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Title: Black Dog by Stephen Booth ISBN: 0-671-78604-0 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 2001 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.08 (24 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Black Dog, an incredible mystery
Comment: From the moment Detective Constable Ben Cooper finds young Laura Vernon's lifeless body his life goes steadily downhill. It doesn't help matters that the new woman on the force is somehow stepping in to fill his shoes and taking over the case. Diane Fry is ambitious, tough and just recovery from her own tragic set of circumstances. A woman alone, and unable to understand the needs of family and friendships as they apply to the small town she's now living in. But Diane learns that she can't go this one alone. As an outsider, she can't discount Ben Coopers expertise in the area and the people. This is Ben's hometown, the people are his people, and those of his father before him. Regardless of the pressure this puts on Ben, there's no escaping this fact. Village suspicions, family secrets, and loyalty forged in the fires of lifelong friendships blend together in a masters stroke in this wonderful mystery that spans such a range of human emotions as to leave you gasping as you learn who really killed Laura Vernon and why. The answers will surprise you as will the ending to this incredible mystery.
Rating: 5
Summary: Watch out PD James and Martha Grimes
Comment: Stephen Booth's first novel, Black Dog, reminded me of two of my favorite mystery novelists, P.D. James (Adam Dagliesh) and Martha Grimes (her early Richard Jury/Melrose Plant books).
Like Adam Dagliesh and Richard Jury, Ben Cooper is a complex human being who uses his intuition to solve crimes. He feels for the people involved in a criminal investigation and is an immediately likeable character. You want to see him succeed.
Ben's foil is Diane Fry, a brittle, ambitious, by-the-book female officer, who not knowing how to love, only aspires to succeed. Diane needs to learn to get in touch with her emotions and deal with her past. You sense that just maybe Ben is the man to teach her.
Also, like the aformentioned British crime novelists, Booth uses the small details of the day-to-day lives of the people involved in and on the periphery of the crime. And, a dastardly crime it is, too. But, as with a masterwork painting, Booth adds the layers with a fine hand, blending in the details, so that in the end you have a photorealistic look at the whole scene. What may have seemed extraneous detail becomes clear with the very satisfying conclusion. It's an "aha" moment.
As a reader, I can only hope that Mr. Booth is writing the next in this series. I would like to see what happens next to Ben and Diane, to see how they grow as partners and people.
Rating: 2
Summary: Great start, poor finish
Comment: I am a big fan of British mysteries and really thought this one would go somewhere but I was mistaken. I sure miss the Morse series. Is British law enforcement this bad in real life? So politically correct? I guess liberal/labor government has really caused a change over there. The book started so well but then seemed to wander and not really go anywhere with the main characters. Get on with it! Ben Cooper starts out as a perfect lead character but then the author turns him into a dysfunctional wimp with the usual male stereotypical faults- concerns for his mommy, alcohol abuse, the inability to communicate and deal with his feelings, and the need for a woman to bail him out/protect him in the situations he has gotten himself into. He comes across as a mommas boy or a stupid plod. The female lead- Diane Fry is even worse. She is a cold, distant, career seeking maniac of a woman that has little in life besides her stupid karate- whatever- and cutting remarks. She cannot carry on a conversation without some form of insult or macho remark shooting out of her mouth. Difficult childhood? Who cares! Get over it! The dialogue between the two was terrible and by the end of the long book- too long- I was ready to toss it. I won't bother reading another in this series. It will take 10 books to get a relationship going with the main characters. Let's hope that they do not make a television series from these books.
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Title: Dancing with the Virgins : A Constable Ben Cooper Novel by Stephen Booth ISBN: 0743431006 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Blood on the Tongue by Stephen Booth ISBN: 0743457838 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Blind to the Bones : A Crime Novel by Stephen Booth ISBN: 074323796X Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Playing with Fire : A Novel of Suspense by Peter Robinson ISBN: 006019877X Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 20 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Now May You Weep: A Novel by Deborah Crombie ISBN: 0060525231 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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