bit to the characters and in a single book, Billingham built that connection up so that the effect of certain developments was like a punch in the guts. Fans of the series who have been counting the days until they can read this, well, brace yourself.

And then start waiting for the next one. There’s space in the queue behind me…

Many thanks to the publishers for the review e-copy. What The Night Brings is out now in ebook and hardback.