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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't eat lunch, May 2, 2007
The calls are unnerving as the individual promises soon to begin his "killing will be a model of perfection". The receiver of the frightening calls Detective Superintendent Diane Fry prays some crackpot is making crank calls, but thinks this guy is the real deal that will keep on killing once he starts until he is stopped. Adding to the discomfit of the DS is the fact a woman has reportedly vanished from a nearby office.
At the same time Detective Constable Ben Cooper investigates what happened to the woman whose human bones were recently found in the woods. Electronic facial reconstruction names the victim as Audrey Steele, who officially was cremated 18 months ago. Ben follows the fiery trail until the case turns stranger when an arsonist burns up potential proof as to who was cremated. Soon Ben's inquiry and Diane's preventative endeavor collide.
Don't eat lunch while reading this exciting police procedural as a secondary character go into graphic detail lecturing the cops and readers on human decomposition rates and what happens to bodily fluids in death amongst other icky and yucky (scientific terms for gross) forensic insights. The two prime subplots are well written and fascinating to follow, partially because the respective tour guides, Ben and Diane, are sub-genre unique as they not likable protagonists. The bottom line is those who could stomach high school biology will enjoy this interesting look at the art of studying death.
Harriet Klausner
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A corpse-laden Dead Place, March 2, 2008
I've been a pretty faithful Stephen Booth reader with his ups and downs and this book falls somewhere in the middle. He is one of the best at setting a scene and clearly describing the countryside, but his plots sometimes seem unnecessarily labyrinthine. Oddly enough, in The Dead Place, I had the killer spotted pretty early but it was so obvious that I figured I was wrong and spent nearly the rest of the book homing in on the wrong person. In that sense, the book really was a success because it was enough to make me not trust my instincts. I am getting a little tired of the tension between Fry and Cooper, though. Fry's acid tongue and negativity certainly have potential to adversely influence morale and Cooper seems to be stuck in a rut out of which he only finally emerges toward the end of the book.
On the plus side, the best part of this book is a detailed and completely believable portrait of the world of funeral homes and crematoria. I was absolutely fascinated by the description of a modern embalming, as well as the approach to "mending" and cosmetically enhancing corpses. It could have been sensational or gruesome, but it was presented quite scientifically and without drama.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing English Puzzler, March 2, 2010
This review is from: The Dead Place (Mass Market Paperback)
Stephen Booth's ill-assorted pair, DC Cooper and his boss DS Fry, are back in another complicated puzzler that hopefully will intrigue you. There are two cases here, one in which a late-toiling office worker apparently has been kidnapped in a car park near her office, and the other in which the body of a woman thought to have been cremated turns up in a remote area of Derbyshire.
In order to solve the puzzles Fry's boss, DI Hitchens, calls in some experts--a profiler in the first case and a retired professor whose expertise is in the field of thanatology (the study of death and dying) in the second. This pleases Fry (who's something of a know-it-all)less than somewhat.
What makes this novel way more than a run of the mill whodunnit is the author's ability to create a sense of place--he brings the area to life. Maybe you'll smell the smells and hear the sounds. And he has a great ability to create suspense and surprise (fans of Jeffery Deaver would be advised to stop here while they wait for the next Lincoln Rhyme puzzler). One feature of the Cooper-Fry series is the edgy relationship between the two detectives. It can be offputting, and maybe you won't like Fry very much. But it works (for me anyway) in context.
Then, too, you'll learn a lot (maybe more than you want) about funeral homes, cremations, and the like. It's a little upsetting from time to time but really not all that gruesome.
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