Book Review: Blood on the Tongue by Stephen Booth


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I told you about a great new author, to us Americans, last year (!!), and his debut novel for the Cooper and Fry mysteries, Black Dog, and here is my review of another of the books in the series!

Blood on the Tongue


Synopsis:

It isn't the easiest way to commit suicide. Marie Tennent seems simply to have curled into a fetal position in the freezing snow out on Irontongue Hill and remained there until her body was frozen over. There's no one to observe her death but the foxes and the hares. Her body has bruises, though. Her death is tragic. Is it also suspicious?
Marie's is not the only death the police have to investigate. What about the baby's body that is discovered in the burned-out hulk of a World War II bomber? And the unidentified man who is crushed by a snowplow?
Snow and ice have left E Division depleted, and Detective Sergeant Diane Fry needs all the help she can get. But her colleague, Detective Constable Ben Cooper, is following a cold trail of his own. In the winter of 1945, a Royal Air Force bomber crashed on the same Irontongue Hill where Marie Tennent's body was found, killing everyone except pilot Danny McTeague, who disappeared with a large sum of money. Now his granddaughter, Alison Morrissey, has arrived from across the Atlantic to clear his name.
As Fry and Cooper pursue their respective cases, they must also struggle to work together. Where there once was attraction, there now is distrust -- and perhaps something more. Work comes first...but life can intervene in strange ways.

Review: This is the third book in the Cooper and Fry series (I skipped Dancing with the Virgins)- I was keen to read this book (and have another to review as well),. as I sensed that Booth would evolve Cooper and Fry more with each book, letting us see more of their reasoning and thought processes, and he has! This is an intriguing book where things are NEVER what they seem, there is a story behind the story, behind the story. False fronts and red herrings abound, making for a roller coaster of a read, and one you just can't put down!With this book you can see the respect for each other coming in both Cooper and Fry, and better understanding, which will lead eventually to a better working environment for them both. It will be interesting to see the path that Booth takes them down! If you are new to this series, I would recommend reading Black Dog first, for the background of Cooper and Fry, but it isn't necessary.Booth is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors! Pick up this book and he'll be one of your's too!


About the Author: 
Stephen Booth is an award winning British crime writer, the creator of two young Derbyshire police detectives, DC Ben Cooper and DS Diane Fry, who have appeared in twelve novels set in England’s beautiful and atmospheric Peak District. Stephen has been a Gold Dagger finalist, an Anthony Award nominee, twice winner of a Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel, and twice shortlisted for the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year. Ben Cooper was a finalist for the Sherlock Award for the best detective created by a British author, and in 2003 the Crime Writers’ Association presented Stephen with the Dagger in the Library Award for “the author whose books have given readers the most pleasure”.

The Cooper & Fry series is published all around the world, and has been translated into 15 languages. The latest title is DEAD AND BURIED, with a new book, ALREADY DEAD, published in June 2013. For more info check out his website and Twitter pages for more on the author and the series!

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