The Corpse Bridge (Cooper and Fry 14)

Author/Guide: Stephen Booth

Why a Booktrail?

2000s: A bridge which leads to a burial ground becomes the path taken by a serial killer….in deepest darkest Derbyshire

ISBN: 978-0751551754
Genre: Crime

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What you need to know before your trail

The old Corpse Bridge is the sombre name for a bridge which has been used for centuries as a way of crossing the river Dove to a burial ground on the other side. Now, this sacred land has been swallowed up within the landscaped gardens of a stately home. Earl Manby the owner has plans for this ground – namely to turn it in to a car park for his holiday cottages – and people aren’ t happy. Bodies begin to appear on the road leading to the Corpse Bridge.

Is there a connection between the Earl’s plans and the killings?

Because what is the alternative? That this is random?

Locations

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Travel Guide

Places – Bowden, Knowle and the various quarries are fictional yet they are representative of so many other places in the Peak district.

“The broken stones setts felt slippery under his boots after a heavy shower the walls ran with moisture in the fading light”

Stephen Booth’s love and knowledge of the Peak District is one of the main attractions of the Cooper and Fry series. The Corpse Bridge is clearly part of the landscape and the folklore of the region and am important part of local life as well as landscape.

…the mysteries of the rural imagination, feeling the centuries of belief in magic running disturbingly though his veins

Set around the time of halloween, there is an overall sense of dread and chilling wings blowing through this novel. Something dark, in the shadows, on a bridge they call the Corpse bridge leading to a burial ground – there is not just death but murder. And what are these strange and mysterious objects know as ‘witch balls’?
The local community is understandably shocked and scared at unfolding events. They are angered that the local Earl is going against the general feeling that this land should not be touched let alone redeveloped and as a result many class issues and barriers are firmly in place.

Enter Fry and Cooper. Cooper is slowly coming to terms with tragedy and Diane Fry is looking forward to the challenge of moving back to the city but for now, this latest case of what she calls ‘ rural policing’ is about to bite big. This duo have a lot of unresolved issues and the tension both on a personal and professional level are as bumpy as the rural bridge pathway.

Just what or who is out there on the Corpse Bridge?