With the previous book in the Cooper and Fry series,
I
remarked that crime books do not generally bring happy ever
afters. We can still learn from the characters who continue
with their lives despite personal difficulties. THE MURDER
ROAD is fifteenth in the gritty drama series set in the
Peak District, and by now the landscapes feel familiar; the
main characters feel like friends. Life in Derbyshire and
Yorkshire is changing, and they have to change too.
Ben Cooper is considering buying a house in Eastvale, a
cottage in need of renovation. Single again, promoted, the
policeman isn't all that sure he wants to stay in the
village. Diane Fry works harder than ever, on cases of men
grooming vulnerable young girls in Manchester. The biggest
issue at present near Eastvale is a traffic holdup, which
turns out to be worse than it sounds. A truck went astray
and got stuck under a low bridge, and the driver cannot be
found. All that's visible of him is some blood on the cab
seat. Detective Inspector Cooper has to investigate.
Gavin Murfin the older non-politically correct cop is
retiring and new officers arrive. As well as the female
former RAF officer Carol Villiers, we meet newcomer DS
Devdan Sharma, an Asian officer. But the longstanding
countryside cops don't take to being bossed around by a
newcomer from the city, let alone from a different culture.
Similarly among residents of a small hamlet, incomers with
show-off barn conversions scorn the long-established
hillside farmers, who are suspicious of a new couple in a
self-sufficiency lifestyle. But all these residents want
their road cleared, and all deny knowing anything about the
truck or its driver.
Old rail trucks, closed coal mines, overgrown hillsides,
major modern transport routes, pose problems for Ben Cooper
on this case. He's been used to tramping the hills all his
life, but now he's supposed to do the office work. When a
tracker dog turns up a tragic find, Ben has his hands full.
I found the nicest part of the story was seeing inside a
sweet factory where sweets I grew up chewing are still
made. There's plenty of landscape for Stephen Booth's fans,
and THE MURDER ROAD typically looks back over the years to
discover motives and family histories. Stephen Booth has
created another atmospheric chiller up to his best
standard, full of painstaking detective work and large as
life characters.
For fans of Broadchurch, Louise Penny, and Peter Robinson
comes a spellbinding new novel from internationally
bestselling author Stephen Booth
Welcome to the picturesque English village of Shawhead,
where
there's one road in and one road out. And on that road this
morning is an abandoned vehicle...with an ominous
bloodstain
inside.
It's a mystery. It could be a murder. Where—and who—is the
driver? Whose blood has been discovered? Why are the people
of Shawhead so hostile toward Detective Ben Cooper, sent in
to take charge of the investigation?
As Cooper peels back layers of lies and exposes dark
secrets
to the light, he draws ever closer to a killer hiding in
plain sight. Packed with atmosphere, suspense, and
surprises,
The Murder Road is Stephen Booth's most unforgettable novel
yet.
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