Blind to the Bones

I love the way Stephen Booth has woven area history into his fourth Cooper & Fry mystery, Blind to the Bones. England's Peak District is incredibly beautiful, but the tiny village of Withens, tucked away in a fold of the landscape, seems to have been tarred with the ugly brush, and it's got everything to do with the building of the railway, its tunnels, and how the workers were treated. Withens is a place that's isolated by history and topography, and the Oxley family takes that isolation to the furthest extreme possible. Reading about Withens gave me the creeps.

The setting, the history, and the mystery are first-rate. Booth really had me scratching my head, trying to figure out what was going on and who was responsible. Front and show more center are police officers Diane Fry and Ben Cooper. Diane is the outsider. You've heard of Type A people? Well, Diane Cooper is Type AAA, and she and DC Ben Cooper, an easy-going local lad, are like chalk and cheese. Every time Cooper has to deal with Fry, he feels like he's barely survived a life-threatening situation. Fry's concentration on the missing Emma Renshaw dredges up painful memories of the disappearance of her own sister while Cooper's attempts at solving the string of thefts has him being sent time after time after time to try to wrest any tidbit of information from the Oxleys, something that becomes a running joke in the book.

There is a lot to like about this book and this series, and it's a favorite of several of my friends. However, for some strange reason that I cannot put my finger on, I just can't warm up to Diane Fry and Ben Cooper. I love the Peak District, but I've given it four books for me to warm up to these characters, and it's not working. It's time to move on. But don't let that keep you from meeting Cooper and Fry. As I said, several of my friends love it, and there's no reason why you can't, too. show less

Cooper and Fry...what interesting characters with insufferable personalities. The author seems to delight in portraying Cooper and Fry.as unlikable...yet they excel in getting the case solved. This one also has a great deal of history and geography of the area blended in beautifully with the storyline. One of the best aspects of this series is that the reader seldom has the murderer correct. So there is always mystery to these mysteries.

#4 in the Ben Cooper/Diane Fry British police procedural series set in the Peak District. The disappearance of a college student two years ago ties in with a present-day murder as Ben and Diane investigate (mostly separately) the goings-on in the tiny village of Withens. Ben and Diane continue to each deal with their own demons as well. I really do not like Diane Fry as a character, but I am beginning to understand her more with each book. I love this series and this book was no exception. This one is, IMO, the best so far. A+

It has been a while since I listened to this audiobook, but for me it was one of his most memorable - the insular little village, the difficult local family, the oddly threatening male dancers - very good. And the missing college girl with her family in denial. I don't remember the resolution, but I remember the atmosphere. Definitely recommended.

This is what I usually read - British police procedurals. Actually, I'm fairly fond of all police procedurals as a genre. I like Booth's writing, reading one of his novels is very much like watching a good episode of Mystery on PBS. Clever plots with clues and twists, and a pleasant pair of detectives in the affable Cooper and prickly Fry. I look forward to the BBC adaptation that Booth's books would be perfect for :)

I like Stephen Booth, I like his characters and his books. However, I didn't find that this one was as good as the previous. It starts well and shows great promise, but everything seems to be tied up too easily and too quickly at the end. I will read more, but this was a disappointment.

Another great Ben Cooper, Diane Fry police novel set in the fictional Edendale in the Peak District.