Product Description

Brilliant new psychological thriller from the acclaimed author of Black Dog and Blood on the Tongue.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18761 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-22
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

Daily Telegraph
'...This is another very fine book, masterfully plotted and filled with real flesh-and-blood personalities'

Val McDermid
`Stephen Booth makes high summer in Derbyshire as dark and terrifying as midwinter'

Reginald Hill
`A dark star may be born!'

Customer Reviews

Gripping Story

A newspaper and magazine journalist for over 25 years, Stephen Booth was born in the English Pennine mill town of Burnley. He was brought up on the coast at Blackpool. Stephen gave up journalism in 2001 to write crime novels full time.

Withens is a small village in the Peak District and like many other small town and villages it is troubled by theft and vandalism, but Withens problems stem from mainly one local family, the Oxleys, a family from hell. Now the village is the focus of a murder investigation. A young man's body has been discovered out on the cold and desolate moors nearby and the man is a member of the family from hell, he is an Oxley.

Police are also trying to solve the mystery of a young girl who vanished two years ago. Some new evidence has turned up, but her parents believe that Emma is still alive. With one murder and one unsolved disappearance Withens reputation as a grim place is growing and it looks as though things may get even worse . . .

A Gripping Story
A newspaper and magazine journalist for over 25 years, Stephen Booth was born in the English Pennine mill town of Burnley. He was brought up on the coast at Blackpool. Stephen gave up journalism in 2001 to write crime novels full time.

Withens is a small village in the Peak District and like many other small town and villages it is troubled by theft and vandalism, but Withens problems stem from mainly one local family, the Oxleys, a family from hell. Now the village is the focus of a murder investigation. A young man's body has been discovered out on the cold and desolate moors nearby and the man is a member of the family from hell, he is an Oxley.

Police are also trying to solve the mystery of a young girl who vanished two years ago. Some new evidence has turned up, but her parents believe that Emma is still alive. With one murder and one unsolved disappearance Withens reputation as a grim place is growing and it looks as though things may get even worse . . .

It's not called the Dark Peak for nothing!
Having lived for several years in the Dark Peak where this thriller is set, for me Stephen Booth has skilfully captured the essence of the stark bleak beauty of this unique area. A atmospheric book that portays the Dark Peak as something of a lost world. Good plot and strong characterisations. If you've never been there, then just watch the League of Gentlemen which is filmed in the same area.