Eadie B. (eadieburke) - , reviewed on 9/8/2017 + 1623 more book reviews

Book Description
The second in the series set in the Derbyshire Peak District, Dancing with the Virgins is a tense psychological follow-up to Stephen Booth's acclaimed debut Black Dog. 'The body of the woman sprawled obscenely among the stones... She looked like a dead woman, dancing.' The ring of cairns known as the Nine Virgins has stood on the windswept moors of Derbyshire for centuries. Now, as winter closes in, a tenth figure is added - a body - and a modern tragedy is added to the dark legend that surrounds the stones. There's no shortage of suspects, each with their own guilty secret, but what DS Fry and DC Cooper lack is any kind of motive. As they search separately for answers, it seems the reasons for the strange behavior of the moor's inhabitants may lie somewhere in the past, in a terrible crime yet to be discovered...

My Review
I love Stephen Booth's writing. His great sense of place (Derbyshire's Peak District) and vivid descriptions make me feel like I am right there as I read his books. The complex plotting unfolds with lots of twists and turns that makes the book hard to put down. His strong character development, even for the minor characters, is what keeps me reading his books. The tension between Cooper and Fry is really heating up and I can't wait to see if a relationship is in store for them. I am now looking forward to reading the 3rd book in the series very shortly. I would highly recommend this series to those who love excellent writing and vivid descriptions with their murder mysteries.

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