'And as it grew dark, Withens became almost entirely silent. Except for the screaming.'
It's nearly May Day, and deep in the Dark Peak lies the village of Withens. A young man has been killed - battered to death and left high on the desolate moors for the crows to find.
Derbyshire detective DC Ben Cooper meets an impenetrable wall of silence from the man's relatives who form Withens' oldest family, the Oxleys, 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.
Meanwhile, DS 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. The darkness in the heart of Withens is growing. And things are only going to get nastier…
BLIND TO THE BONES is the 4th novel in the multiple award-winning Cooper & Fry series, set in England's beautiful and atmospheric Peak District.
* Nominated for the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year Award 2004
* A top 50 paperback bestseller in the UK
* A number 8 bestseller for the Independent Mystery Booksellers in the USA
* A number 1 hardback bestseller for the UK’s leading mystery bookstore, Crime in Store
* A Hot 100 bestseller for Amazon.co.uk in hardcover
* In 2003, Stephen Booth was the winner of the Dagger in the Library award, presented by the Crime Writers’ Association for the author whose books have given readers the most pleasure
PRAISE FOR THE COOPER AND FRY SERIES:
"Suspenseful and supremely engaging. Booth does a wonderful job." - Los Angeles Times
"Simultaneously classic, contemporary and haunting." - Otto Penzler, Mysterious Bookshop, New York
"Stephen Booth makes high summer in Derbyshire as dark and terrifying as midwinter." - Val McDermid, award-winning crime novelist
"Intelligent and substantive crime fiction, rich with complex characters." - Library Journal
"Booth has firmly joined the elite of Britain's top mystery writers." - Florida Sun-Sentinel
"Crime fiction for the thinking man or woman, and damnably hard to put down." - January Magazine
"Highly recommended - a great series!" - Seattle Mystery Bookstore
"Ben Cooper and Diane Fry are the most interesting crime team to arrive on the mystery scene in a long while." - Rocky Mountain News
"One of our best story tellers." - Sunday Telegraph
"There are few, if any, contemporary writers who do this as well as Stephen Booth." - Arena magazine
"Booth is a modern master of rural noir." - The Guardian
"Booth delivers some of the best crime fiction in the UK." - Manchester Evening News
"Stephen Booth has to be one of the best new English mystery writers." - Toadstool Bookshop, New Hampshire
"Booth's aim is to portray the darkness that lies below the surface... in this he succeeds wonderfully well." - Mark Billingham, author of the DI Tom Thorne series
"If you read only one new crime writer this year, he's your man." - Yorkshire Post
It's nearly May Day, and deep in the Dark Peak lies the village of Withens. A young man has been killed - battered to death and left high on the desolate moors for the crows to find.
Derbyshire detective DC Ben Cooper meets an impenetrable wall of silence from the man's relatives who form Withens' oldest family, the Oxleys, 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.
Meanwhile, DS 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. The darkness in the heart of Withens is growing. And things are only going to get nastier…
BLIND TO THE BONES is the 4th novel in the multiple award-winning Cooper & Fry series, set in England's beautiful and atmospheric Peak District.
* Nominated for the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year Award 2004
* A top 50 paperback bestseller in the UK
* A number 8 bestseller for the Independent Mystery Booksellers in the USA
* A number 1 hardback bestseller for the UK’s leading mystery bookstore, Crime in Store
* A Hot 100 bestseller for Amazon.co.uk in hardcover
* In 2003, Stephen Booth was the winner of the Dagger in the Library award, presented by the Crime Writers’ Association for the author whose books have given readers the most pleasure
PRAISE FOR THE COOPER AND FRY SERIES:
"Suspenseful and supremely engaging. Booth does a wonderful job." - Los Angeles Times
"Simultaneously classic, contemporary and haunting." - Otto Penzler, Mysterious Bookshop, New York
"Stephen Booth makes high summer in Derbyshire as dark and terrifying as midwinter." - Val McDermid, award-winning crime novelist
"Intelligent and substantive crime fiction, rich with complex characters." - Library Journal
"Booth has firmly joined the elite of Britain's top mystery writers." - Florida Sun-Sentinel
"Crime fiction for the thinking man or woman, and damnably hard to put down." - January Magazine
"Highly recommended - a great series!" - Seattle Mystery Bookstore
"Ben Cooper and Diane Fry are the most interesting crime team to arrive on the mystery scene in a long while." - Rocky Mountain News
"One of our best story tellers." - Sunday Telegraph
"There are few, if any, contemporary writers who do this as well as Stephen Booth." - Arena magazine
"Booth is a modern master of rural noir." - The Guardian
"Booth delivers some of the best crime fiction in the UK." - Manchester Evening News
"Stephen Booth has to be one of the best new English mystery writers." - Toadstool Bookshop, New Hampshire
"Booth's aim is to portray the darkness that lies below the surface... in this he succeeds wonderfully well." - Mark Billingham, author of the DI Tom Thorne series
"If you read only one new crime writer this year, he's your man." - Yorkshire Post
