Book Review – Black Dog (Stephen Booth)

Book 58 of 2007 was Black Dog by Stephen Booth. Book #1 from the Ben Cooper & Diane Fry Series.

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 darksecrets of the Vernons as well as a number of other suspects who keep Ben and Diane guessing.

BLACK DOG was not full of suspense, it was very dull in places, but there was just something about the book that made me not want to put it down. This was Stephen Booths debut novel. It’s the first installment of the Ben Cooper and Diane Fry series. I have purchased the rest of the series over the last few days, I enjoyed this book that much. Stephen Booth has a unique way of writing. He describes the places in the book so vividly, almost in a errie kinda way. The characters were a different sort of lot. I found the three elderly men to be quit entertaining. The next book in the series is Dancing With The Virgins, which I can’t wait to read.

Published: March 5, 2001 (HarperCollins) | ISBN: #0006514329 | Format: MASS MARKET PAPERBACK (528 pages)

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