Synopses & Reviews
The villagers of Withens are dying. Emma Renshaw vanished two years ago, her body never found. Now her former housemate has been bludgeoned, his remains discovered near a deserted railway tunnel. Is there a link between the two?
While Detective Sergeant Diane Fry focuses on Emmas possible murder, her colleague Ben Cooper investigates a series of burglaries. Only one family seems exempt: the Oxleys. Descended from workmen who built the ancient tunnels beneath the village, they stick close to their own-and keep their secrets closer. Caught in the tangle of death and deception are Cooper and Fry. Their personal history and professional relationship have blurred before, and will again, as their cases converge in the most unsettling ways. . . .
Synopsis
Barry Award-winning author Stephen Booth's most chilling suspense novel yet, starring Detectives Diane Fry and Ben Cooper in a tale of murder and deception in an isolated and sadly changing community. On the desolate moors of Dark Peak, the villagers are dying. One was battered to death; another chose the wrong time to call on a neighbor; and one woman has been dead for years--though not everyone believes it. As far as Emma's parents are concerned, their daughter is still alive--which doesn't help Diane Fry's efforts to re-open the case. Meanwhile, Ben Cooper endeavors to penetrate the Oxley family, a deeply secretive clan.
About the Author
Stephen Booth is a two-time winner of the Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel. His first book, Black Dog, was nominated for an Anthony, and his second, Dancing with the Virgins, for the UK's prestigious Gold Dagger. Other bestsellers in his Cooper and Fry series include Blood on the Tongue, a Book Sense Mystery Pick, and Blind to the Bones, which earned him the 2003 "Dagger in the Library" for the author whose books have given readers the most pleasure. Bantam will publish his next crime novel, The Dead Place, in 2007. A former journalist, Stephen Booth lives in Nottinghamshire, England.