The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 22 books · 2001 to 2026 · Mostly set in London

Mark Billingham

Crime and mysteryPolice proceduralCosy and comic

Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, a country music fan with no patience for procedure, works London murders with his friend Phil Hendricks, a pathologist. Billingham’s newer series follows Declan Miller, a Blackpool detective who copes with grief by dancing.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip. Standalones are left out. Cry Baby is a prequel set in 1996.

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Who appears in which book

Click a name to follow that character from book to book, or a book title to see its cast.

LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
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Mark Billingham books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Tom Thorne

19 books · Set in LondonPolice procedural
  1. 1Sleepyhead2001With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  2. 2Scaredy Cat2002With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  3. 3Lazybones2003With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  4. 4The Burning Girl2004With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  5. 5Lifeless2005With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  6. 6Buried2006With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  7. 7Death Message2007With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  8. 8Bloodline2009With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  9. 9From the Dead2010With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  10. 10Good as Dead2011With Tom Thorne and Helen WeeksBuy on Amazon
  11. 11The Dying Hours2013With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  12. 12The Bones Beneath2014With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  13. 13Time of Death2015With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  14. 14Love Like Blood2017With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  15. 15The Killing Habit2018With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  16. 16Their Little Secret2019With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  17. 17Cry Baby2020With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  18. 18The Murder Book2022With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon
  19. 19What the Night Brings2025With Tom ThorneBuy on Amazon

Declan Miller

3 books · Set in ManchesterPolice proceduralCosy and comic
  1. 1The Last Dance2023With Declan MillerBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Wrong Hands2024With Declan MillerBuy on Amazon
  3. 3The Shadow Step2026With Declan MillerBuy on Amazon

Characters

10 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

Tom Thorne

Declan Miller