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A stunning landscape, a ruthless conflict... and one young police detective.On the wild moors of England's Dark Peak, a conflict has been raging for years. The discovery of an illegal haul from the bedroom of a terraced house is a clue to what might be at stake - not only the fate of local wildlife, but perhaps the entire future of one of the most prized landscapes in the Peak District National Park.Derbyshire police detective DC Ben Cooper, on assignment to the Rural Crime Squad, finds himself stepping into the middle of the conflict, without being quite sure whose side he's on. The predators come in all shapes and sizes - and in this battle, not all the victims are human...CLAWS is a short novella from award-winning British crime writer Stephen Booth, author of eleven novels in the Cooper & Fry series, all set in England's beautiful and atmospheric Peak District. At around 15,000 words, the story features one of the author's popular series characters, Detective Constable Ben Cooper, tackling the issues of wildlife crime.CLAWS was one of the first titles published in the 'Crime Express' series by UK independent publisher Five Leaves Publications."One of the elite British mystery writers" - Washington Times"Booth is a modern master of rural noir" - The Guardian"There are few, if any, contemporary writers who do this as well as Stephen Booth" - Arena Magazine"Booth delivers some of the best crime fiction in the UK" - Manchester Evening NewsThe ebook includes an excerpt from the latest novel in the Cooper & Fry series, THE DEVIL'S EDGE.
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
59 people are currently reading
242 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Booth
55 books675 followersStephen Booth is the author of 18 novels in the Cooper & Fry series, all set around England's Peak District, and a standalone novel DROWNED LIVES, published in August 2019.
The Cooper & Fry series has won awards on both sides of the Atlantic, and Detective Constable Cooper has been a finalist for the Sherlock Award for Best Detective created by a British author. The Crime Writers’ Association presented Stephen with the Dagger in the Library Award for “the author whose books have given readers most pleasure.”
The novels are sold all around the world, with translations in 16 languages. The most recent title is FALL DOWN DEAD.
A new Stephen Booth standalone novel with a historical theme, DROWNED LIVES, will be published in August 2019:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drowned-Live...
In recent years, Stephen has become a Library Champion in support of the UK’s ‘Love Libraries’ campaign. He's represented British literature at the Helsinki Book Fair in Finland, appeared with Alexander McCall Smith at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival in Australia, filmed a documentary for 20th Century Fox on the French detective Vidocq, taken part in online chats for World Book Day, taught crime writing courses, and visited prisons to talk to prisoners about writing.
He lives in Nottinghamshire.
The Cooper & Fry series has won awards on both sides of the Atlantic, and Detective Constable Cooper has been a finalist for the Sherlock Award for Best Detective created by a British author. The Crime Writers’ Association presented Stephen with the Dagger in the Library Award for “the author whose books have given readers most pleasure.”
The novels are sold all around the world, with translations in 16 languages. The most recent title is FALL DOWN DEAD.
A new Stephen Booth standalone novel with a historical theme, DROWNED LIVES, will be published in August 2019:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drowned-Live...
In recent years, Stephen has become a Library Champion in support of the UK’s ‘Love Libraries’ campaign. He's represented British literature at the Helsinki Book Fair in Finland, appeared with Alexander McCall Smith at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival in Australia, filmed a documentary for 20th Century Fox on the French detective Vidocq, taken part in online chats for World Book Day, taught crime writing courses, and visited prisons to talk to prisoners about writing.
He lives in Nottinghamshire.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 6, 2019
A good short story that fits in nicely between novels. As usual the dark, brooding atmosphere of the moors is well portrayed & the storyline is an interesting one.
You don't need to be familiar with the series to enjoy it but a new reader won't get the measure of Cooper from this.
You don't need to be familiar with the series to enjoy it but a new reader won't get the measure of Cooper from this.
January 10, 2012
Only Ben Cooper appears in this nicely short story. I like the interplay befween Cooper and Uddal; the mystery itself is Intriguing; and the ending satisfies. But this is a mystery with a message. And that message is hammered home in Cooper's thoughts, a policeman's dialogue, a character's spouting. It was a bit Law & Order like in its preachiness. Booth made an effort to make the dialogue and thoughts natural, but it was the sheer overwhelming amount of it that ruined that effort. I would've preferred more of the usual Cooper mystery tone and less of the message being so obvious.
January 12, 2016
This was more like a pamphlet for preserving wildlife than a story worth reading. Most of the characters' "conversation" was merely an excuse to put the facts out there. The supposed mystery was not very clever or interesting, but I guess there is very little leeway in a short story, especially when it's packed with all that dry exposition on what those nasty bird and egg collectors do to ruin the environment. Cooper and Fry fans really won't miss anything if they don't read this.
July 24, 2012
I had never read a Stephen Booth book before but intend to add him to my favorite author list. As an animal lover and a bird watcher, I really was pulled into this novella and would definitely recommend it.
June 9, 2016
Tempted in the charity shop by the corvid on the cover. It was all right but Cooper doesn't have the space to shine in such a short book and for anyone who knows anything about the Peak district and the illegal killing of raptors, comes across as a bit preachy.
October 7, 2013
Not bad but novellas are not Booth's long suit. Light, quick reading. Good for waiting at the doctor's office or in the airport.
September 27, 2022
I did not like this book, though it is no fault of the author's. It is upsetting, to me, to read stories about collectors of birds eggs, nests, birds, and particularly the raiding of raptor nests for the young.
This read like the synopsis for a longer book. But it was quite long enough for my taste.
This read like the synopsis for a longer book. But it was quite long enough for my taste.
February 25, 2020
Reminds me of the "Bookshots" line of quick reads. This tidy police investigation wraps up in less than an hour! Great for fans of "The Feather Thief," or those interested in British wildlife protection laws.
September 19, 2021
‘Raptor’ous Applause
Decent short story set in the world of twitching and egg collectors.
Nice and compact with interesting detail on the avian wildlife in the peaks and it’s ongoing battle with egg and chick thieves.
Thought provoking ending
Decent short story set in the world of twitching and egg collectors.
Nice and compact with interesting detail on the avian wildlife in the peaks and it’s ongoing battle with egg and chick thieves.
Thought provoking ending
December 14, 2023
This is a short story/novella, not a full mystery novel. The subject matter about people who collect bird eggs and raid nests for young raptors. Not really typical of the main series but interesting.
February 3, 2018
Audiobook - Short story
February 26, 2018
Great short book. I love the Cooper and Fry series .
March 22, 2019
A rural noir novella set on the moors of the Peak District, centred upon an investigation into wildlife crimes with far-reaching consequences. Evokes the landscape of rural Debyshire beautifully and captures something of the tensions between it's habitants, the police, activists and those looking to exploit nature for their own gain. An interesting insight into the acquisitive psche and a glimpse into the dark underbelly of wildlife crime. I liked the uncertainty of the, reservedly, restoratative ending.
"Well, at least you have a place where you belong, a status in some kind of hierarchy, even if it's right at the bottom. It's an animal instinct, the desire to be part of a pack."
"Well, at least you have a place where you belong, a status in some kind of hierarchy, even if it's right at the bottom. It's an animal instinct, the desire to be part of a pack."
June 6, 2011
Claws is another of Stephen Booth's Peak District mysteries, but it is not part of the series as such. This is a shorter story (only 80 pages) featuring only Ben Cooper and fitting in the series either just before or just after "Dying to Sin", judging by the publishing date.
Like I said Claws is much shorter then the books in the series and is more of a novella then a novel.
In this story Ben Cooper is investigating wildlife crime with the Rural Crime Squad. The investigation focusses mainly on a man known to collect Goshawk chicks and eggs. The goshawk is a protected birth so those collecting activities alone would warrant an arrest, but the man is also suspected of involvement with the trade in illegal drugs.
Before too long though, Ben and his colleagues are not just dealing with threatened and dead birds but also with a human murder victim, and Ben finds himself facing a choice between law and humanity.
I enjoyed this story, but I thought it was too short. Not only because I prefer longer books with more detail in general, but also because I feel that this story would have benefited from fleshing out. I would have loved to learn more about almost everybody and everything in this story, and did miss everything that wasn't there.
Having said that, Booth always knows to capture me with his writing and his descriptions of the Peak District and Claws was no exception. And with Ben Cooper being my favourite character in Booth's series, this novella was like a nice treat to tie me over until I can get my hands on the latest title in the series.
Like I said Claws is much shorter then the books in the series and is more of a novella then a novel.
In this story Ben Cooper is investigating wildlife crime with the Rural Crime Squad. The investigation focusses mainly on a man known to collect Goshawk chicks and eggs. The goshawk is a protected birth so those collecting activities alone would warrant an arrest, but the man is also suspected of involvement with the trade in illegal drugs.
Before too long though, Ben and his colleagues are not just dealing with threatened and dead birds but also with a human murder victim, and Ben finds himself facing a choice between law and humanity.
I enjoyed this story, but I thought it was too short. Not only because I prefer longer books with more detail in general, but also because I feel that this story would have benefited from fleshing out. I would have loved to learn more about almost everybody and everything in this story, and did miss everything that wasn't there.
Having said that, Booth always knows to capture me with his writing and his descriptions of the Peak District and Claws was no exception. And with Ben Cooper being my favourite character in Booth's series, this novella was like a nice treat to tie me over until I can get my hands on the latest title in the series.
September 3, 2011
Reading this little story was very thought provoking about Stephen Booth's 'Rural Noir' altogether. The story itself, centred around wildlife crime in the Peak District, was an interesting one. He didn't do much to build on characters - there seems to be such a lot to be mined in the Tracey Udall, single mother of two police officer, and it did show up his tendency to provide little "information boards". I know it was a tiny little volume but the best short stories do manage to do these things.
However, I love his books and I would have loved the way this brought those stories and my own interest in wildlife together but for what I felt were some rather unrealistic inconsistencies in some of the statements of the one whodunnit.
However, I love his books and I would have loved the way this brought those stories and my own interest in wildlife together but for what I felt were some rather unrealistic inconsistencies in some of the statements of the one whodunnit.
March 31, 2012
A reread of this novella, since I recently gave a copy to Mum and she and Dad have been wanting to talk about it. A slightly less fictionalised Peak District than in some of Booth's other books, although some of his common locations also make an appearance. I missed seeing the regular cast of characters alongside Ben Cooper, although I seem to remember that one of the characters from this story has shown up in later books. A short read that helped pass the time while the ponies were being fed.
August 10, 2016
A free read I obtained off Amazon.
I have had Stephen Booth on my list of Author to read for some time so when this book was offered to me I thought I would give it a go. A very well written book but it never really got me interested. I was impressed enough to read more of his work and hopefully a different subject and a longer novel may make all the difference.
I have had Stephen Booth on my list of Author to read for some time so when this book was offered to me I thought I would give it a go. A very well written book but it never really got me interested. I was impressed enough to read more of his work and hopefully a different subject and a longer novel may make all the difference.
July 1, 2015
A quick read and perhaps that is why I did not enjoy it as much. The story deals with crimes of nature, another topic I am not fond of. I think the writing was good, but overall for me it was not enjoyable.
May 27, 2017
Bemused
The story was good so far as it went. Too short and the character's didn't have the opportunity to be fully developed. Was this a short story and I hadn't realised? I'm l" a little bemused. Left wanting more to be honest.
The story was good so far as it went. Too short and the character's didn't have the opportunity to be fully developed. Was this a short story and I hadn't realised? I'm l" a little bemused. Left wanting more to be honest.
July 3, 2011
I am reading this as an ebook. I don't usually care for short stories, I wanted more...
March 31, 2013
Novella featuring Peak district detective Ben Cooper and some birds of prey
January 31, 2014
A light, quick read. Only 80 pages. The story could have been more developed and the ending was abrupt. Just as I was getting interested it was over.
August 12, 2016
A short story set on the Derbyshire moors. The dialogue seemed a little forced and unnatural to me, but it was a quick read with an interesting take on marriage and creatures which bond for life.
May 2, 2014
Nice little vignette, but short stories aren't really my bag - aways left wanting more!
January 17, 2015
I downloaded this because I've enjoyed other books by this author. Claws was quite simply just boring. I abandoned it at about the 30% stage.
August 30, 2014
good story, if a little short
November 20, 2015
A short story featuring the young Ben Cooper and giving insight into his character. As always, the sense of place is strong. Recommended.
October 12, 2015
Unusual
Want to read
February 12, 20162/12/16: This story is included in Witness: a Thriller and Suspense ebook sampler, at least I think it's the same story anyway, I haven't read it yet.
April 23, 2013
Don't waste your time on this one. It adds nothing to the series and is too short by half.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews