Stephen Booth

The dramatic, gripping new Cooper & Fry crime thriller from bestseller Stephen Booth sees the stunning Peak District backdrop prove fatal for one walking partyThey knew the danger, but they went anyway..."Almost before she'd stopped breathing, a swirl of mist snaked across her legs and settled in her hair, clutching her in its chilly embrace, hiding her body from view. It would be hours before she was found."The mountain of Kinder Scout offers the most incredible views of the Peak District, but when thick fog descends there on a walking party led by enigmatic Darius Roth, this spectacular landscape is turned into a death trap that claims a life.For DI Ben Cooper however, something about the way Faith Matthew fell to her death suggests it was no accident, and he quickly discovers more than one of the hikers may have had reason to murder their companion.To make things worse, his old colleague DS Diane Fry finds herself at centre of an internal investigations storm that threatens to drag Cooper down with it.

Peak Districtin vaikuttavia maisemia käyvät ihailemassa miljoonat turistit. Kevään mittaan, huippusesongin lähestyessä, alueen poliisi alkaa kuitenkin huolestua vähemmän toivottavista vieraista. Kiusallisen moni itsemurhantekijä tuntuu haluavan viimeiseksi näkymäkseen Peak Districtin maiseman. Derbyshiren poliisin rikoskomisario Ben Cooper tiimeineen alkaa tutkia itsemurhien sarjaa. Löytyykö jokin kaava? Manipuloiko joku taustalla ihmisiä, jotka haluavat päättää päivänsä? Samaan aikaan rikosylikonstaapeli Diane Fry on Nottinghamissa monen kreivikunnan yhteisen vakavien rikosten yksikön jäsenenä tutkimassa murhasarjaa. Kun siihen liittyvä henkilö löytyy kuolleena Cooperin kotikentältä, Fry joutuu palaamaan vanhalle työpaikalleen Edendalen rikospoliisiin ja tekemään yhteistyötä niin Ben Cooperin kuin tämän alaisten kanssa. Vähitellen kuoleman salaisuudet alkavat avautua ja kahden tutkinnan yhteydet paljastua.

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?

Master crime writer Stephen Booth ventures into the Peak District's dark subterranean world for a brand new, stunning and gasp-inducing CooperFry thriller.

Pikkuiseen Shawheadin kylään johtaa vain yksi, sinne päättyvä tie. Kylään päästäkseen on ajettava ahtaan rautatiesillan alitse, ja sinne Mac Kelsey saa rehunjakelurekkansa jumittumaan. Ensimmäinen kylään palaaja toteaa, että ohi ei pääse ja että kuljettajaa ei näy mailla halmeilla - ja että rekan ohjaamossa on verta. Paikalle kutsutaan rikospoliisi, ja komisario Ben Cooperin ja hänen tiiminsä ensimmäinen tehtävä on löytää selvästikin rikoksen uhriksi joutunut Kelsey. Vastaan tulee vuosien takainen tuhoisa onnettomuus läheisen moottoriliikennetien levikkeellä. Liittyykö Mac Kelseyn tapaus jotenkin siihen? Millaisia salaisuuksia Shawheadin ja läheisten pikkukaupunkien asukkailla on?

Steeped in the atmosphere of the stunning Peak District, Secrets of Death is master crime writer Stephen Booth's most daring and clever CooperFry thriller yet.

For fans of Broadchurch, Louise Penny, and Peter Robinson comes a spellbinding new novel from internationally bestselling author Stephen BoothResidents 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 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?

Peak Districtillä kulkee vanhoja arkkuteitä, joita syrjäkylien asukkaat vuosisatojen ajan käyttivät kuljettaakseen vainajansa hautausmaalle. Dovejoen ylittävän sillan luota löytyy ruumis, ja rikosylikonstaapeli Ben Cooper joutuu töihin. Läheisen kartanon omistavalla Manbyn jaarlilla on kehityssuunnitelmia, joihin kaikki kartanon alustalaiskylän ja lähikylien asukkaat eivät suhtaudu myötämielisesti. Joesta löytynyt ruumis ei jää ainoaksi, ja jälleen tapausten selvittämiseen tarvitaan niin seudun oman pojan Ben Cooperin paikallistuntemusta kuin ylikonstaapeli Diane Fryn kyseenalaistavaa kaupunkilaistytön asennetta.

Ben Cooper and his team from Derbyshire Constabulary's E Division return in this gripping new page-turner from the master of the genre.

Nummipalojen vaivaama Peak Districtin kuivaa kevättä seuraa kesä, jona sade ei tunnu lainkaan lakkaavan. Vetisestä metsäojasta löytyy kuollut mies, mutta jatkuva sade vaikeuttaa teknistä tutkintaa ja saa joet tulvimaan yli äyräittensä, katkaisemaan maanteitä ja uhkaamaan asuinalueita. Ylikonstaapeli Boen Cooper on edellisen jutun (Nummi palaa) tapahtumien vuoksi yhä pitkällä sairauslomalla, ja poliisiasemalla on miehistöpula, jota paikkaamaan joutuu ylikonstaapeli Diane Fry, vastentahtoisesti tietenkin. Työtoverit ovat huolissaan eristäytyvästä Cooperista, joka kuitenkin sekaantuu tutkimuksiin - tarpeettomankin syvälle, ajattelee Diane Fry. Ja taaskaan kaikki ei ole aivan sitä, miltä päälle näyttää...

Dealing mainly with the works of William Shakespeare, the essays in Close Readings without Readings reflect Stephen Booth’s lifelong interest in uncovering the ways great literature works upon readers. As the book’s title suggests, the author does not aim to create new or novel interpretations or to uncover the political agendas of literary works, but to notice language patterns—repetitions, analogies, correspondences, echoes, overtones—and other ways in which the choice and the arrangement of words affect readers. For Booth, close reading is a practice of attentiveness. He notices how, why, and in what ways Shakespeare’s works affect his readers. Whether readers agree with the premises of a literary work or not, they subject themselves, knowingly or not, to its effects. For Booth, what we value in literature is the experience. He has devoted his own work to recognizing the nature, process, and functions of reading literature, and to teaching others to do the same. Recent years have seen Booth’s efforts recognized by volumes dedicated both to close reading and to his achievements as editor, scholar, critic, and teacher.

For fans of Broadchurch, Louise Penny, and Peter Robinson comes a spellbinding new novel from internationally bestselling author Stephen BoothWelcome to the picturesque English village of Shawhead, where there's one road in and one road out. And on that road this morning is an abandoned vehicle...with an ominous bloodstain inside.It's a mystery. It could be a murder. Where--and who--is the driver? Whose blood has been discovered? Why are the people of Shawhead so hostile toward Detective Ben Cooper, sent in to take charge of the investigation?As Cooper peels back layers of lies and exposes dark secrets to the light, he draws ever closer to a killer hiding in plain sight. Packed with atmosphere, suspense, and surprises, The Murder Road is Stephen Booth's most unforgettable novel yet.

The brilliant new thriller by crime writing master Stephen Booth 'portrays a stunning landscape with a dark heart that conceals secrets, vendettas and revenge'. Daily Mail

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 . . .

Some sins won't wash away . . .A summer of endless rain in the Peak District leaves the officers of Derbyshire's criminal investigation department with a problem. They have discovered a man's body lying in shallow water, but torrential downpours have swollen the rivers and flooded the roads, making travel difficult and forensic examination impossible.And that's not all. The absence of Detective Cooper, on extended leave after an arson attack, has left a serious gap. Detective Fry is a reluctant temporary replacement, but now their makeshift team is about to be tested to the limit. The fatal events of one damp August night are likely to remain shrouded in mystery if they can't track down a car glimpsed only as a dark outline in the rain by a passerby.When the drops turn into a deluge, loyalties among the officers will be put under intolerable strain as they try to solve their toughest case yet. And that's before it emerges that Detective Cooper is not at home recuperating, but has vanished into thin air . . .

When nobody's home, the Savages roam ...The newspapers call them the Savages: a band of home invaders as merciless as they are stealthy. Usually they don't leave a clue--but this time, they've left a body. The first victim is found sprawled on her kitchen floor, blood soaking the terracotta tiles. Before long, another corpse is discovered, dead of fright. As the toll rises, it's up to DC Ben Cooper and DS Diane Fry to track down the killers. But the enemy isn't who they think it is. Beneath the sinister shadow of a mountain ridge called the Devil's Edge, a twisted game is under way, a game more ruthless than the detectives can imagine.Packed with nerve-jangling suspense and moody atmosphere, this is a thriller to rival the very best of Peter Robinson and Peter James.

This atmospheric thriller is perfect for fans of Ian Rankin and Peter RobinsonA holiday weekend is ruined by a drowning in a picturesque village. The incident not only traumatizes Detective Cooper, a helpless witness to the tragedy, but leads him to become involved in the tangled lives of the victim's family.As he gets to know them, Cooper begins to suspect that one of them is harboring a secret that the whole family is desperate to cover up.Meanwhile, Detective Fry embarks on a personal journey back to her roots. As she finds herself drawn into an investigation of her own, Fry realizes there is only one person she can rely on for the help she needs.But that man is Ben Cooper, and he's back in Derbyshire, where his suspicions lead him toward a shocking discovery on the banks of another Peak District river.

Dancing With the Virgins is an atmospheric, psychological stunner-- perfect for fans of Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson.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 . . .

Blood on the Tongue is a complex, atmospheric police procedural perfect for fans of Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson.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.Rich with multiple intertwining mysteries, this Cooper and Fry thriller has all of psychological suspense and three dimensional characters that fans have come to expect from Stephen Booth--a master of his craft.