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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Prison violence; murder commissioned from inside a jail; Thorne faces serious physical danger
Language
Some
Some strong language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Mild content
Substance Use
Some
Heavy drinking; prison drug use depicted
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The specific psychological strain of sustained identity suppression; the ethics of using deception as a law enforcement tool
What this book is about
When a series of murders suggests a killer is operating from inside a prison — commissioning murders outside from his cell — DI Tom Thorne goes undercover as an inmate to get close to the suspect. Buried is the sixth Tom Thorne novel and Mark Billingham's most structurally ambitious: the prison scenes have a claustrophobic authenticity, and Thorne's attempt to maintain his cover while investigating from inside a criminal hierarchy is genuinely suspenseful. The book also develops the personal cost of Thorne's undercover work on the people around him.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
sixth of the Tom Thorne series; undercover prison setting
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