Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36186 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-03
• Binding: Hardcover

Synopsis
The atmospheric and terrfiying new thriller, featuring Detectives Fry and Cooper from the award-winning Stephen Booth. For decades, Pity Wood Farm has been a source of employment for poor workers passing through Rakedale, migrants with lives as abject as the labour they sought. But now it seems a far worse fate may have befallen some of those who came upon this isolated community. Routine building work at the farm has unearthed a grisly discovery: a human hand preserved in clay. When police dig up the farmyard, they find not one, but two bodies -- and several years between their burials. With pressure from a new Superintendent and scant forensic evidence to aid them, DS Diane Fry and DC Ben Cooper have only the memories of local people to piece together the history of the farm. In a case as cold as the ground, Cooper finds himself drawn to a desperate theory: that somewhere, there lies a third body which holds the key to these dreadful crimes.

Customer Reviews

Much better than expected
I enjoyed "Dying to Sin" quite as much as the other books.
Having read the earlier adverse criticisms, I was put off buying Booth's latest novel. However, because I have read and enjoyed all the previous Fry and Cooper stories, I ordered it from my public library just to see for myself. The adverse comments are, I must suppose, valid opinons of those who made them but I, for one, would like to register a very favourable reception. The development is slow, particularly in the middle section, but that would be the nature of such an investigation and is typical of Booth's novels. I was fascinated by the detail.

Wonderful Settings
Another book by Stephen Booth that transports the reader into the landscape of the Peak District in England. While reading, I could picture myself at the various locations even though I have never actually been there. The author manages to stimulate my imagination well. The atmosphere of the book is perfect for a british mystery story which makes Booth's books such a pleasure to read. The story itself might not be the best in the series, but of course, this is personal preference. A who-dunnit with the modern issue of immigration workers in a rural setting. The ending does not bring a huge surprise and we are somehow left dangling as to the future of the main character. I like to read this series because of its overall feel and the quite interesting relationship among the two main characters who are so different from each other. I am looking forward to the next book.

A Slow and Flat Read
Dying to Sin is contemporary with the theme of people working in the UK from EU countries and the references made to Bernard Matthews in East Anglia and the recent serial murder case in Ipswich. This gives a strong contrast to the featured old deeper rooted beliefs and superstitions of the past.
The landscape is also well drawn and sets a strong atmosphere.

However, apart from Fry and Cooper and their continuing tenuous relationship, the other characters are so thin it is difficult to connect with them.

The plot drags along, lacking in any suspense, humour or pace. It felt a bit of an effort to finish the book and the question mark over whether the Fry/Cooper relationship will continue may be a timely one.