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Ben Cooper & Diane Fry #13
Already Dead
A summer of endless rain in the Peak District leaves the officers of Derbyshire's CID with a problem. They have discovered a man's body lying in shallow water, but torrential rain has swollen the rivers and flooded the roads, making travel difficult and forensic examination impossible.
And that's not all. The absence of DS Ben Cooper, on extended leave after an arson attack, has left a serious gap. DS Diane Fry is a reluctant temporary replacement, but now their makeshift team is about to be tested to the limit. The fatal events of one damp August night are likely to remain shrouded in mystery if they can't track down a car glimpsed only as a dark outline in the rain by a passer-by.
As the rain turns into a deluge, loyalties among the officers will be put under intolerable strain as they try to solve their toughest case yet. And that's before it emerges that Ben Cooper is not at home, but has vanished into thin air...
And that's not all. The absence of DS Ben Cooper, on extended leave after an arson attack, has left a serious gap. DS Diane Fry is a reluctant temporary replacement, but now their makeshift team is about to be tested to the limit. The fatal events of one damp August night are likely to remain shrouded in mystery if they can't track down a car glimpsed only as a dark outline in the rain by a passer-by.
As the rain turns into a deluge, loyalties among the officers will be put under intolerable strain as they try to solve their toughest case yet. And that's before it emerges that Ben Cooper is not at home, but has vanished into thin air...
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First published January 1, 2013
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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 113 reviews
December 31, 2014
I really love this series, but Diana Fry is starting to wear on my nerves. She's gone from cranky and reserved to just unlikeable - and after the last book, with what happened to Ben, you'd think she'd lighten up a little.
The mystery itself is rather slight, as if the author is allowing himself, his readers and characters to catch their breath a little. Only one death, and seemingly little chance of more. Ben, of course, is on compassionate leave but still gets involved. Is he truly going off the rails? It seems more like getting into character and hiding in plain sight than anything more. I am getting a little tired of his overwhelming local knowledge and ability to make connections, and then being told he's something of a mess and not as good as he could be. Huh?
One of the things that always grabs me is the sense of place, how Edendale and surroundings play such a large role not just in the mystery but in the lives of the characters. The history we get, from hill forts to plague villages to walking tours, really adds. But at times, less is more. Less angst from Fry, less assuming Cooper's going to mess up, and less scenery - more mystery, more enjoyment.
The mystery itself is rather slight, as if the author is allowing himself, his readers and characters to catch their breath a little. Only one death, and seemingly little chance of more. Ben, of course, is on compassionate leave but still gets involved. Is he truly going off the rails? It seems more like getting into character and hiding in plain sight than anything more. I am getting a little tired of his overwhelming local knowledge and ability to make connections, and then being told he's something of a mess and not as good as he could be. Huh?
One of the things that always grabs me is the sense of place, how Edendale and surroundings play such a large role not just in the mystery but in the lives of the characters. The history we get, from hill forts to plague villages to walking tours, really adds. But at times, less is more. Less angst from Fry, less assuming Cooper's going to mess up, and less scenery - more mystery, more enjoyment.
July 20, 2013
I do enjoy my e-reader but every so often it is good to go back and here, once again, I was lucky enough to hold a new copy of a new release by a favourite author.
It is hard to believe that it was just over a year ago that I read 'Dead and Buried'- the previous book in this series. May be it is a sign of age starting to take its toll, but as I started this one, I couldn't remember the exciting finale of the last. I needn't have worried because most of it was soon relived. You could read this book as a stand alone but I couldn't recommend that. Get hold of Dead and Buried ( or the rest of the series) first , if you can.
It is difficult to say much about the narrative without giving something away about this or the last book,( and I dont think it is appropriate to leave spoilers) so suffice it to say that it felt good to be back with the crowd at Edensfield police station and up on the moors again. I also enjoyed the subtle humour that creeps into the stories , particularly this time the episode concerning the 'biblical names'.
I dont think that I have read a more recently written book before. There are several events mentioned that are still quite fresh in the memory- not least of which was last summer's rain and the flooding it caused.
Finally, I see from the cover notes that there is a TV series in preparation. Bringing detective novels to the screen has had mixed success, we wait to see who will be cast as Ben Cooper and Diane Fry. Whoever it is, I am sure it wont be how many of us have imagined them. I wish everyone luck with this.
It is hard to believe that it was just over a year ago that I read 'Dead and Buried'- the previous book in this series. May be it is a sign of age starting to take its toll, but as I started this one, I couldn't remember the exciting finale of the last. I needn't have worried because most of it was soon relived. You could read this book as a stand alone but I couldn't recommend that. Get hold of Dead and Buried ( or the rest of the series) first , if you can.
It is difficult to say much about the narrative without giving something away about this or the last book,( and I dont think it is appropriate to leave spoilers) so suffice it to say that it felt good to be back with the crowd at Edensfield police station and up on the moors again. I also enjoyed the subtle humour that creeps into the stories , particularly this time the episode concerning the 'biblical names'.
I dont think that I have read a more recently written book before. There are several events mentioned that are still quite fresh in the memory- not least of which was last summer's rain and the flooding it caused.
Finally, I see from the cover notes that there is a TV series in preparation. Bringing detective novels to the screen has had mixed success, we wait to see who will be cast as Ben Cooper and Diane Fry. Whoever it is, I am sure it wont be how many of us have imagined them. I wish everyone luck with this.
February 24, 2015
Did like it - but think perhaps he has gone a bit overboard on the description of place. Wirksworth deserves to be immortalised in fiction but not all of it moved the story forward, some of it felt like padding and some like a tourist guide. Liked the twist at the end. Sending Ben Cooper off the rails over his fiance's death rang quite true - as he seemed to have sleep-walked into the engagement (disturbing shades of The History of Mr Polly sleep-walking into marriage and then literally burning the house down). If the relationship had been better grounded then he might not have felt so disorientated when she died - although to be fair, if the relationship had been better grounded Stephen Booth might not have killed her off!
September 30, 2013
This is one of my favorite series; however, I don't remember Diane Fry being quite the shrew that she's become. Originally I thought that her character was both more nuanced and more appealing. The whole tone here was very dark between the floods and Cooper's psychological scars. Compelling, but dark.
June 12, 2014
I have managed to read all of the books, in this series, despite the presence of the much hated (by me) Diane Fry. Anti-social, paranoid, ill tempered, possessing a slight God complex, probably, a sociopath. No people skills, with either other police officers or civilians, why is this woman a DS? Why is she here? Perhaps the author wants me to feel sorry for her but I cannot imagine why I would or should.
But, up to this point, I have found the stories to be good enough to make me put up with this dreadful character. Until now, that is. With this book, I feel that the writing has gone down hill. For the first two thirds of the book, every second chapter has Ben Cooper wandering, aimlessly, over hill and dale with long drawn out descriptions of every rock and tree, ad nauseam (an aside, why, why, why does every British mystery writer feel compelled to kill off the significant other if the main character?).
At times, I wondered if I was reading a mystery or a travelogue of Derbyshire. And to add to this, the actual crime and investigation was pretty flat.
Although it picks up, somewhat, closer to the end, it is still well below the standards of the previous books. Frankly, I was bored.
But, up to this point, I have found the stories to be good enough to make me put up with this dreadful character. Until now, that is. With this book, I feel that the writing has gone down hill. For the first two thirds of the book, every second chapter has Ben Cooper wandering, aimlessly, over hill and dale with long drawn out descriptions of every rock and tree, ad nauseam (an aside, why, why, why does every British mystery writer feel compelled to kill off the significant other if the main character?).
At times, I wondered if I was reading a mystery or a travelogue of Derbyshire. And to add to this, the actual crime and investigation was pretty flat.
Although it picks up, somewhat, closer to the end, it is still well below the standards of the previous books. Frankly, I was bored.
January 12, 2020
This isn't a good place to start reading the series. This isn't a good book to read if you are depressed or mourning. Yet the portrayals of the rain-soaked Peak District and of unstoppable grief go hand in hand. Booth did not have to kill off a perfectly appropriate fiancee for his main character, but it happened, so now Ben has to spend a book on leave and rather than go somewhere sunny - why didn't he? Spain surely beckons in a summer like this - Ben haunts the streets and hill roads. The discovery of a body in a flooded drain is enough to arouse interest, but the background to this story is not so well fleshed as others, and we don't like anyone. We don't like Fry anymore, and she should have asked to transfer to London years ago. Why didn't she?
The weather contrast with the drought summer is good but we have too many relivings of the fire and then it's hard to credit the ending.
Booth writes bleak well, but does seem to wallow in it between dead end career blues and personal tragedies.
I borrowed this book from the RDS Library. This is an unbiased review.
The weather contrast with the drought summer is good but we have too many relivings of the fire and then it's hard to credit the ending.
Booth writes bleak well, but does seem to wallow in it between dead end career blues and personal tragedies.
I borrowed this book from the RDS Library. This is an unbiased review.
May 16, 2019
This is a story where heavy rain and flooding is all over the Peak District. There is a man who hasn’t been identified, lying dead in plenty of water. DS Diane Fry is heading up the investigation after DS Ben Cooper has gone awol after an arson attack. In my mind, the story is pretty weak and didn’t really take off, just waiting for any surprises to come along but wasn’t really there. Diane Fry hasn’t got much personality and it ended up being a real disappointment. What a shame.
April 25, 2014
"Already Dead" is another gripping read from Stephen Booth. The 13th book in the Cooper and Fry series sees Diane Fry back in Edendale as acting D.S whilst Ben Cooper is on extended leave.
Derbyshire is on flood alert owing to torrential rain. Then a body is found in a stream. The victim is believed to be a suicide, but is he?
A great page turner.
Derbyshire is on flood alert owing to torrential rain. Then a body is found in a stream. The victim is believed to be a suicide, but is he?
A great page turner.
January 11, 2017
Detta är faktiskt den sista boken av Booth som jag har i hyllan, den trettonde delen om Cooper och Fry. Tyvärr så har nog inte böckerna kommit riktigt till sin rätt när jag i stort sett har läst en i månaden under hela förra året. Det blir nog lite för mycket av allt då. Läs mer på min blogg
January 21, 2022
It is the good writing and quirky characters that bring me back to this series. A post traumatic and struggling Ben Cooper and the intense joyless Diane Fry add to the atmospheric, dark, rain soaked back drop of this murder mystery. Will he, or won't he? That is what will make you keep turning the pages.
October 19, 2013
Let's be clear. My four star delight in this novel derives considerably from my familiarity even for a Stephen Booth with the settings for this particular story . There is a spot where a dramatic event occurs and yesterday I was in it eight times. It is an intense experience to read dramatic fiction about a real place in which you are so immersed.
There were other familiar things: the very difficult character of Diane Fry about which I can't decide: is Booth's writing clunky, reminiscent of a bad soap setting up artificial conflict or are there people like that? The information-giving was there too - even more of it but broken up more. I thought I was going to smile indulgently and allow him this slightly irritating foible, half expecting him to go the whole journalistic hog and put an age in commas after every name but in the end it reminded me of myself giving guests a running commentary on a driving tour of the area and I loved it. Once, that is, I'd got beyond a few clangers - PeliDeli has not been open for coffee in that town since several Stephen Booth books ago, the murder victim's mother seems an unlikely Mango card user on the 6.1 bus, potentially too old not to have a free bus pass but certainly not sounding savvy enough to put money on the card.... and last but not least the wind turbines he mentions are not actually up yet. There is also a most peculiar incident of wedding invitations arriving from the printer apparently shortly before the date of a well-planned wedding.
The police end of things was a bit messy - quite possibly an expression of the nightmare that current British policing is for the contemporary crime writer - but the story was a good one. It does lead on from the tragic events of Dead and Buried and it is worth reading in order.
There were other familiar things: the very difficult character of Diane Fry about which I can't decide: is Booth's writing clunky, reminiscent of a bad soap setting up artificial conflict or are there people like that? The information-giving was there too - even more of it but broken up more. I thought I was going to smile indulgently and allow him this slightly irritating foible, half expecting him to go the whole journalistic hog and put an age in commas after every name but in the end it reminded me of myself giving guests a running commentary on a driving tour of the area and I loved it. Once, that is, I'd got beyond a few clangers - PeliDeli has not been open for coffee in that town since several Stephen Booth books ago, the murder victim's mother seems an unlikely Mango card user on the 6.1 bus, potentially too old not to have a free bus pass but certainly not sounding savvy enough to put money on the card.... and last but not least the wind turbines he mentions are not actually up yet. There is also a most peculiar incident of wedding invitations arriving from the printer apparently shortly before the date of a well-planned wedding.
The police end of things was a bit messy - quite possibly an expression of the nightmare that current British policing is for the contemporary crime writer - but the story was a good one. It does lead on from the tragic events of Dead and Buried and it is worth reading in order.
May 22, 2016
Every reader of this series knows Liz Petty, Ben Cooper’s fiancée, died in the last book, yet Booth brings it up over and over in this one. We get it.
Like many English authors, Booth feels the need to record every nuance of every emotion felt by every character. Slogging through them gets tedious after a while and slows the story down.
There’s too much everything – description, geology, geography – except action. Do we really need to know the view from a house’s front window? How the Peak District came to have so much limestone? The exact route a particular road has? Answer to all three: not really.
Cutting the emotion, description, geology, and geography excesses could pare a hundred pages from this book (and every other one in the series) make for tighter, tauter, more engaging stories.
And once, just once, it would be nice if Cooper and Fry actually said exactly what they were thinking instead of dancing verbally every time they say anything to each other. It’s getting very tiring and makes both main characters come across as petulant brats, not the professional, experienced police officers they are supposed to be. I’m also beginning to wonder how someone as distrustful and suspicious of her co-workers as Diane Fry is keeps her job.
Then there’s the matter of Ben Cooper’s ‘vanishing into thin air’ according to the cover blurb. For someone who has vanished, Ben is remarkably visible to the reader and almost every character in the book.
The only thing that kept me from giving this entry in the series 1 star is the intriguing crimes Fry and the others are investigating that end up merging into one complex case.
Like many English authors, Booth feels the need to record every nuance of every emotion felt by every character. Slogging through them gets tedious after a while and slows the story down.
There’s too much everything – description, geology, geography – except action. Do we really need to know the view from a house’s front window? How the Peak District came to have so much limestone? The exact route a particular road has? Answer to all three: not really.
Cutting the emotion, description, geology, and geography excesses could pare a hundred pages from this book (and every other one in the series) make for tighter, tauter, more engaging stories.
And once, just once, it would be nice if Cooper and Fry actually said exactly what they were thinking instead of dancing verbally every time they say anything to each other. It’s getting very tiring and makes both main characters come across as petulant brats, not the professional, experienced police officers they are supposed to be. I’m also beginning to wonder how someone as distrustful and suspicious of her co-workers as Diane Fry is keeps her job.
Then there’s the matter of Ben Cooper’s ‘vanishing into thin air’ according to the cover blurb. For someone who has vanished, Ben is remarkably visible to the reader and almost every character in the book.
The only thing that kept me from giving this entry in the series 1 star is the intriguing crimes Fry and the others are investigating that end up merging into one complex case.
February 22, 2015
I can’t believe that I am only giving 3 stars to a Stephen Booth novel. The Cooper/Fry mystery series is my favourite but this, the thirteenth outing is the weakest so far. The earlier books were mainly procedurals with strong character development throughout the series. Already Dead was more character driven with an incidental murder thrown in and it only partially worked. It picks up where the last, Dead and Buried, leaves off. Ben is recuperating from the events in the previous book and not coping very well, which is highly understandable. His sense of loss and grief is well depicted. Still, as a member of the public, he gets involved in the latest case. Diane is torn between wanting his insight when he is not around and rejecting it to his face when he is. While Ben’s character has continued to evolve, Diane’s character feels stuck. I find her hard to believe in as a successful senior police officer when her people skills are so poor and her lack of insight is so high. After all these years, she still does not know the district. With the help of Booth’s strong sense of place and Google maps, I, who live on the far side of the world, have a better idea of the Peak District than she does. And, finally, with her paranoia that her team is plotting against her, it is a wonder she gets anything accomplished at all. Will I read another Cooper/ Fry mystery? Definitely. I liked Already Dead; it just didn’t go to the wow level I was expecting.
February 8, 2015
Too many characters and too many story lines made for confusing and unenjoyable reading. even the resolution of all the storylines into the final outcome was unsatisfying. It was like a big nasty secret that the reader was left out of. Not clever plot twists just unenjoyable. I finished the book because I wanted to know what the point was not because I wanted to find out what happened to the characters or solve the crime... and I was disappointed.
November 8, 2014
Unusually awkward, alas, and the bit with extremely late arrival of some wedding invitations caused me puzzlement, rather than sympathy. Not his best, but psychologically interesting and involving. I'm still looking forward to the next one. But really, I wish Diane Fry would move along....I loathe that woman!
May 15, 2016
Excellent addition to the wonderful series. I only ave two more until Stephen writes more..
March 5, 2019
A linking book
This book concentrates on Cooper's psychological state in the aftermath of Liz's death. The murder being investigated by Fry and the rest of Cooper's team feels almost like a side issue - you can almost feel the author's intent to create an event so overwhelming that a future change in the relationship between Cooper and Fry becomes at least possible, whereas it would have stretched credulity to breaking point before.
So what we get here is a fine portrait of a man teetering the verge of mental disintegration, but that comes at the expense of a sense of dynamism in the main murder mystery, and a reliance on coincidence and a highly improbable plot-point to tie the ends together for the denouement. So it's good, but not one of the best in the series, but that will be forgivable if it enables the author to dig the Cooper / Fry relationship out of the mud its been stuck in for too long now, and say something new in subsequent instalments.
This book concentrates on Cooper's psychological state in the aftermath of Liz's death. The murder being investigated by Fry and the rest of Cooper's team feels almost like a side issue - you can almost feel the author's intent to create an event so overwhelming that a future change in the relationship between Cooper and Fry becomes at least possible, whereas it would have stretched credulity to breaking point before.
So what we get here is a fine portrait of a man teetering the verge of mental disintegration, but that comes at the expense of a sense of dynamism in the main murder mystery, and a reliance on coincidence and a highly improbable plot-point to tie the ends together for the denouement. So it's good, but not one of the best in the series, but that will be forgivable if it enables the author to dig the Cooper / Fry relationship out of the mud its been stuck in for too long now, and say something new in subsequent instalments.
July 15, 2024
Already Dead mostly deals with the impact and aftermath of the death of Ben Cooper's fiance in Stephen Booth's previous novel. Cooper is struggling, and Fry, on a temporary secondment back to Edendale CID, is as chippy and grumpy as ever. The central mystery is fairly lightweight. Booth is very good at evoking the feel of Derbyshire, but sometimes, the historical and factual descriptions feel overdone. This story is set during an extremely wet British summer, and this was well realised. But the excessive detail about weather, torrential rain, flooding, and driving in the wet made me feel as though I was reading the warnings section of the Environment Agency website!
Koplowitz 2024
Koplowitz 2024
November 23, 2018
I have come to enjoy this series but have to say that this one is more about Ben Cooper's state of mind following the fire and death of his girlfriend, than about the crime which was really several crimes. Everyone is worried about Ben's mind and how he is recovering from his trauma. In the end is Diane Fry mellowing towards him or is she as vindictive as ever and does DC Villiers, his friend from school, have her eye on him? Have to wait until next time.
A good enough tale but not the best one so far. 3 stars.
A good enough tale but not the best one so far. 3 stars.
January 25, 2019
Atmospheric mystery with gripping characters
The characters are even more important than the plot in the latest Cooper and Fry mystery. The development of Ben Cooper and his PTSD, and Diane Fry, a woman with poor people skills who would like to be a member of the team but doesn’t know how, had me on the edge of my seat. The plot was good, too and I was never sure who’d done it until the end.
And the torrential rain throughout the book serves both as a metaphor and as a way of conveying atmosphere that really brought the scenes to life.
The characters are even more important than the plot in the latest Cooper and Fry mystery. The development of Ben Cooper and his PTSD, and Diane Fry, a woman with poor people skills who would like to be a member of the team but doesn’t know how, had me on the edge of my seat. The plot was good, too and I was never sure who’d done it until the end.
And the torrential rain throughout the book serves both as a metaphor and as a way of conveying atmosphere that really brought the scenes to life.
January 13, 2019
Another solid entry in the Fry & Cooper series, with a mystery that'll keep you confounded to the end. The relationship between the main characters keeps on getting more complex with every book, and the extra twist of Ben's mental and physical health issues in this one gives it another dimension. A little heavy on technical details here and there, which slowed things down a couple of times, but overall a hugely entertaining read.
October 3, 2019
I have to say I have not become a fan of Diane Fry. I wish it had been her... Oh well! Ben Cooper is a very sympathetic character. I love his descriptions of the countryside, a part of England that I've never visited, but he has me wanting to see it.
I had read this months before Dead and Buried, so I knew that much. I wish I had read them in order, but this one is a good stand-alone, too. Much of this story keeps the reader reading. I love all the twists and turns that keep me interested.
I had read this months before Dead and Buried, so I knew that much. I wish I had read them in order, but this one is a good stand-alone, too. Much of this story keeps the reader reading. I love all the twists and turns that keep me interested.
February 4, 2020
This book had a good plot with a twist and complicated characters. Fry is still as unlikeable as ever. It was strange to see Cooper so out of it, yet his mind was still sharp amid the fog of misery. My only complaint isn’t that the author used a lot of acronyms which US readers wouldn’t recognize, as well as police acronyms which civilians wouldn’t know either. As usual, I look forward to reading the next installment in the series.
March 26, 2020
Mielenkiintoinen sarja, jossa taso vaihtelee. Diane Frysta on tullut yksioikoinen kiusankappale, mikä on sääli... Kustantaja Raimo Salokangas suomentaa näitä nykyään itse, eikä aina kovin onnistuneesti. Monta lausetta olisin suomentanut toisin. Ympäristön ja luonnon kuvaus on mielenkiintoista ja onnistunutta. Kaikenlaista näistä kirjoista aina oppii, Booth onnistuu kertoilemaan monista asioista brittiyhteiskunnassa.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2023
This could have been quite good as the Whodunnit mystery itself was sound BUT the story didn’t explain properly how an off duty Cooper solved the case that DS Fry was leading.
With DS Ben Cooper off duty following the fire which cost his fiancée her life he is seemingly obsessed only with revenge on the arsonist. However half way through he meets up with one of his DC’s & asks about the case then solves it but without telling Fry??? Weird
With DS Ben Cooper off duty following the fire which cost his fiancée her life he is seemingly obsessed only with revenge on the arsonist. However half way through he meets up with one of his DC’s & asks about the case then solves it but without telling Fry??? Weird
August 6, 2024
Took me a while to finish the book because I found it hard to get in to - too much description about places/stuff that wasn’t really relevant to the story. I was interested enough to finish but did a lot of skimming through at various points and it actually made it easier to follow the story because I wasn’t getting sidetracked.
June 13, 2017
Not one of the stronger entries into Stephen Booth's series. The plot needed a lot of tightening up as Diane Fry and Ben Cooper working mainly separately try to solve a murder of a seemingly innocuous man. Start with Black Dog, the first in the series.
February 24, 2018
I was still spitting angry about the last book for the first part of this one! When I cooled off, it was up to the usual standard. Booth does amazing setting; I still feel wet. I love Ben Cooper, but I still can't stand Diane Fry!
February 10, 2019
This is the second Stephen Booth book I've read. It is not a fast paced thriller by any means. It moves along slowly, giving lots of detail about the Peak District and it's inhabitants. A book worth reading although Fry really is unlikeable.
January 24, 2020
Not a bad read, but the storyline was about as damp as the weather depicted in the book from start to finish. Far too many characters (which is a bug-bear of mine) most of whom didn't do too much. A new author for me, so may have to dig another one out before being too judgemental.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews