Blood on the Tongue
BLOOD ON
THE TONGUE
Stephen Booth
Published by Westlea Books
Copyright © Stephen Booth 2012
The moral right of the author has been asserted. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission in writing. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The views expressed by characters in this book are not those of the author.
First published in 2002 by HarperCollins in the UK, and by Scribner in the USA
ebook edition: ISBN 978-1- 909190-00-9
Westlea Books
PO Box 10125, Tuxford, Newark,
Notts. NG22 0WT. United Kingdom
www.westleabooks.com
Stephen Booth's BLOOD ON THE TONGUE:
Guilt, sacrifice and redemption in a freezing Peak District winter feature in this tense psychological thriller from the acclaimed author of BLACK DOG and DANCING WITH THE VIRGINS.
It wasn’t the easiest way to commit suicide. Marie Tennent seems to have curled up in the freezing snow on Irontongue Hill and stayed there until her body was frosted over like a supermarket chicken. And hers isn’t the only death the Derbyshire police have to contend with – not after the discovery of a baby in the wreckage of an old Airforce bomber, and the body of a man dumped by the roadside.
As if three bodies on her hands isn’t enough, snow and ice have left half of ‘E’ Division out of action, and Detective Sergeant Diane Fry is forced to partner with DC Gavin Murfin. She and Ben Cooper were never a match made in heaven - but, next to Murfin, working with Ben starts to look like a dream.
Cooper is on a trail of his own, though – and one as cold as the Peak District January. In an equally bitter winter in 1945 an RAF bomber crashed on Irontongue Hill, killing everyone except the pilot, who walked away and disappeared. Now the pilot's grand-daughter is in Derbyshire desperate to clear his name, and Ben can’t help taking an interest.
But is a fifty-year-old mystery really the best use of police time? Or does a vicious attack in the dark Edendale back streets prove that the trail isn't quite so cold as he thought?
Could the past be the only clue to present violence as an icy winter looks set to get even chillier?
* The 3rd novel in the multiple award-winning Cooper & Fry series, set in England's beautiful and atmospheric Peak District.
PRAISE FOR THE COOPER AND FRY SERIES:
"Suspenseful and supremely engaging. Booth does a wonderful job." - Los Angeles Times
"Simultaneously classic, contemporary and haunting."- OttoPenzler, Mysterious Bookshop, New York
"Stephen Booth makes high summer in Derbyshire as dark and terrifying as midwinter." - Val McDermid, award-winning crime novelist
"Intelligent and substantive crime fiction, rich with complex characters." - Library Journal
"Booth has firmly joined the elite of Britain's top mystery writers." - Florida Sun-Sentinel
"Crime fiction for the thinking man or woman, and damnably hard to put down." - January Magazine