Dancing with the Virgins

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 . . .

This brilliant book is a prime example why the British crime writers are superior to their American counterparts. The plot of this novel is dark and twisted and the characters fully devolped. Everything is unfolding slowly as it would in real life and real investigation. All the characters, even passers by, come to life, for a moment touch your heart and move on with their broken lives. The plot driven books, as most of American crime writing is,can not compare. We have to stop aiming our books and movies only to people who have hard time focusing.Thank you Mr.Booth.

As with "Black Dog", Stephen Booth has written a chilly, uncomfortable, airtight story that requires full concentration (or else you'll find yourself going back and reading copious numbers of pages again trying to figure out where you lost the thread), but it rewards. The story is a good one, but I liked his unsparing portrayal of the characters who populate this book and his unflinching and unhappy look at the world of livestock slaughterhouses and failing farms. Quite a long way from a comfortable armchair. Oh, and there's a ripping good mystery here, too!

Just finished this book. Excellent. What sensitivity for the human condition; such understanding and empathy. Excellent mystery. Better than the first and can hardly wait for the third. Can only say ...wow... Love Cooper. Love the mysteries that make you just hold on and wait with baited breath. Very good and highly recommended. When is the next one?

The Peak District is a beautiful part of the world. Haunting, dark and mysterious. It's a tourist attraction that lures thousands every year. But it has also been used as a killing ground. A girl is found dead at a group of rocks known as The Nine Virgins. Even more disturbing is that it appears that her body has been arranged to look as though she is dancing.This is Stephen Booth's second book following on from Black Dog, and revisits Ben Cooper and Diane Fry. Apart from the mystery, this books concentrates on delving deeper into the characters introduced in the first book. The relationship between Ben and Diane is continually developed, as are the secrets they appear to be hiding. At some points, the murder case takes a secondary role to the characterisations. Because of this character development, I would recommend reading Black Dog before this book.It takes a while to really get going, as with many police investigations, but pretty soon things start coming together. A nicely woven mystery is unravelled with a few surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant, revealed along the way.The setting of the book is once again a powerful factor in setting the mood of the story, which is not what I would term upbeat. It always feels dangerous, dark and menacing - just like a good murder mystery should.