Dancing with the Virgins (Hardcover)

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Review
Praise for Black Dog: 'Stephen Booth creates a fine sense of place and atmosphere in his first novel the unguessable solution to the crime comes as a real surprise' Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph 'Stephen Booth is a real find, and his book is almost impossible to categorize It is a crime novel, or rather a novel about people who are connected with the crime. The characterisation is brilliant, and the motivation for everything that occurs is too credible. A real winner' Shots 'Booth has achieved a tour de force in this his first outing. In fact, it is hard to believe that he is a first time author Highly recommended' Mysterybooks.com

Six weeks after solicitor Maggie Fry is found wandering Ringham Moor in an amnesiac daze after a knife slash leaves her face horribly scarred, Jenny Weston is even less lucky. She's stabbed to death and arranged in a cruel parody of a dancer's pose among the moor's Nine Virgins, stones that have stood for thousands of years only half a mile away from the site of Maggie's attack. Edendale detective Ben Cooper is convinced that he could nail Jenny's killer if only Maggie could give him a physical description of her assailant, but the tireless questioning of Ben's colleague and ex-lover, Acting Sergeant Diane Fry, seems only to make Maggie dig in her considerable heels. It looks as if the break will have to come from one of the other locals: louring farmer Warren Leach, farm hand Keith ("Slasher") Teasdale, fey Simon ("Stride") Bevington and his companion Calvin Lawrence. But the ugly, exhausting revelations that keep tumbling out-dogfighting, assault convictions, kiddie porn, an unacknowledged daughter, a remorseful suicide-don't come in time to prevent a third attack, and Ben and Diane are still struggling with half a dozen mysteries-some unrelated, some all-too-related-and with each other moments before the curtain thuds down. As mannered in its writing and cluttered in its plotting as Ben's and Diane's grim debut ("Black Dog, "2000), but even more demanding, more substantial, and more knowing about the darkest recesses of the heart. A strong brew for readers who can take it. (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description
In a remote part of the Peak District stand the Nine Virgins, a ring of stones overshadowed by a dark legend. Now, as winter closes in, a tenth figure is added to the circle - the body of Jenny Weston is discovered, her limbs arranged so she appears to be dancing. Weeks earlier another woman had been attacked on the moors. Maggie Crew was found by a local farmer's wife, severely traumatized, her face savagely cut open. Is there a maniac at loose, knifing woman at random? Unlocking the memories trapped in Maggie's mind is now a matter of utmost urgency, and Detective Sergeant Diane Fry is given the task of drawing the truth out of her. For DC Ben Cooper there are too many lines of enquiry leading to too few answers. Two travellers, sleeping rough near the scene of the murder, baffle the detectives with their strange rituals and language which may or may not be hiding vital information. Then there is the Park ranger, Owen Fox, whose past hides a shameful secret. And what of the farmer, Warren Leach, on whose land the Nine Virgins stand: a desperate man whose own children fear him. Against the dramatic backdrop of the White Peak, Ben and Diane struggle to make sense of a murder that seems motiveless. But the moors have witnessed more bloodshed than either realize, and violence is to beget more violence before the answer is found.

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3 Reviews 5 star:  (3) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars His 1st book was good, his 2nd is excellent, 17 Oct 2001 By A Customer I have little to add to the previous reviewer! This book has everything - two sympathetic, totally contrasting lead characters, whose fates are gradually becoming intertwined; a strong supporting cast; a loving description of the peak district and its inhabitants; wonderful prose, which additionally is witty and observant; and to cap it all, a clever whodunnit with a driving plot. Terrific! Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars An atmospheric cracker!, 6 May 2001 By A Customer I started this book hoping it would be as good a read as 'Black Dog'which was an excellent first novel by Stephen Booth. I finished it knowing that he is a writer whose skills are growing and developing with each piece of writing. This is a cracker! The plot is intricate, but finely tuned, and could carry the reader along on its own, but add in excellent characterisation, social background and an almost poetic portrayal of the wilderness of the Peak District and you have an 'unputdownable' novel. Well done Stephen! I am looking forward to the further development of your characters in the next book! Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   1 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Second book in the Ben Cooper and Diane Fry series, 24 Sep 2007 By  J. Chippindale (England) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    A newspaper and magazine journalist for over 25 years, Stephen Booth was born in the English Pennine town of Burnley. He was brought up on the coast at Blackpool, where he began his career in journalism by editing his school magazine and wrote his first 'novel' at the age of 13. Stephen gave up journalism in 2001 to write crime novels full time. He and his wife Lesley live in a former Georgian dower house near Retford, Nottinghamshire, in Robin Hood country. The Peak District can be a beautiful place in summer and attracts visitors from miles around and one of the attractions that draws people to it, even though it is in one of the more remote areas is a ring of standing stone called the Nine Virgins. They carry a dark legend from the past. Now as winter begins to draw in and the attraction begins to draw less visitors, a tenth figure is added to the circle. The body of Jenny Weston is discovered. Her body has been arranged in some macabre position, so that she appears to be dancing . . . Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 3 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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