Why a Booktrail?
2000s: When a man is found murdered on the desolate Peak District moors, and he turns out to be one of the members of local family from hell, the Oxleys, the investigation takes a dark and twisted turn.
Blind To The Bones (Cooper & Fry 4)
What you need to know before your trail
Withens might be a small and quaint village in the heart of the Peak District but there is one family – the notorious Oxley family who seem to want to cause trouble for the locals and rule the land as if it was their hunting ground. They rob and cause vandalism and so when one of their own is found dead, the stakes and tension are high.
This is not the only crime to have afflicted the area – some two years ago, local Emma Renshaw disappeared and her former housemate has been found dead beside a railway bridge.
There are dark times ahead for this small village and Fry and Cooper must do everything they can to unravel the net closing in around them.
Travel Guide
The Peak District
Withens – a dark and isolated village deep in the heart of the Peak District where death and darkness create a landscape of despair and distrust.
A missing girl and a grisly find beside a railway track. Ben Cooper, temporarily seconded to the Rural Crime Squad is in the area investigating a series of burglaries as well a graphic murder of his own. and this one could be particularly difficult as the man is from the Oxley family, notorious in the area for causing trouble.
They have form and history and their destiny is closely linked to their land – they are descendants of the first men who built railway tunnels under the moors. The wall of silence they place in front of the police, the outsiders, is high and seemingly impenetrable.
The moors which are usually a sight for visitors and the locals to enjoy now become a dark and eerie crime scene. The trees, spindly and bare, seem to taunt the investigators, the shadowy cloak of darkness masks the real emotion felt by the locals and hides the Oxley family behind a wall of silence.
‘And as it grew dark, Withens became almost entirely silent. Except for the screaming.’
This is a community and landscape falling apart, rotting at the seams, the weeds taking over and the Oxley family, once well ingrained in local ‘folklore’ splintering apart.
The community is in decay and the tangle of death and deception is strangling the people who live there. Dark, eerie beauty can be deadly.
Booktrailer Review
Susan:
Having read a few of Stephen Booth’s novels now, this one is a very strong contender to be the favourite, at least so far, for the way in which past and present combine.
The way in which the history of the moors comes out and plays not only as a backdrop to the characters but a character in its own right for the land has formed the people just as much as the people have formed the land.
The duo of Fry and Cooper are fast becoming one which is the most intriguing I’ve read about in a long time. There is tension between them yet the frissons between them show how much they care for each other even if they really do need to start really listening to each other. as their investigations merge, the nuances of their relationship really start to play out and it’s a duo I ‘d love to see in a television drama.
Trying to find the various threads of the investigation is tough and the dynamics between a dubious family, the rest of the community and the police was fascinating and disturbing in equal measure.
Oh and the fact that you get to ‘see’ Morris Dancers really added to the local feel of the book.
Cooper and Fry – fast becoming a couple I’m dying to know more about.
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