{"id":5762,"date":"2025-01-08T21:57:22","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T21:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/books\/the-last-dance-mark-billingham-espresso-coco\/"},"modified":"2025-01-08T21:57:22","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T21:57:22","slug":"the-last-dance-mark-billingham-espresso-coco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=5762","title":{"rendered":"The Last Dance \u2013 Mark Billingham \u2013 espresso coco"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Meet Detective Miller: unique, unconventional, and criminally underestimated\u2026<\/p>\n

A double murder in a seaside hotel sees grieving Detective Miller return to work to solve what appears to be a case of mistaken identity. Will this eccentric, offbeat sleuth find answers where more traditional police have found only a puzzle?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Reader, I\u2019ve got a confession to make. And for a crime book reader, it\u2019s a biggie.<\/p>\n

Ready?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve not read any of Mark Billingham\u2019s Tom Thorne books.<\/p>\n

There. I said it.<\/p>\n

I have<\/strong> read one of his standalones (Rabbit Hole) and did really enjoy it! But for me it\u2019s one of those things where when it\u2019s a big series, I need to read them all, in order and the tottering TBR pile of books gives me some properly filthy looks when I even broach<\/em> the subject of starting a series with so many books in it.<\/p>\n

But now we have a new<\/strong> series! Perfect chance to jump in. And The Last Dance was shortlisted for the Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year too!<\/p>\n

Now, Mark Billingham is no stranger to the Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year shortlist. He won the inaugural award back in 2005 with\u00a0Lazybones<\/em><\/strong>, followed up by a shortlist spot in 2008 with\u00a0Buried<\/em><\/strong>, a second win in 2009 with\u00a0Death Message<\/em><\/strong>, and shortlists in 2010 for\u00a0In The Dark<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and 2011 for\u00a0From The Dead<\/em><\/strong>. Taking a year off in 2012 he returned to the shortlist in 2013 with\u00a0Rush of Blood<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and 2016 with\u00a0Time of Death<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Last Dance<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0marks his\u00a0eighth<\/strong>(!) appearance on the shortlist, and a new detective, Declan Miller. Can this book make it a hat trick of wins?<\/p>\n

I absolutely loved this one. Declan Miller is mourning the death of his wife and possibly back on the job too soon. The book has a delightfully dark humour running through it, an intriguing case and in Declan Miller, a fantastic main character. Ably abetted by his new partner DS Sara Xiu, Miller twirls through this case. Billingham is clearly having a lot of fun with this new character, and it absolutely shines off the page. A pure joy (if you can say that about a book where people get bumped off!)<\/p>\n

Roll on book 2 (which is fortunately out now so I don\u2019t need to wait!). Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

The Last Dance<\/em><\/strong> by Mark Billingham is published by Sphere and is out in paperback now<\/p>\n

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Author:<\/span> dave<\/h2>\n

\n\t\t\tBook reviewer, occasional writer, photographer, coffee-lover, cyclist, spoon carver and stationery geek.\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tView all posts by dave\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/p>\n

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