The Demands by Mark Billingham

 

When he is overwhelmed by his life, a Muslim shopowner in London takes two hostages.  One is a young man, recently married, who works in a bank.  The other is a policewoman.  When the police are able to speak with him, he demands to speak with DC Tom Thorne.  The man's son was recently killed in prison, a prison he was sent to for a harsh sentence when he and a friend were attacked on the street and in the ensuing fight, a man was killed.  The prison says the son's death is a suicide but the family doesn't believe it.  

Thorne remembers the case well.  He and others were shocked at the sentence handed down to the young man, who was a stellar youth bound for university and great things.  He hadn't heard about his death and he knows he only has a short period of time to investigate before tempers flare in the shop and the hostages are harmed.  Is the man right or is he deluded by grief?

This is number ten in the Tom Thorne series.  It is one of my favorites.  There is so much tension as Thorne fights the clock to find out what really happened, both at the initial crime and at the prison where the young man lost his life.  Thorne also starts a new relationship with the hostage negotiator who is in charge of talking with the hostages and their captor at the scene.  There are many twists and turns and the resolution is satisfactory.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.