The Time of Death By Mark Billingham.

I am a great fan of Billingham's Tom Thorne suspense/mystery novels. They are intense, dark, and addictive.  Now with his 13th Thorne novel, he has become more focused on developing characters and relationships. First his relationship with Phil Hendricks forensic pathologist and more recently his love interest Helen Weekes. Even though it is fairly new, their relationship already carries baggage including a young son who resulted from Helen's previous relationship.
Having deposited their son at Helen's fathers, they go on a holiday to the Cotswolds. Shortly after arrival, they hear of the kidnapping of two teenage girls in Helen's childhood village. She decides to forgo her holiday in order to support her childhood friend whose husband has been charged with the kidnappings. Helen has not returned home since leaving 25 years earlier, nor has she kept in touch with her former schoolmates, so why is she so eager to help.? Thorne goes along for the beer and to be with Helen. But almost upon arrival, Helen becomes uncommunicative and of course Thorne decides to check on the progress of the case.
It's not long before he totally disagrees with the conclusions of the local police who are patting themselves on the back for their quick result. Plus there is still one girl missing and Thorne believes she is still alive. The locals are not pleased with his interference. Taking the novel out of the usual setting and into the small village of Polesford is a welcome change. It puts both Thorne and Weekes out of their usual element and gives them a disadvantage.  The novel is injects viewpoints from the murderer and the victim.  It will be interesting to see what carries over into the next book.  As always, I can't wait.