Lazy Bones by Mark Billingham

 

Things are always changing with Tom Thorne's Major Crimes team.  There is a new female detective and transfer Andy Stone is there, at least for now and as needed. Holland and his girlfriend are about to have a baby.  Thorne's days are pretty much the same.  Work until all hours, check in on his dad when he could, sleep and then go at it again.  One thing never changes.  There are always new murders.

The newest ones are grisly.  Men are being lured to hotel rooms, where they are tortured and killed after being raped.  The victims are all men who have been convicted of rape and served time.  They emerge from prison sure they have paid their debt but someone thinks there is more to pay.  Another similarity is that the killer always calls and orders a floral wreath for the victim.  Thorne becomes involved with one of the florists, a woman called Evie Bloom.  Will she become a fixture in his life?

This is the third in the Tom Thorne series.  Thorne suffers a break-in at his apartment in this one and it is interesting to see how he reacts as a crime victim himself.  The usual other characters are here, the overbearing bosses who are only interested in clearance rates and Thorne's pathologist friend.  The plot slowly unfolds and is surprising.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.