Real score 3.86.

These books are soooo boring. The premises are great, and the characters have great potential, but the execution of the story is too long and too detailed and way too boring. Not going to read any more of them. This was the third and I hoped they would get better, as some series do improve. If anything, this was worse. There were lots of parallel storylines that could have made a really interesting book, but it failed to optimize the potential. And that protagonist woman continues to just be an annoying drag on the whole series.

I enjoyed the murder mystery and the twist at the end. Unfortunately I found that a lot of the characters motivations and relationships had been established in the first book, which I sadly hadn't read. This meant that I did find the repeated references to the past between Ben and Diane a bit tiresome.

This is a difficult book to review...and I struggled to get through the book....but was satisfied in the end.

When travelling in a tourist rich area, always look for the pile of dusty books on a shelf...and in Lombok, there were plenty....usually the books are in random languages (some you won't be able to identify)--- but when you find a book in English....that you would actually read? You have found the almond in the chocolate bar. I found this book at hotel in Lombok and chose to carry it around because it was a mystery...and I was desperate for some "beach lit". I didn't actually get to read it until now...it became my last paper book and I was saving it for the last month (in case I needed one)...so my almost last month in Indo...and I am dragging to read a book that I am not in love with.

This book is the second book in the series--- and the reader is obviously missing some relationship info between the two main detectives if he/she hasn't read the first book. The story is about a handful of women being attacked/murdered in a moor in England...and the detectives search to find the killer (shocking)...lots of farmers, and cows....some surly women.

My complain about the book is that it is written in "code"...maybe technical code, maybe British code...but there were many moments when I felt like I was missing something because I am not a Brit or...I am not able to follow the author's brain path. And....for a mystery there isn't any "page turning" moments...so it was a bit of a hurdle to get through some parts.

I didn't rave about this book and I wouldn't recommend it--- but I felt satisfied when it was over...and would grab the next book if it was laying around a hotel.

2nd book about Cooper, who is local and pays attention to his feelings/instincts, and Fry, who's all about procedure and logic. Death on the national park site, and it ends up being the rangers who are the problem.

This was the second in the series of police procedural set in the Derbyshire peak district.
In book 1 we were introduced to two detective constables Ben Cooper and Diane fry. Cooper on the promotion path as the local son of a police hero is faced with competition in fry an outsider efficient but cold.
This book sees them investigating the murder of two women on the hills and one within the standing stones of the title.
A well plotted story but the best part of the book is the picture drawn of the two characters, the tension suggests that reading on will be worthwhile, although I suspect that at over 500 pages it could have lost a good chunk without spoiling the story.

Okay, so I loved this book.

This is the second in a series of Constable Ben Cooper novels and my affinity for these books has been previously well-documented. However, since I started reading the series at book three, I was always a little confused about what DS Diane Fry was holding over Cooper's head. Which, of course, was finally revealed in this book.

Turns out, Cooper's inherent sense of loyalty to his family, friends, and colleagues blows up in his face. His partner, DC Todd Weenink, confides in him that he tampered with evidence in a burglary case. Add to that the fact that Cooper inadvertently comes across a piece of evidence linking Weenink to their current case (and doesn't share it), and Cooper is in potentially very hot and dangerous water.

The case is an interesting one. A young woman is found dead in the center of a Stonehenge-like set of stones known locally as the Nine Virgins (thus the title of the book). Of course, there's more to the case than meets the eye because there was also a previous victim (two, really, as it turns out). There is also a cast of interesting, real, and tragic characters that help flesh out the story, including two nearly codependent Peak Park Rangers, a womanizing police detective, a couple of vagabonds living in a decrepit van, and a desperate farmer on the verge of losing everything.

The result of the police investigation is unexpected; again, things aren't ever what they seem. But the meat of the story is the background of the two leads: DC Cooper and (Acting) DS Fry. For instance, we learn more about Cooper's almost love-hate relationship with his dad and the pressure he still feels to live up to his father's standards even after Joe Cooper's death. We also learn that Fry had had an abortion as a result of a rape-induced pregnancy. Also, the fact that she is searching for her sister is introduced.

The best part to me is the tenuous relationship between Cooper and Fry. It's very contentious, very tense, very reluctant. Cooper wants to befriend her, but he wants to hate her, too. After all, he still resents her a little for getting the promotion he'd hoped to get. Fry, on the other hand, is being driven crazy by her need to understand Cooper. She keeps finding herself asking, "What would Cooper do?" and she hates it. It's no secret their methods are completely different, as are their personalities. But they still tend to complement each other and get the job done.

Having read all the subsequent books (well, the ones available in the US, at least), it was great to be able to put some of the stuff that happens in them between Cooper & Fry in its proper context.

I very much enjoyed this book. Can't wait for the latest book to come to the States.

Interesting second book of a series about two police officers in the Peak District. Lots of description of the area, lots of local color and legends, and a pretty good mystery to boot.