Showing 1-2 out of 2 reviews.

• THE DEVIL’S EDGEStephen BoothSomeone is breaking into a gated community in Riddings. This time a woman is found dead and DC Ben Cooper has been dispatched to investigate. The press has labeled the invaders the “Savages.” Every town has its resident snoop and Riddings is no different. Barry Gamble was on the scene right after Zoe Barron was murdered. If Ben wants to know anything about anyone in Riddings, he only has to ask Gamble. Diane Fry is fulfilling her goal of climbing up the ladder but she is finding all she does is push papers around and seldom can sink her teeth into a good case. A little disagreement with a fellow cop at a conference finds her back in E Division as the press liaison and soon has a suspect in the break-ins. Ben’s family and personal life are also in turmoil. His brother, Matt, isn’t doing good with the farm during the sinking economy, and shoots what he thinks are trespassers. Ben is now engaged but not too eager to spread the word past his immediate family. Liz appears to be a whiny clinger, someone who is already getting a bit angered by the amount of time Ben spends on the job. And a friend from high school has just been hired to join his team. Carol Villiers served overseas and is now a widow. Ben has his own theories on the home invasions and isn’t so sure the Savages are to blame. I had always thought since the first book in the series that Ben and Diane would have a love/hate relationship that might evolve into more love than hate. Now Liz and Carol are also in the picture and much to Ben’s fear, Diane appears to be cozying up to Carol. Exactly what is Ben afraid Diane might learn? Another great installment in the Ben Cooper/Diane Fry series.

  4.00 out of 5

  SandyLee

• Many fans of Stephen Booth's Fry and Cooper series seem to fall into the pro or anti DS Diane Fry camp pretty firmly. Those in the anti camp may take heart from the fact that she's slightly less present in this book, not making an appearance until later in proceedings. There's also a shift in the power imbalance as Cooper has finally been promoted to the same rank of Detective Sergeant, managing his own team as part of a bigger investigation into a series of home invasions which seem to have culminated in a brutal local murder.It's been a while since I caught back up with this excellent series, and I'm rather pleased to be back. As usual, THE DEVIL'S EDGE provides a solid police procedural plot, with the bonus of a fantastic sense of place. The Devil's Edge from the title is a rock-face looming over an enclosed, private, very English feeling village. Enclosed and private partly because of the people that populate it, and partly because of geography. The cliff edges that surround the village provide Booth with a chance to write an atmospheric tale, with some beautiful descriptive passages, the central premise of which relies heavily on that inward looking persona, and a village populated by wealthy people in enclosed properties who value their privacy. Except, of course, for the obligatory village sticky-nose. Just as this village is reticent to open itself up to the outside world of tourists and visitors, they are reluctant to completely open up to the police, despite the violent home invasion and murder that occurs in their midst. That reticence and desire for privacy plays off nicely against the idea that overhanging them all, facilitating a glimpse into their privacy for some, are the cliffs that impose.Undoubtedly one of the great strengths of all of Booth's novels is that sense of place, and location. On the other hand, with his two main characters, he's set himself the difficult task of writing a long-term prickly relationship. In THE DEVIL'S EDGE that's somewhat relieved by Fry being stationed elsewhere for a large portion of the book, and by creating and building a team of supportive officers around Cooper. When Fry returns, however, and particularly as she has to take a hands on involvement in a case involving Cooper's own brother, there is still a little of the prickle, but there is also a sense of understanding, respect and co-operation. The only major character oddity in the entire mix is Liz - SOCO, girlfriend and finally fiancé of Ben as the book progresses. For some reason she is almost completely absent in that very traumatic Cooper family event, which just didn't make any sense whatsoever. Hopefully there's a plan to resolve that relationship because in this book, it didn't feel real. Then there's this childhood friend, widow, police officer Carol Villiers in the mix. Makes you want to get your hands on the next book asap!

  3.00 out of 5

  austcrimefiction

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