馬克．畢林漢 Mark Billingham

英國最負盛名的犯罪小說作家之一。曾任演員、電視編劇和單口相聲演員，出生於英國伯明罕。

曾經以《懶骨頭》（Lazy Bones）與《死亡消息》（Death Message）兩度獲得柴克斯頓犯罪小說首獎，並以《膽小鬼》（Scaredy Cat）贏得夏洛克獎的最佳偵探獎。他獨立製作的驚悚片IN THE DARK也入選為年度時代佳作。

探長湯姆‧索恩系列則是「星期天泰晤時報」書籍暢銷排行榜的常勝軍。本書與《探長索恩 貪睡鬼》（Sleepyhead）已改編為熱門電視影集，由男星大衛．莫瑞賽（David Morrissey）飾演湯姆．索恩。目前馬克與妻子、兩名小孩住在北倫敦。

作者官網：www.markbillingham.com

Thorne knew when he was looking at something out of the ordinary. This was a significant murder scene. This was the work of a killer driven by something special, something spectacular ... He looked at the dead man on the bed -- the position of him, as if he were praying ... Thorne guessed that at the end, he probably had been.

The body is found in the grubbiest of North London hotel rooms. Kneeling, naked on a bare mattress, the head is hooded and the hands tied tight with a brown leather belt. And then there's the oddest detail of all: the call from the florist to check arrangements about the wreath ... It's been only ten days since convicted rapist Douglas Remfry was released from prison. Someone knew he was coming out. Someone wanted to hand out some punishment of his own. When a second sex offender is discovered dead, the police believe they have a vicious, calculating vigilante on their hands. But how does the killer lure his victims to their deaths? Who do the victims think they are going to meet in these hotel rooms? And then the police find the letters ...

Detective Inspector Tom Thorne always works best when his emotions are involved in the case, when his anger flares him into action -- but he's having trouble finding any sympathy for the dead. It is only as his investigation continues that Thorne finally discovers a victim worth fighting for, a victim whose identity becomes crucial to cracking this most twisted of cases ...

From its chilling opening to its shocking climax, Lazybones confirms Mark Billingham's place as one of today's master storytellers and is certain to be one of the most thrilling and talked-about suspense novels of the year.