Mark Billingham Books In Order – Complete List

Mark Billingham is the British crime and mystery author of the popular Tom Thorne series and his newer Detective Miller series. He has also written several standalone novels and his works have been included in various short story collections and anthologies. Under the alias Will Peterson, he published a short young adult fantasy series, Triskellion, with Peter Cocks.

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DI Tom Thorne Books In Publication Order

1. Sleepyhead, published 2001
2. Scaredy Cat, 2002
3. Lazybones, 2003
4. The Burning Girl, 2004
5. Lifeless, 2005
6. Buried, 2006
7. Death Message, 2007
8. Bloodline, 2009
9. From the Dead, 2010
10. Thorne at Christmas (#10.5), 2013
11. Good as Dead, 2012
12. The Dying Hours, 2013
13. The Bones Beneath, 2014
14. Time of Death, 2015
15. Love Like Blood, 2017
16. The Killing Habit, 2018
17. Their Little Secret, 2019
18. Cry Baby, 2020
19. The Murder Book, 2022

DI Tom Thorne Books In Chronological Order

1. Cry Baby, 2020 (prequel)
2. Sleepyhead, published 2001
3. Scaredy Cat, 2002
4. Lazybones, 2003
5. The Burning Girl, 2004
6. Lifeless, 2005
7. Buried, 2006
8. Death Message, 2007
9. Bloodline, 2009
10. From the Dead, 2010
11. Thorne at Christmas (#10.5), 2013
12. Good as Dead, 2012
13. The Dying Hours, 2013
14. The Bones Beneath, 2014
15. Time of Death, 2015
16. Love Like Blood, 2017
17. The Killing Habit, 2018
18. Their Little Secret, 2019
19. The Murder Book, 2022

Detective Miller Books in Publication Order

• The Last Dance, 2023
• The Wrong Hands, 2024

Standalone Novels in Publication Order

• In the Dark, 2008
• Rush of Blood, 2012
• Die of Shame, 2016

Novellas and Short Stories in Publication Order

• Thorne at Christmas, 2013
• The Other Half, 2015 (with My Darling Clementine)
• Stroke of Luck, 2015
• Cut-off, 2018 (Quick Reads series)

Anthologies and Short Story Collections in Publication Order

• Men from Boys, 2003
• Like A Charm, 2004 (edited by Karin Slaughter)
• The Best New British Mysteries Volume II, 2005
• Damn Near Dead: An Anthology of Geezer Noir, 2006
• The Mammoth Book of Best British Mysteries, 2008
• Criminal Tendencies, 2009 (Great Stories from Great Crime Writers edited by Lynne Patrick)
• The Sounds Of Crime, 2010
• Suspense Magazine, April 2010, 2010
• Crimespree Magazine #1 and 2, 2011
• The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 9, 2012
• Suspense Magazine July 2012, 2012
• The Killer Cookbook, 2012
• Dancing Towards the Blade and Other Stories, 2013
• Crimespree Magazine #50, 2013
• Crime Writers: A Decade of Crime, 2013, with Harlan Coben, Ann Cleeves, P D James, Val McDermid and Steve Mosby
• OxCrimes: 27 Killer Stories from the Cream of Crimewriters, 2014
• Dead Simple, 2017
• Exit Wounds, 2019 (edited by Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan)
• Afraid of The Christmas Lights, 2020 (Afraid of the Light series)
• Murder on a Winter’s Night: Ten Classic Crime Stories for Christmas, 2021
• Brutal & Strange: Stories Inspired by the Songs of Elvis Costello, 2023
• Murder in Harrogate: Stories inspired by the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, 2024

Triskelion Books In Publication Order

written as Will Peterson along with Peter Cocks

1. Triskellion, 2008
2. The Burning, 2009
3. The Gathering, 2010

Mark Billingham Biography

Born in 1961 in Solihull, Warwickshire, Mark Philip David Billingham grew up in Birmingham. As a child, he went to the King Edward VI camp high school, a boy’s grammar school.

At the university, he graduated in drama, after which he co-founded a theater called Bread and Circuses.

In the 1980s he moved to London where he currently lives with his family. In 1987 he decided to follow a career in comedy before becoming a full-time writer. Folks in the UK might know the author as an actor, a stand-up comedian, as well as a TV writer.

In addition to his Tom Thorne series, Mark Billingham has also written other books, including his new Detective Miller series, and several standalone thrillers, two of which are being adapted for television by the BBC.

He has also written another series, this time a thriller series for young adults called Triskellion trilogy, under the pseudonym Will Peterson (co-written with Peter Cocks).

I first got introduced to the works of Mark Billingham when I received the very first book in the Tom Throne series, Sleepyhead, as a birthday gift from my mom.

She knows how much I love reading, and knew that I would enjoy reading a new crime mystery series, especially when starting with the first book. As you know by now, I’m a stickler for reading the books in order rather than randomly as I get my hands on them.

His first book in the Tom Thorne series left a strong impact on me, and I think this is where I really developed a strong love for British crime novels.

So should you read the Mark Billingham books in order for his Tom Thorne series? Well, I do believe so.

Each book in the series revolves around a case that is solved by the end of the book. However, if you get to like the rather flawed (damaged as some call him) character of Tom Thorne, you will want to follow his progress and learn more about him, without skipping a book here and there.

Not a big deal if you do, but for the sake of continuity, you might want to read the Mark Billingham books in chronological order. Overall, Reading the Mark Billingham books in order is easy because the novels in the series follow the order of publication with the exception of Cry Baby, which takes us back to the summer of 1996, when at the time Tom Thorne was a Detective Sergeant who had to solve the disappearance of two little boys and the murder of one of them who didn’t return. The story is a prequel to Sleepyhead.

In 2023, Mark Billingham started a new series titled Detective Miller, focusing on an unconventional middle-aged detective with little regard for authority, who is also a dancer. In the first case in the book, The Last Dance, this unorthodox detective DS Declan Miller has just returned from leave due to a personal tragedy, when he has to team up to solve a double murder in a seaside hotel.

Along with being suspenseful, the series gears up to be humorous as well, since Miller has a sharp wit and has often funny jokes and comments that create laugh-out-loud moments. In addition, there seems to be an element of the supernatural as well, which I will not spoil here.

Besides being an author, Mark Billingham is also an actor, television screenwriter and comedian.

Mark Billingham Book Adaptations

• The Thorne book series has been adapted into a TV series titled Thorne, by Sky1. It started broadcasting in 2010 and it included 6 episodes, with the first three an adaptation of Sleepyhead, and the last episodes of Scaredy Cat.
• The novel In The Dark was adapted into a miniseries by BBC in 2017.
• Rush of Blood is currently being adapted.

Mark Billingham Awards and Nominations

Over the years, for his books, Mark Billingham has received several awards and was nominated for many as well. Here are some of his recognitions.

• Scaredy Cat was nominated for CWA Gold Dagger Award in 2002
• Lazybones received the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2005
• Lifeless was nominated for BCA Crime Thriller of the Year in 2006
• Buried was nominated for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2008
• Death Message received the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2009
• In the Dark was nominated for CWA Gold Dagger Award in 2009
• In the Dark was nominated for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2010
• Rush of Blood was nominated for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2013
• The Dying Hours was nominated for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2014
• Time of Death was nominated for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2016
• Die of Shame was nominated for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2017
• Cry Baby was nominated for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2021
• Rabbit Hole was nominated for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2022
• The Murder Book was nominated for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2023
• The Last Dance was nominated for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2024

In addition, the author also received awards for other aspects of his career.

• What’s the Noise, which he wrote and presented, won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for Best Entertainment Programme.
• Knight School was nominated for the RTS’s Best Children’s Drama award.

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