NEWS
NEWS
A BRAND NEW EBOOK ORIGINAL!
TOP
HARD
Meet a man with a past, a conscience - and a pair of cowboy boots
TOP HARD is something very different from the Peak District novels. But, like the Cooper & Fry series, it's set in a very specific time and place.
As
he watches criminals target a French lorry parked by the side of the road,
Stones McClure thinks his plans might actually come together for once. He's
looking forward to a life full of everything he could possibly want. Money,
cars, a pair of fancy cowboy boots - who could ask for more? But things aren't
always what they seem. And Stones should know it better than anyone.
It's Nottinghamshire, England, in 1998. Derelict pits, decaying villages,
rundown housing estates - all surrounded by vast, historic mansions in country
parks known as the Dukeries. And there's no sign of Robin Hood to spread a bit
of the wealth around.
In a world full of injustice, among people still haunted by memories of the
1984 Miners' Strike, Stones is a man trying to put his old life behind him for
good. But for Stones and his friends, survival in these coalfield villages
depends on the Top Hard Rule: You
can't trust anyone these days.
Now it's all about to go very wrong for Stones McClure. Someone is out to get
him. And most surprising of all, it isn't one of the women in his life...
TOP HARD is an irreverent crime story, reflecting life in the Nottinghamshire
coalfield villages in the 1990s, and the attitudes of people living there. WARNING:
some views expressed by the characters are politically incorrect, and not to
be taken too seriously!
This book was written in 1997/98, just before the first Cooper & Fry novel BLACK DOG. It has never seen the full light of day in novel form, but it does have a history...
In 1998, TOP HARD was shortlisted for the first ever Crime Writers' Association New Writing (Debut Dagger) Award for unpublished novels. A few years later, a short story version was contributed to the CRIMINAL TENDENCIES anthology, as a fund-raiser for breast cancer research. The story was selected for this year's MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST BRITISH CRIME 8, which is published by Robinson in the UK, and for its US/Canadian edition THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST BRITISH MYSTERIES 8, from Running Press.
The full-length novel version of TOP HARD is now being released for the first time ever! The ebook edition is available, not only for the Amazon Kindle, but also in ePub and pdf formats. With luck, a print edition might follow at some stage.
Download TOP HARD direct to your Kindle now from:
Amazon
UK at £6.96 (inc VAT):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006GF2AB0/stephenbootho-21
Amazon
USA at $9.99:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GF2AB0/stephenbootho-20
or from the Kindle stores in Germany, France, Italy and Spain at 7.50 euros (inc VAT).
You can also download it in mobi (kindle), ePub and pdf formats formats from anywhere in the world here:
or at:
http://www.xinxii.com/en/top-hard-p-332553.html
We hope you enjoy meeting some of the characters in TOP HARD!
*Also available on the Apple iTunes store, for the Sony ereader and Barnes & Noble Nook, and from the Kobo ebook store.
SIGNED COPIES
Some signed and personally dedicated UK trade paperbacks of THE DEVIL'S EDGE are still available from the Westlea Books site. These are usually export editions, the same size as a hardback.
Books can be mailed to any country in the world - all you need to do is choose the relevant location. As usual, stocks of books are limited, so it's first come, first served. A few signed hardback 1st editions of LOST RIVER are also still available.
Go to Westlea Books.
CLAWS EBOOK NOW AVAILABLE
The
Ben Cooper story CLAWS is now available for the Kindle ebook reader in the UK,
USA and Germany. And it's selling for less than a pound (or less than a dollar
or a euro, depending where you live!).
You can download CLAWS direct from:
Amazon UK at 0.99 UK pence
Amazon USA at 0.99 US cents
Amazon Germany at 0,99 Euro cents
If you live in a country without a Kindle store, or if you use an ebook reader other than a Kindle, don't worry - you haven't been missed out! CLAWS is also available for download in ePub, mobi (kindle) and pdf formats via XinXii:
ePub: http://www.xinxii.com/en/claws-p-328139.html
mobi: http://www.xinxii.com/en/claws-p-328178.html
pdf:
http://www.xinxii.com/en/claws-p-328161.html
There's also a new dedicated site at westleabooks.com where you can download ePub, mobi and pdf formats of CLAWS. Purchases can be made on this site from 55 countries around the world, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, all of Scandinavia, some parts of Eastern Europe - and too many other countries to mention! This avoids the $2 Amazon surcharge for readers outside the range of its Kindle stores. Go to:
* A pdf version can be read on pretty much any personal computer using a program such as Adobe Reader, which is usually pre-installed.
CLAWS is a short novella of 15,000 words, an outing for DC Ben Cooper without the help (or hindrance ) of Diane Fry. It sees Cooper investigating wildlife crime in one of the most sensitive environments of the Peak District national park. There's also a return appearance by a character who first appeared in BLIND TO THE BONES, PC Tracy Udall.
In the wild crags of the Dark Peak moorland, a ruthless conflict has been raging for years. 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...
This was one of the first titles published in the 'Crime Express' series by Nottingham independent publisher Five Leaves, and was recently re-issued in a new paperback edition. Mystery Scene magazine said: "The marketing geniuses at Crime Express deserve kudos for starting this smart series with Stephen Booth's CLAWS."
As well as all the usual places, the Crime Express titles are available from Inpress Books, an online bookstore specialising in books from independent publishers:
http://www.inpressbooks.co.uk/crime_fiction_books.aspx
COOPER & FRY IN SWEDEN...
The Swedish
translation of the latest Cooper & Fry novel THE DEVIL'S EDGE has
been published
by Forum Minotaur as DJÄVULSKLIPPAN:
http://www.forum.se/Bocker/Bokpresentationssida/?Isbn=9789185419654
Provläs! Swedish readers can preview the opening chapters of DJÄVULSKLIPPAN here:
http://media.bonnierforlagen.se/bladderex/?isbn=9789185419654
"I
den idylliska byn går en skoningslös mördare lös
I en villa i byn Riddle hittas en kvinna mördad i sitt kök. Maken, som
uppenbarligen sett på teve, påträffas svårt skadad i en annan del av huset.
Misstankarna går till en fruktad rånarliga som sedan en tid härjar i
trakten. Trots att det i den eleganta villan finns många stöldbegärliga
föremål,
tycks inget ha försvunnit.
Snart inträffar ytterligare ett våldsamt dödsfall. En äldre man avlider av
en hjärtinfarkt sedan han försökt stoppa en maskerad inkräktare i huset.
Kriminalinspektör Ben Cooper börjar få en känsla av att allt inte står rätt
till i det flotta villakvarteret. Under den glättade ytan frodas girighet,
avundsjuka, missunnsamhet och kanske även ondska.
Medan Cooper går vidare med utredningen inkommer ett oväntat tips.
Lokaltidningen har fått tre samtal med samma mystiska meddelande: "Nämn
Sheffield Road för dem." Journalisten tror att det är ett meddelande
till polisen. Sheffield Road ligger inte långt från mordplatsen, men det
enda som finns där är några övergivna bondgårdar och en större byggnad.
Vilket samband har denna plats med mordet på den trettiosexåriga kvinnan?
Krypande spänning, skickligt sammanvävd intrig och nyanserade karaktärer - Djävulsklippan är
en kriminalgåta av bästa engelska snitt. Precis som i de tidigare populära
böckerna om Ben Cooper utgör Peak Districts dramatiska landskap och små
idylliska byar en fantasieggande inramning.
Elfte boken om Cooper och Fry av Stephen Booth.
Krypande spänning, skickligt sammanvävd intrig och färgstarka karaktärer."
"Booth är bättre än det mesta." Read a review of DJAVULSKLIPPAN here from Hallandsposten:
You can order a copy of DJÄVULSKLIPPAN online here:
http://www.adlibris.com/se/product.aspx?isbn=9185419656
or:
http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789185419654/djavulsklippan
GERMAN EBOOKS
Many of the Cooper & Fry novels are available in German translation, including ebook editions:
The English language versions are also widely available to German readers, including the Ben Cooper story CLAWS which has been published at the German ebook site XinXii in ePub, mobi and pdf formats:
ePub: http://www.xinxii.com/en/claws-p-328139.html
mobi: http://www.xinxii.com/en/claws-p-328178.html
pdf:
http://www.xinxii.com/en/claws-p-328161.html
New
on the shelves:
THE
DEVIL'S EDGE
The latest Cooper & Fry novel THE DEVIL'S EDGE was published in the UK in April 2011. The series has a new publisher in Little, Brown and a terrific new look. Check out the cover below!
"In
his most gripping case yet, newly promoted Detective Sergeant Ben Cooper
investigates a series of lethal home invasions in the Peak District.
** Read the 1st chapter now **
A Kindle ebook edition has been released in the UK at the same time as the hardback, and can be downloaded right now:
Kindle
ebook edition
The massmarket paperback will be published in
June 2012, and can be pre-ordered here:
LOST
RIVER
The paperback of the 10th Cooper & Fry novel LOST RIVER has just been released, and is now on sale:
This book is set partly in and around the Ashbourne/Dovedale area of Derbyshire, and partly in the 'mean streets' of Birmingham. Here's the blurb:
"A May Bank Holiday in the Peak District is ruined by the tragic drowning of an eight-year-old girl among crowds of visitors in the tourist hotspot of Dovedale.
For Detective Constable Ben Cooper, a helpless witness to the tragedy, the incident is not only traumatic, but leads him to become involved in the tangled lives of the Nields, the dead girl's family. As he gets to know them, Cooper begins to suspect that one of them is harbouring a secret - a secret that the whole family might be willing to cover up.
Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Diane Fry has a journey of her own to make - a journey back to her roots. As she finds herself drawn into an investigation of her own among the inner city streets of Birmingham, Fry realises there is only one person she can rely on to provide the help she needs.
But that man is Ben Cooper, and he's back in Derbyshire, where his suspicions are leading him towards a shocking discovery on the banks of another Peak District river."
You can buy the paperback online now at:
Amazon UK The Book Depository Waterstone's WH Smith
or talk to your friendly local bookseller!
The unabridged audio version from HarperCollins Audio is read by Mike Rogers (of Coronation Street, EastEnders, Doctors, Peak Practice etc).
The paperback of LOST RIVER is also now available in Canada:
* US readers - sorry, we have no prospect of publication dates for either THE DEVIL'S EDGE or LOST RIVER in the USA! To order copies of the UK editions online from overseas, we can recommend The Book Depository, which provides FREE worldwide shipping.
CLAWS
The Ben Cooper story CLAWS was re-issued by Nottingham independent publisher Five Leaves earlier this year in a new format, with a smart new cover designed by Gavin Morris.
CLAWS is either a long short story or a short novella, extending to around 15,000 words. It was one of the first titles published in the 'Crime Express' series by Five Leaves, but sold out in its original format.
This is an outing for DC Ben Cooper without the help (or hindrance ) of Diane Fry. It sees Cooper assigned to the Rural Crime Unit and investigating wildlife crime in one of the most sensitive environments of the Peak District national park. There's also a return appearance by a character who first appeared in BLIND TO THE BONES, PC Tracy Udall.
Along with CLAWS, Five Leaves have published three new Crime Express titles - NOT SAFE by Danuta Reah, GRAVEN IMAGE by Charlie Williams, and CALIFORNIA by Ray Banks.
As well as all the usual places, the Crime Express titles are available for order from Inpress Books, an online bookstore selling books from independent publishers:
http://www.inpressbooks.co.uk/crime_fiction_books.aspx
MAMMOTH
BOOK OF
BEST BRITISH CRIME 8
This is the "must-have" annual anthology for every crime fiction fan. From the cover blurb:
"Leading editor and reviewer Maxim Jakubowski has compiled another beguiling collection of the year's best new short crime fiction from the UK.
"This great annual covers the full range of mystery fiction, from noir and hardboiled crime to ingenious puzzles and amateur sleuthing. Making their first appearance in the series are many luminaries, such as Kate Atkinson, Louise Welsh, Stephen Booth, Christopher Brookmyre, Colin Bateman, A.L. Kennedy, Sheila Quigley, Lin Anderson, Simon Kernick and David Hewson.
"Ian Rankin's perennially popular Edinburgh cop, Inspector Rebus, makes an unexpected comeback in a short but intriguing story 'The Very Last Drop', and the collection closes with another Rankin story, 'Driven'.
"Also represented are exciting up-and-coming talents such as Nick Quantrill, Jay Stringer, Paul D. Brazill and Nigel Bird."
In the UK, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST BRITISH CRIME 8 was published by Robinson in April and can be ordered here:
In the USA and Canada, the book will be published by Running Press as THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST BRITISH MYSTERIES 8. The publication date is scheduled for July:
The
Stephen Booth story in this collection is called TOP HARD, and is set in
his home county of
Nottinghamshire during the 1990s. It was first published in the CRIMINAL
TENDENCIES anthology, as a fund-raiser for breast cancer research.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION...
To help all you location detectives out there, Stephen created two customised maps on Google, marking all the major locations in LOST RIVER.
LOST RIVER is set partly in Birmingham, where locations include the decaying industrial area of Digbeth, Birmingham's historic Jewellery Quarter, and modern additions to the cityscape such as Brindleyplace and the award-winning Selfridge's store (known to Brummies as the Dalek's Ballgown).
These and many other locations can be tracked on the LOST RIVER Birmingham map, along with photos and a bit of local information:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=102008222628403175201.000481a08e0f4326a3402
But, of course, we haven't abandoned Derbyshire! Part of the story is set in and around the historic market town of Ashbourne, as well as the surrounding valleys of the River Dove and River Manifold. On the LOST RIVER Derbyshire map you can find the famous Dovedale stepping stones, the curious 'money trees', the village of Wetton, and even Ashbourne police station:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=102008222628403175201.000481c2687e2f6834e8b
You can use the controls to zoom in and out, or click on one of the blue placemarks on the map or at the side of the screen to go straight to a particular location. If you're signed in to Google, you can use Street View in many places to get right down to ground level and see what it's like on the street (though in Dovedale you can only get as far as the car park - it's all on foot after that!).
Please give the maps a try, enjoy the scenery of the Peak District - and discover some interesting locations in Birmingham, too - then let us know what you think: comments@stephen-booth.com
KINDLE EDITIONS
Kindle editions of six of the Cooper & Fry novels are available for readers in the UK, Australia, Canada and other parts of the world. Currently available are ONE LAST BREATH, THE DEAD PLACE, SCARED TO LIVE, DYING TO SIN, THE KILL CALL and LOST RIVER::
Don't forget, if you don't own a Kindle ereader, you can still read the Kindle editions on your PC or laptop by downloading Kindle for PC:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000423913
In the USA, readers with Kindles have three Cooper & Fry titles available - ONE LAST BREATH, THE DEAD PLACE and SCARED TO LIVE:
WHO'S YOUR FAVOURITE ACTOR?
Several more suggestions from readers have now been added to the picture gallery on the Virtual Casting Page. Among the latest actors to be suggested for the screen role of DC Ben Cooper are Matt Bardock and Martin Freeman, while Melanie Gutteridge is put forward to play DS Diane Fry, and Trevor Cooper for DC Gavin Murfin. Let us know what you think!
http://www.stephen-booth.com/castingpage.htm
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PREVIOUS NEWS:
TV INTERVIEW - THE BOOK CHANNEL
Here's a chance to see Stephen Booth talking live about THE KILL CALL. Stephen recorded an interview at Lowdham Book Festival for new digital TV station The Book Channel, which is broadcast in July on Sky Channel 166, Freesat Channel 402, and live on the internet at www.thebookchannel.tv.
Stephen's interview from the show has been uploaded to YouTube. You can view the full item at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coMvl38SU6w
Follow in the footsteps of Cooper & Fry
This Summer, why not get out your walking boots and follow in the footsteps of DC Ben Cooper and DS Diane Fry?
Some of the locations used in the Cooper & Fry series are featured in a new Peak District visitors' guide. Now you can follow Ben Cooper's footsteps of DC as he walks the snow-covered slopes of Irontongue Hill, or take the same route as DS Diane Fry and DC Gavin Murfin as they venture deep into the tunnels of Speedwell Cavern.
'Front Row of the Peak' has a film and literature theme, and it's just one in a series of ten Peak Experience booklets. Memorable locations from DANCING WITH THE VIRGINS, ONE LAST BREATH and SCARED TO LIVE are among the sights recommended to visitors, along with settings used for the filming of JANE EYRE and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. You can also find places that have appeared in TV drama PEAK PRACTICE and the BBC’s THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN.
The new visitors' guide was launched in Bakewell during the Peak Book Festival, and copies are available from Peak District visitor centres. You can also find more details of Cooper & Fry locations online at the Peak Experience website, along with an interview with Stephen Booth about his Peak District inspirations.
"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.
A CHANCE TO LISTEN TO STEPHEN
Following a readers' day for visually impaired readers, Stephen Booth was asked to record an interview for 'talking newspaper' the Mansfield Echo. The full interview is also available to listen to from the website of the local newspaper, the Mansfield Chad. Just visit interviewer Bill Purdue's Chad book blog, and you can either listen online or download the interview to your PC:
http://www.chad.co.uk/CustomPages/CustomPage.aspx?Pageid=76199
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!
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
Stephen
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.
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.
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For full details of available and forthcoming editions,
including translations, go to the Books
page.
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or
Last updated 21st January 2012