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Ben Cooper and Diane Fry mysteries
Who killed Laura Vernon?
The helicopters are halted. The dogs are called off. The search for beautiful, teenaged Laura Vernon is over. Her body is found, mutilated, in the forest.
When he takes on the case, Ben Cooper is paired with a new partner: Diane Fry, a woman as tenacious as she is alluring. The two detectives are like fire and gasoline. But they must learn to work together to apprehend a killer who is hiding in plain sight.
This
...As winter closes in on the moors, so does death. The body of a young woman is found within a ring of ancient cairns, her arms and legs arranged to look as though she's dancing.
Now another young woman has been found, savagely wounded and severely traumatized,...
It's a new year for Peak District detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry, and that means new murders to solve in the icy depths of a bitter winter in Edendale, Derbyshire.
It isn't the easiest way to commit suicide, but the dead woman seems...
"And as it grew dark, Withens became almost entirely silent. Except for the screaming."
A small village in the Peak District, Withens is troubled by theft and vandalism, mostly generated by a family of local delinquents, the Oxleys. Now the town is the focus of a murder...
Around the ancient cave system in Derbyshire are thronging tourists, a medieval castle, and the thriving town of Castleton. With its underground tunnels and caverns, it's the perfect place for a man to hide—or vanish. Detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry are looking for such a man, one who...
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...
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. With no friends, no family, and virtually no contact with the outside world, the dead...
8) Dying to Sin
You never know what you might uncover . . .
While digging the foundation for the conversion of an old farmyard into upscale stables, builders unearth a human hand preserved in clay. Suddenly suspicious, the police explore further and find not one body, but two.
To...
On a rain-swept hillside, hounds from the local foxhunt discover the body of a well-dressed man. At that exact moment, an anonymous caller reports the same body . . . lying half a mile away.
It's only the first in a series of baffling clues as Ben Cooper and Diane Fry—partners and rivals on the detective force —plunge into a case involving horses, spectacular wealth, and a mysterious "plague village" where a centuries-old outbreak
...10) Lost River
This atmospheric thriller is perfect for fans of Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson.
A holiday weekend is ruined by a drowning in a picturesque village. The incident not only traumatizes Detective Cooper, a helpless witness to the tragedy, but leads him to become involved in the tangled lives of the victim's family.
As he gets to know them, Cooper begins to suspect that one of them is harboring a secret that the whole family is desperate
...11) The Devil's Edge
The newspapers call them the Savages: a band of home invaders as merciless as they are stealthy. Usually they don't leave a clue—but this time, they've left a body. The first victim is found sprawled on her kitchen floor, blood soaking the terracotta tiles. Before long, another corpse...
12) Dead and Buried
As wildfires ravage the Peak District's idyllic national park, hundreds of firefighters and park rangers fight to keep the blaze from reaching a historic inn, a landmark that has been boarded up for years. For weeks now, acts of arson have destroyed miles of land, and once the flames die down, a grim surprise awaits...
Some sins won't wash away . . .
A summer of endless rain in the Peak District leaves the officers of Derbyshire's criminal investigation department with a problem. They have discovered a man's body lying in shallow water, but torrential downpours have swollen the rivers and flooded the roads, making travel difficult and forensic examination impossible.
And that's not all. The absence of Detective Cooper, on extended leave after an arson
...When it comes to murder, nothing is sacred . . .
For centuries, mourners in Derbyshire have used the Corpse Bridge to cross the River Dove and reach their village burial grounds.
When a developer plans to deconsecrate the land by turning it into a parking lot...
15) The Murder Road
In this East Midlands village, there’s only one way out . . . “Top notch crime writing with an irresistible sense of place.” ―Lancashire Evening Post
The picturesque English village of Shawhead has 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
16) Secrets of Death
Dagger Award–winning Author: “Utterly compelling . . . a British police procedural that bristles with reality and humanity . . . crime writing of the finest quality.” ―Daily Mail
Residents of the Peak District are used to tourists descending on its soaring hills and brooding valleys. However, this summer brings a different kind of visitor to the idyllic landscape,
17) Dead in the Dark
How do you prove a murder without a body?
Ten years ago, Reece Bower was accused of killing his wife, a crime he always denied. Extensive police searches near his home in Bakewell found no trace of Annette Bower's remains, and the case against him collapsed.
But...
They knew the danger, but they went anyway...
"Almost before she'd stopped breathing, a swirl of mist snaked across her legs and settled in her hair, clutching her in its chilly embrace, hiding her body from view. It would be hours before she
