One of his better ones. Gets 4 stars because Dovedale and the Manifold valley are so lovely and because I once heard the author give a talk in Bakewell library and he was very engaging. I really enjoy the way he brings the story to life by involving the geography (not just geology and architecture) of the area. I have sometimes wondered if I enjoy the books so much because I know (and love) the Peak District so well, but this book is half set in Birmingham which I am not familiar with and it worked for me just as well. ( )

Starting today! ( )

To make it short..... If I wanted to know the layout of Birmingham it would have been easier to buy a tour-guide.
The first many books of Booth I loved beacause of the mood he creates, but more and more most of the novel is descriptive and less and less action and happenings.
The book would have been a lot better if the Fry part had been left unwritten,.....
I had a hard time to read it through. Got bored. But well, maybe, it is just me. One changes ..... ( )

One of his better ones. Gets 4 stars because Dovedale and the Manifold valley are so lovely and because I once heard the author give a talk in Bakewell library and he was very engaging. I really enjoy the way he brings the story to life by involving the geography (not just geology and architecture) of the area. I have sometimes wondered if I enjoy the books so much because I know (and love) the Peak District so well, but this book is half set in Birmingham which I am not familiar with and it worked for me just as well. ( )

This is the tenth book in the series featuring CID officers DS Diane Fry and DC Ben Cooper of the Derbyshire Constabulary based in Edendale.

Neither Diane's nor Ben's primary story line in this book deals with any formally assigned case.

The tale opens with Ben trying to rescue an eight-year-old, out on a bank holiday in Dovedale with her family, from drowning in a few inches of water. His efforts, however, are to no avail; he then has to deal with the aftermath of the little girl's death, and his conviction that it may not have been an accident. Ben thinks of himself as "the officer who failed to save Emily Nield's life." He becomes involved with the dead girl's family, and is soon viewed by his colleagues as "a police officer who'd become obsessed and was trying too hard to make a case out of nothing."

Meanwhile, Diane is dealing with an equally personal but perhaps more traumatic event. When a hit on the national crime database opens an enquiry into the rape years ago in which she was the victim, she must finally try to come to terms with the assault. Diane is granted an indefinite leave of absence so that she can return to her home in Birmingham and work with the officers working the cold case. Ben is appointed Acting DS while she is away.

The two threads only come together occasionally and at the very end when Diane returns to Derbyshire. It fills in a few gaps in the pasts of these interesting characters and makes you wonder where Stephen Booth will take his characters next. ( )