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One of the things I always enjoy most in a book is a strong sense of place, and if I know the area where a book is set, that always adds to my enjoyment, but even readers who aren't familiar with the Peak District will come away from this book with a well-drawn picture of mile upon mile of desolate moorland, with stone buildings nestling in improbable places. The added tension of a series of arson attacks on the moors themselves and the picture evoked by smouldering fires that have embedded themselves deep in the ground, ready to break out again at any time works well to set the scene for a strong and competent police procedural. Recurring characters, Detective Sergeant Ben Cooper and Detective Inspector Diane Fry are brought together again in the search for the truth surrounding a dead body found in a remote inn, empty and derelict. At the same time, the discovery by firefighters of a deliberately buried rucksack on the moor leads to the re-opening of a case involving a couple who vanished some years ago. At the time of their disappearance, opinion had differed as to whether foul play was involved or whether they had fled from suspicions of financial irregularity. One of Booth's strengths lies in a large ensemble cast, all with their own distinct characters, ranging from unreconstructed old-school copper, Gavin Murfin, with his habit of calling the firefighters 'Trumpton', a reference to the characters in a long-ago children's TV programme, to Maurice Wharton, the former landlord of the now derelict Light House inn. Wharton's stock in trade was insulting his customers, an attitude that will be familiar to many who have called into out of the way pubs like The Light House and wondered how on earth they've managed to survive. Booth's writing is descriptive rather than flowery and does a good job of painting vivid pictures with few words, none of which are wasted. DEAD AND BURIED juggles the two investigations with apparent ease, one cold and one very definitely hot, in more ways that one, and brings the different strands together into an unexpected and genuinely shocking climax without wasting time on unnecessary exposition. § Linda Wilson is a writer, and retired solicitor, with an interest in archaeology and cave art, who now divides her time between England and France.
Reviewed by Linda Wilson, May 2012
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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