The Dead Place by
Stephen Booth
hbk out June 05
Published by HarperCollins
at £12.99
The Derbyshire police are getting phone calls from an anonymous caller who is promising a
killing. A hoax or the real thing? DS Diane Fry thinks it is a joker at first until she hears the
tape herself. By then she fears they may be too late to save the next victim. Meanwhile
DC Ben Cooper, who is using the technique of facial reconstruction to identify a corpse,
finds himself embroiled in a case of body snatching. Enquiries take him into the world of the
dead and those who dispose of them: the funeral directors and crematory workers. Cooper
also obtains specialist help from an academic who studies death and the rituals that surround
it. Booth is at the forefront of current British crime fiction with his trademark satisfying and
intelligent stories and complex plots that entertain and stimulate. Each addition to the Peak
District series develops the relationship between Fry and Cooper a little more, as well as
giving us an insight into the personal issues they are each dealing with. A winning formula
that continues to please.
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries and the series creator of TV Blue Murder)
The Dead Place by
Stephen Booth
