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Stephen Booth

When it comes to murder, nothing is sacred . . .

For centuries, mourners in Derbyshire have used the Corpse Bridge to cross the River Dove and reach their village burial grounds.

When a developer plans to deconsecrate the land by turning it into a parking lot for his resort cottages, bodies begin to litter the road to the Corpse Bridge.

Are these warnings to stay away from the sacred plots—or something much, much worse: a terrifying serial killer at work?

After recuperating from a traumatic event, Detective Cooper is finally back at work, and he knows that solving the mystery of the Corpse Bridge is exactly what he needs to feel like himself again.

But if Cooper can't overcome his own personal demons and focus on the case, he could put everything—and everyone—he cares about at risk . . .

William Morrow Paperbacks

Cooper & Fry Mysteries

The Corpse Bridge

In this “outstanding” thriller with “a complex and absorbing plot,” rival detectives investigate murder by digging into the past of their rural community (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

It’s a new year for Peak District detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry, and that means new murders to solve in the icy depths of a bitter winter in Edendale, Derbyshire.

It isn’t the easiest way to commit suicide, but the dead woman seems to have simply curled up in the freezing snow and lain there until her heart stopped. There was no one to observe her death but the foxes and the hares. Yet she is riddled with bruises. Cooper and Fry are put on the case but they have as much questions about the abuse the woman might have suffered in life as they do the circumstances of her death.

The unidentified body of a dead man is found by the roadside. And an intriguing young woman arrives in Edendale desperate to solve a decades old puzzle that has haunted her family: a Royal Air Force bomber crashed into Edendale, in the same spot where the frozen corpse was found, killing everybody on board except for the pilot, who supposedly walked away from the wreck and was never seen again. With colds and flus and holiday plans thinning out the ranks of the Edendale police force, Cooper and Fry are scrambling to find an explanation for the two recent deaths while being pulled deeper into the mysteries of the past.

“The best to date of this ambitious series. The plotting is solid, the local color vivid, and the thorny romance fun to follow.” —Kirkus Reviews

Blood on the Tongue

A “suspenseful and supremely engaging” police procedural featuring a detective team investigating ritualistic killings of women in the English countryside (Los Angeles Times).

As winter closes in on the moors, so does death. The body of a young woman is found within a ring of ancient cairns, her arms and legs arranged to look as though she’s dancing.

Now another young woman has been found, savagely wounded and severely traumatized, but alive. Ben Cooper and Diane Fry must unlock the memories trapped inside her mind before more blood is shed amongst the stones. . . . 

Praise for Stephen Booth:

“One of Britain’s best crime writers.” —Sunday Telegraph

“A modern master of rural noir.” —The Guardian

“Terrific. An atmospheric, psychological stunner.” —The Bookseller

“Clockwork suspense in a riveting setting.” —Booklist

Dancing With the Virgins

“A thoroughly enjoyable book from one of Britain’s best crime writers,” the award-winning author of One Last Breath (The Sunday Telegraph).

“This killing will be a model of perfection. An accomplishment to be proud of. And it could be tonight or maybe next week. But it will be soon. I promise.”

The anonymous phone calls indicate a disturbed mind with an unnatural passion for death. Cooper and Fry are hoping against hope that the caller is just a harmless crank having some sick fun. But the clues woven through his disturbing messages point to the possibility of an all-too-real crime . . . especially when women begin to disappear.

This spine-chiller is perfect for fans of Harlan Coben and Robert Crais.

Praise for the Cooper & Fry Series

“Suspenseful and supremely engaging. Booth does a wonderful job.” —Los Angeles Times

“Booth has firmly joined the elite of Britain’s top mystery writers.” —Florida Sun-Sentinel

“Booth is a modern master of rural noir.” —The Guardian

“Crime fiction for the thinking man or woman, and damnably hard to put down.” —January Magazine

The Dead Place

A chilling police procedural from the award-winning author of Scared to Live. “If you read only one new crime writer this year, he’s your man.” —Yorkshire Post

You never know what you might uncover . . . 

While digging the foundation for the conversion of an old farmyard into upscale stables, builders unearth a human hand preserved in clay. Suddenly suspicious, the police explore further and find not one body, but two.

To crack a case that’s even colder than the ground, detectives Cooper and Fry must look into the past of the eerily named Pity Wood Farm. But there is no obvious reason why the previous owners, two elderly brothers, would have corpses buried on their land. With little to go on but a collection of old bones, Cooper and Fry search desperately for a clue as to who—or what—brings death to Pity Wood Farm.

Praise for the Cooper & Fry Series

“Suspenseful and supremely engaging. Booth does a wonderful job.” —Los Angeles Times

“Booth has firmly joined the elite of Britain’s top mystery writers.” —Florida Sun-Sentinel

“Booth is a modern master of rural noir.” —The Guardian

“Crime fiction for the thinking man or woman, and damnably hard to put down.” —January Magazine

Dying to Sin

An arsonist wreaks havoc in the English countryside as corpses pile up in this murder mystery featuring rival detectives.

As wildfires ravage the Peak District’s idyllic national park, hundreds of firefighters and park rangers fight to keep the blaze from reaching a historic inn, a landmark that has been boarded up for years. For weeks now, acts of arson have destroyed miles of land, and once the flames die down, a grim surprise awaits detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry—a body, dead for years

Praise for Stephen Booth:

“One of Britain’s best crime writers.” —Sunday Telegraph

“A modern master of rural noir.” —The Guardian

“Terrific. An atmospheric, psychological stunner.” —The Bookseller

“Clockwork suspense in a riveting setting.” —Booklist

“Suspenseful and supremely engaging.” —Los Angeles Times

Dead and Buried

A spine-chilling crime thriller from the bestselling, award-winning author of The Dead Place. “Few will be able to predict Booth’s twisted conclusion.” —Publishers Weekly

How do you investigate the murder of a woman without a life? That is the challenge facing Cooper and Fry when a reclusive agoraphobic is found shot to death in her home. With no friends, no family, and virtually no contact with the outside world, the dead woman may simply have been the unlucky victim of a random homicide.

At virtually the same time, a raging house fire claims the lives of a young mother and two of her children. But as the debris is cleared, troubling questions remain in the ashes—among them, how did the blaze start, where was the husband at two a.m. the night of the fire, and was it really the flames that killed his family?

Now, as Cooper faces the reemergence of a dark secret he’d hoped to forget, and Fry copes with problems both personal and professional, a horrific possibility begins to take shape: What if the two investigations are somehow connected? A mysterious and unpredictable killer is on the loose. And his next victims could very well be the only two cops who can stop him.

Praise for the Cooper & Fry Series

“Suspenseful and supremely engaging. Booth does a wonderful job.” —Los Angeles Times

“Booth has firmly joined the elite of Britain’s top mystery writers.” —Florida Sun-Sentinel

“Booth is a modern master of rural noir.” —The Guardian

“Crime fiction for the thinking man or woman, and damnably hard to put down.” —January Magazine

Scared to Live

A twisted thrill ride from the award-winning author of Blind to the Bones, “a leading light of British crime writing” (The Guardian).

Around the ancient cave system in Derbyshire are thronging tourists, a medieval castle, and the thriving town of Castleton. With its underground tunnels and caverns, it’s the perfect place for a man to hide—or vanish. Detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry are looking for such a man, one who is on a murderous rampage.

An escaped convict is on the loose, and, after thirteen years in prison, he may be seeking revenge on the son of the cop who put him away in the first place . . . Cooper’s father.

“As dark and winding as the labyrinth of caves below its Derbyshire setting . . . A master of psychological suspense, Booth hauntingly evokes the ambiguities of place and the enduring complexity of human relationships.” —Publishers Weekly

“One Last Breath underlines Stephen Booth’s status as one of our best storytellers.” —The Sunday Telegraph 

“Stephen Booth endows the crime novel with a literary strength that lifts it above the general ruck . . . He is a crime writer who gives a satisfying read rather than a quick fix.” —The Independent

“The complex relationship between [Cooper and Fry] is excellently drawn, and is combined with an intriguing plot and a real sense of place: Stephen Booth is an author to keep an eye on.” —Evening Standard 

“Elizabeth George fans will queue up for this one . . . its continuing characters have uneasy relationships and secretive pasts.” —Kirkus Reviews

One Last Breath

Dagger Award–winning Author: “Utterly compelling . . . a British police procedural that bristles with reality and humanity . . . crime writing of the finest quality.” ―Daily Mail

 Residents of the Peak District are used to tourists descending on its soaring hills and brooding valleys. However, this summer brings a different kind of visitor to the idyllic landscape, leaving behind bodies and secrets.
 
 A series of suicides throughout the Peaks throws Detective Inspector Ben Cooper and his team in Derbyshire’s E Division into a race against time to find a connection to these seemingly random acts—with no way of predicting where the next body will turn up. Meanwhile, in Nottingham, Detective Sergeant Diane Fry finds that a key witness has vanished . . .
 
 But what are the mysterious Secrets of Death? And is there one victim whose fate wasn’t suicide at all?
 
Praise for the two-time Barry Award–winning Cooper and Fry novels
 
 “Just the ticket for rainy-day reading.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
 “As dark and winding as the labyrinth of caves below its Derbyshire setting. . . . intelligent, suspenseful . . . A master of psychological suspense.” —Publishers Weekly

Secrets of Death

“Clever, beautifully written and superbly plotted, this is an entertaining page-turner” featuring rival detectives on the trail of a missing husband (Lancashire Evening Post).

How do you prove a murder without a body?

Ten years ago, Reece Bower was accused of killing his wife, a crime he always denied. Extensive police searches near his home in Bakewell found no trace of Annette Bower’s remains, and the case against him collapsed.

But now memories of the original investigation have been resurrected for Detective Inspector Ben Cooper—because Reece Bower himself has disappeared, and his new wife wants answers.

Cooper can’t call on the Major Crime Unit and DS Diane Fry for help unless he can prove a murder took place—impossible without a body. As his search moves into the caves and abandoned mines in the isolated depths of Lathkilldale, the question is: who would want revenge for the death of Annette Bower?

Praise for Stephen Booth:

“One of Britain’s best crime writers.” —Sunday Telegraph

“A modern master of rural noir.” —The Guardian

“Terrific. An atmospheric, psychological stunner.” —The Bookseller

“Clockwork suspense in a riveting setting.” —Booklist

“Suspenseful and supremely engaging.” —Los Angeles Times