"An authentic voice of the Peaks! Booth’s details ring true: the climate and seasons, wildlife, contrasts between valley-bottom life and harsher remote hillside living, characters’ names and even the ways people speak are strikingly authentic. Booth knows the Peak District."
- Peak Experience

Meanwhile, you can get a taste of the wonderful Peak District landscape by viewing the slide show on the Peak District Page of this web site.

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DYING TO SIN - OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK

The 8th Cooper & Fry novel DYING TO SIN is now available in paperback in the UK, published on 6th May.

Here's the synopsis:

"For decades, Pity Wood Farm has been a source of employment for poor workers passing through Rakedale, migrants with lives as abject as the labour they sought. But now it seems a worse fate may have befallen some of those who came upon this isolated community.

"Routine building work at the farm has unearthed a grisly discovery: a human hand preserved in clay. When police dig up the farmyard, they find not one, but two bodies - and several years between their burials.

"With pressure from a new superintendent and scant forensic evidence to aid them, DS Diane Fry and DC Ben Cooper have only the memories of local people to piece together the history of the farm. 

"In a case as cold as the ground, Cooper finds himself drawn to a desperate theory: that somewhere, there lies a third body which holds the key to these dreadful crimes..."

This one is also available from HarperCollins in CD audio and digital download formats, as well as in hardback.  

Click here to read the first chapter of DYING TO SIN

Or order your copy of the paperback online now:

Amazon.co.uk              Waterstones           

W.H.Smith                    Bookworm

In Canada, publication is due on 2nd June:

Chapters Indigo            Amazon.ca        

Canadian Booksellers Association        Sleuth of Baker Street


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NEW IN THE USA:

THE DEAD PLACE

The 6th Cooper & Fry novel

Now available in US paperback from Bantam Dell:

“This killing will be a model of perfection. An accomplishment to be proud of. And it could be tonight or maybe next week. But it will be soon. I promise.”

The anonymous phone calls indicate a disturbed mind with an unnatural passion for death. Cooper and Fry are hoping against hope that the caller is just a harmless crank having some sick fun. But the clues woven through his disturbing messages point to the possibility of an all-too-real crime . . . especially when a woman vanishes from an office parking garage.

But it’s the mystery surrounding an unidentified female corpse left exposed in the woods for over a year that really has the detectives worried. Whoever she might have been, the dead woman is linked to the mystery caller, whose description of his twisted death rituals matches the bizarre manner in which the body was found. And the mystery only deepens when Cooper obtains a positive I.D. and learns that the dead woman was never reported missing and that she definitely wasn’t murdered. 

As the killer draws them closer into his confidence, Ben and Diane learn everything about his deadly obsessions except what matters most: his identity, and the identity of his next victim. . . .

ORDER A COPY NOW

Or click here to read the first chapter

 

SCARED TO LIVE

The 7th Cooper & Fry novel 

SCARED TO LIVE will be published in hardcover in the USA by Bantam on 20th May.

How do you investigate the murder of a woman without a life? That is the challenge facing Cooper and Fry when a reclusive agoraphobic is found shot to death in her home by someone who took an exceptional amount of care in executing her murder. 

With no friends, no family, and virtually no contact with the outside world, the dead woman may have simply been an unlucky victim of a random homicide. Or was she hiding from a past that had finally come out of hiding to kill her?

At virtually the same time, a raging house fire claims the life of a young mother and two of her children. But as the debris is cleared, troubling questions remain in the ashes. Among them, how did the fire start, where was the husband at two a.m. the day of the blaze, and was it really the fire that killed his family?

Now, as Cooper faces the reemergence of a dark secret he'd hoped to forget, and Fry copes with problems both personal and professional, a horrific possibility begins to take shape: what if the two investigations are somehow connected? 

A killer is stalking the Peak District whose motives are a mystery and whose methods are unpredictable. And his next victims could very well be the only two cops who can stop him...

"Yet another excellent novel from one of Britain's best new writers." - Toronto Globe & Mail

"Booth is a modern master of rural noir." - The Guardian

"Booth's aim is to portray the darkness that lies below the surface... in this he succeeds wonderfully well." -  Mark Billingham, author of the DI Tom Thorne series

BUY A COPY NOW

Or click here to read the first chapter

THE DEAD PLACE and SCARED TO LIVE are also available as ebooks: visit Fictionwise.

 

AND NOW FOR A BEN COOPER SPECIAL - 'CLAWS'

This is the cover of the special Ben Cooper story CLAWS, which was published to launch the new Crime Express series.

CLAWS is a 'long short story' by Stephen Booth, featuring DC Cooper on assignment to the Derbyshire Rural Crime Squad, where he's tackling wildlife crime (and Ben is free of Diane Fry for once!).

This is one of the first three titles in the Crime Express series from Five Leaves Publications, a small press in the city of Nottingham, UK. At 96 pages, CLAWS is an ideal quick read, and just the right size for sticking in your pocket or bag.

Here's an extract from the cover blurb:

"The discovery of an illegal haul from the bedroom of a terraced house is a clue to what might be at stake - perhaps the entire future of one of the most prized landscapes in the Peak District National Park."

"For young Derbyshire police detective DC Ben Cooper, an assignment to the Rural Crime Squad means stepping into the middle of the conflict, without being quite sure whose side he's on. The predators come in all shapes and sizes. And in this battle, not all the victims will be human..."

Mystery Scene magazine says: "The marketing geniuses at Crime Express deserve kudos for beginning this smart series with Stephen Booth’s extraordinary 'Claws'. An evocative meditation on a vanishing world, 'Claws' will send Booth fans rushing to re-read his full length novels."

CLAWS is available in lots of the usual places at a cover price of £4.99 ($10 in the USA), or copies can be ordered from the small press online bookseller InPress Books.

Click here to order your copy of CLAWS

If ordering through your local bookshop, you might need the ISBN number:
978-1-905512-24-9
and the name of the publisher: 
Five Leaves Publications.

The other two launch titles in the series were 'Trouble in Mind' by John Harvey, and Rod Duncan's 'The Mentalist'.  Further Crime Express stories from Clare Littleford and Nicola Monaghan have just been published.

 

SIGNED COPIES

We're gradually making some editions of the Cooper & Fry novels available on the Sales pages of the website. At the moment, there are US editions of BLOOD ON THE TONGUE, BLIND TO THE BONES and ONE LAST BREATH, copies of the Ben Cooper short story CLAWS, and some original UK paperbacks. These can all be signed by the author, of course! We hope to add some other editions over the next few weeks, so keep your eye out.

All stocks are limited, so it's 'first come, first served'. To see what's available right now, go to the Sales page.

 

STEPHEN BOOTH FORUM

We've launched a STEPHEN BOOTH FORUM, a place created specially for readers of the Cooper & Fry series to chat with each other, ask questions, and get the latest news. But discussions can range across any crime or mystery related subject - and lots more besides!

Why not be one of the first to sign up for the forum - it's free, and very easy to do. Everyone is welcome, so don't be shy. You'll be able to exchange views with people from all over the world, and you can start your own topics at any time, on any subject you like. Stephen will be around from time to time for a chat, too. We hope it's going to be lots of fun!

The forum can be accessed direct from the website. Just click on Stephen Booth Forum.

Or use the following URL: http://www.stephen-booth.com/Forum

TV wildlife man chooses BLACK DOG

TV wildlife presenter NIGEL MARVEN ('Walking with Dinosaurs' and 'Prehistoric Park') has named BLACK DOG as one of his six favourite books. 

"BLACK DOG - I couldn't put it down!" says Nigel.

('My Best Books' feature - Daily Express)

Thanks, Nige!

 

The latest audio release in the Cooper & Fry series is the abridged edition of DYING TO SIN from HarperCollins. Clipper Audio have produced the audio CD, cassette and large print editions of SCARED TO LIVE, with the unabrdiged version of DYING TO SIN currently in production. You can buy the latest Clipper titles, or listen to short extracts, by clicking here.   Can

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ada

Is there a real Ben Cooper in the Peak District? Well, at least one! The real-life Ben is a member of the Edale Mountain Rescue Team, who do a vital job helping walkers and climbers lost or injured on the hills. The MRT consists entirely of volunteers, and they're on call 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. They receive no official funding, but rely solely on voluntary donations. Think you could help them? For more information on what the MRT do, check out their website: Edale Mountain Rescue Team

Audio versions of the Cooper & Fry series are now available in the USA. Recorded Books have released BLACK DOG, BLOOD ON THE TONGUE and BLIND TO THE BONES on audio CD and cassette. Even better news - these versions are narrated by a British actor, Christopher Kay. Recorded Books also provide a 30-day rental service. 

Stephen has contributed a short story to an anthology released in November 2005. STUN TO STICK is one of 16 stories by Nottinghamshire writers in 'Sunday Night and Monday Morning' from Five Leaves Publishing. There's no appearance by Cooper and Fry in this one! Other writers contributing stories include John Harvey, Robert Harris, Clare Littleford, Jon McGregor and Julie Myerson. Copies at £9.99 can be ordered from Five Leaves, online from Amazon and WH Smith, or in the UK from your local bookshop (ISBN 090712352X). 

Click here for more details of the book.

You can now sign up to get news of Stephen Booth books by email through the HarperCollins UK 'Author Tracker' service (as well as news of some of your other favourite authors!). Follow this link to the HarperCollins website. And, of course, there's always the Newsletter.

Scorpion Press have issued BLOOD ON THE TONGUE in a handsome signed limited edition of only 80 copies in a fine binding. This edition contains an exclusive appreciation by Reginald Hill of the Cooper & Fry series. You can find more in the archive section of the Scorpion Press website.

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TRANSLATION NEWS

In Sweden, Minotaur have released 
DÖDENS PLATS (THE DEAD PLACE) in paperback. 

Buy a copy online here or here.

Minotaur also published the hardback of 
I SKYDD AV MÖRKRET
(SCARED TO LIVE) 

Swedish language audio CDs 
are available for both books.

In Denmark, Forlaget Klim have published 
JERN TUNGEN (BLOOD ON THE TONGUE).

Meanwhile, Vigmostad & Bjorke will introduce the 
Cooper & Fry series to Norway this August, starting with BLACK DOG.

In Germany, Goldmann have published Todesstätte, the translation of THE DEAD PLACE.

"England ist eine glückliche Insel, wenn auf ihr immer noch solche Krimiautoren wachsen." - Frankfurter Rundschau

To buy a copy online now, click here

TODESNACHT, the German translation of SCARED TO LIVE, will follow from Goldmann in September.   

Bertelsmann have also issued a book club edition of KÜHLER GRUND (BLACK DOG), and a new trade edition of KÜHLER GRUND with re-designed covers.

In Portugal, Publicações Europa- América have published 
the 6th Cooper & Fry novel THE DEAD PLACE as O Lugar Morto

This follows the release of UM ULTIMO SUSPIRO (ONE LAST BREATH) 
and OSSOS (BLIND TO THE BONES).

Buy a copy of O Lugar Morto here

BB Art have published BLACK DOG in Czech as Černý pes and DANCING WITH THE VIRGINS 
as Desátá panna. Krev na jazyku (BLOOD ON THE TONGUE) will follow soon.

In Romania, Edituro RAO have published THE DEAD PLACE as SALASUL MORTII. 
They will also translate BLACK DOG into Romanian. 

DANCING WITH THE VIRGINS has been published in Russian translation by Azbooka.

SCARED TO LIVE will be published in Spain later this year by Artime Ediciones.

In Japan, Tokyo Sogensha have published DANCING WITH THE VIRGINS in two volumes.

CIELA Publishing have bought the Bulgarian translation rights in SCARED TO LIVE.

The Finnish translation of the 5th Cooper & Fry novel ONE LAST BREATH has just been published in hardback by Blue Moon Books as HENKÄYS VAIN, along with the paperback of Ei metsÄÄ puilta (BLIND TO THE BONES).

For more information about the Finnish translations, visit Blue Moon Books

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UK publication of THE DEAD PLACE attracted the attention of geocachers, whose sport features in the book. Our thanks to cacher 'dodgydaved', who directed us to discussions on the Geocaching Forums: UK Forum and Geocaching Topics. If you thought geocaching was a fictional invention, check it out! 

Although the Cooper & Fry series has yet to make it to the TV screen, we've had so many suggestions sent in by readers for actors they think are just right for the roles that we've created a Virtual Casting Page. Take a look at some of the ideas and let us know what you think - or send us your own suggestions. As a result of one reader's suggestion, Ben Cooper has made it onto the Iron Maiden Bulletin Board. We're not sure Diane Fry would approve, but Ben is dead chuffed...

Stephen contributed his recipe for Accidental Bakewell Pudding to a new mystery writers' cook book called 'A Second Helping of Murder', published by Poisoned Pen Press. 

Diane Kudisch, owner of the San Francisco Mystery Bookstore in California, has emailed to say she has a new dog for the store - and she's named him 'Cooper' in honour of Detective Constable Ben Cooper. Why not click here to visit Cooper (the dog, that is).

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For full details of available and forthcoming editions, 
including translations, go to the Books page.  
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