Black Dog - Softcover

Booth, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0002326930 ISBN 13: 9780002326933

Publisher: HarperCollins (Collins Crime), 2000

Synopsis

As helicopters search Northern England's Peak District for fifteen year-old Laura Vernon, Detective Constable Ben Cooper quietly dreads the worst. And when her body is found in the woods, Cooper's investigation begins with a short list of markedly uncooperative suspects: retired miner Harry Dickinson, whose black Labrador discovered Laura's body, and Laura's wealthy parents. Uneasily teamed with ambitious newcomer Detective Constible Diane Fry, Cooper tests a town's family ties, friendships, and loyaties -- and finds that in order to understand the present, they must unearth the past.

About this title

Review

A neat little psychological thriller in the Barbara Vine tradition, debut novelist Stephen Booth's smart, spare suspense story introduces Detective Constable Ben Cooper, an up-and-coming English policeman who fears he'll never be able to fill the shoes of his father, a police sergeant who died a hero's death on the job in Ben's own precinct. Diane Fry, Ben's new partner, is an ambitious woman who's just been transferred to the Edendale force. She's jealous of Ben's familiarity with the locals, who won't tell her anything but treat Ben like a beloved son. The pair is teamed up to investigate the brutal murder of a 15-year-old girl whose parents, like Fry, are outsiders. The old man who finds Laura Vernon's body is an enigmatic, close-mouthed man who obviously knows more than he's telling, but even Ben can't budge Harry Dickinson from his determination to keep the real story of what happened in the dark woods of England's brooding Peak District to himself. Laura's father is anxious to pin the crime on a local boy who may have had sexual designs on her and who's conveniently gone missing. But the search for the killer turns up the dark secrets of the Vernons as well as a number of other suspects who keep Ben and Diane guessing until the last page of this well-written, carefully paced, and deeply atmospheric novel. A strong first showing from a writer worth watching, with a protagonist who'd be good company in a return engagement. --Jane Adams

About the Author

Stephen Booth was born in Lancashire, England, and brought up in Blackpool. A newspaper and magazine journalist for more than twenty-five years, he is now deputy editor of a regional newspaper group and a Web site developer. In 1999, he won the Lichfield Prize at the Lichfield International Arts Festival for an unpublished work of fiction. Black Dog, his first novel, was a bestseller in Britain, and was chosen as a London Evening Standard Book of the Year. He is now at work on the second book in the series, Dancing with the Virgins. He and his wife, Lesley, live in a former Georgian dower house in Nottinghamshire.

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins (Collins Crime)
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0002326930
• ISBN 13: 9780002326933
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256