Stephen Booth, who wasn’t at all bad to start with, is going from strength to strength. This is one of the best mysteries that I’ve read for quite some time.

It’s the dead of winter in Derbyshire’s E-Division and DS Fry and DC Cooper have more than enough to deal with on top of the snow and ice without a Canadian girl investigating a second world war air crash on their patch too. Fry is dismissive but Cooper gets drawn into the historical mystery. I’ve got a definite penchant for mysteries that are set in the present day but delve into happenings in the past and this one is wonderful stuff. I would also have never expected a Peak District story to be full of so much interesting Polish culture but Booth brings all kinds of fascinating elements into his story.

The two central police characters are developing nicely through the series, they’ve definitely moved on from where they were in the first couple of books and I’m looking forward to following them into the future. Diane Fry is losing her rough edges and it seems Derbyshire is becoming more a home and less of an escape for her. Ben Cooper is breaking away from his family and building more of a life for himself. The changes in these people are gradual rather than sudden and this makes them highly believable.

More of the same please!