A death in the rural family-from-hell bring Fry and Cooper to a remote and unfriendly community in the fourth psychological Peak District thriller.
It's nearly May Day and deep in the Dark Peak lies the village of Withens. Not a tranquil place but one troubled by theft, vandalism, strange disappearances and now murder. A young man is killed – battered to death and left high on the desolate moors for the crows to find.
Ben Cooper, part of the investigating team, meets an impenetrable wall of silence from the man's relatives who form Withens' oldest family. The Oxleys are descendants of the first workers who tunnelled beneath the Peak. They stick to their own area, pass on secret knowledge through the generations, and guard their traditions from outsiders.
Detective Diane Fry is in Withens on other business – looking into the disappearance of Emma Renshaw. The student vanished into thin air two years ago, but her parents are convinced she is still alive and act accordingly...which doesn't help Fry in her efforts to re-open the case following an ominous discovery in remote countryside.
But there are other secrets in Withens and more violence to come...The past is stretching its shadow over the present, not just for the inhabitants of Withens but for Cooper and Fry as well.
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Praise for Stephen Booth:
‘Stephen Booth creates a fine sense of place and atmosphere ... the unguessable solution to the crime comes as a real surprise’ Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph
‘The complex relationship between [Cooper and Fry] is excellently drawn, and is combined with an intriguing plot and a real sense of place: Stephen Booth is an author to keep an eye on’ T J Binyon, Evening Standard
‘In this atmospheric debut, Stephen Booth makes high summer in Derbyshire as dark and terrifying as midwinter’ Val McDermid
‘Black Dog sinks its teeth into you and doesn’t let go ... A dark star may be born!’ Reginald Hill
DC Ben Cooper is trying to crack the case and to do that he must crack this clannish family. On top of that, his difficult boss, Detective Diane Fry, is also in Withens on business – one Emma Renshaw, a student who vanished two years ago. Some ominous new evidence relating to Emma has turned up, but her parents are convinced she is still alive and act accordingly – and very strangely. So, with one murder and one as yet unsolved disappearance, Withens’ reputation for grimness is growing. And it looks like things are only going to get darker...
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. First Edition. First British Edition, First Printing with full number line. Signed, without inscription, and dated 3rd May 2003 (month after publication) by author on the FULL title page. New unread As New book in As New dust jacket. All our books are bubble wrapped and shipped in a sturdy box with Delivery Confirmation. NO remainder mark, NO previous owner markings or inscriptions, NOT price clipped, NOT a Book Club Edition, NOT an Ex-Lib. Dust jacket covered in protective clear wrapper. Signed. Seller Inventory # 007350
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Fine. First Edition; First Printing. The author's fourth mystery, set in England's Peak District, and featuring DC Ben Cooper and DS Diane Fry. Text block is tight with no loose or dog-eared pages and with slight tanning to page edges. Dust jacket shows no wear or tears. Dust jacket protected in clear mylar wrapper; bubble wrapped, boxed, and shipped with USPS Tracking (USA only). Signed on title page. Seller Inventory # 000349
Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition 2.12. Seller Inventory # bk0007130651xvz189zvxnew