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Fifteen-year-old Laura, daughter of the wealthy Vernon family, is missing. Possibly she's run off to London. Possibly she's dead. The police search, the parents wait by the phone, and Detective Constable Ben Cooper quietly dreads the worst.

When retired miner Harry Dickinson reports that he's found the body lying in the woods, his strangely obstinate refusal to cooperate with the investigation raises more than a few eyebrows. Does Harry simply hate the police, or does his behavior implicate him in the crime? Detective Cooper has no shortage of suspects for the murder, but he realizes that Harry may hold the key. Whatever Harry knows about what has happened up in those woods, he's certainly not telling. Cooper teams up with Detective Constable Diane Fry, an ambitious rookie with a few secrets of her own. As they work to unravel the baffling crime, the young detectives find themselves in a complicated two-step of suspicion and sexual tension.

Set against the atmospheric backdrop of Northern England's Peak District, Black Dog is an evocative, gorgeously written work of psychological suspense. Sure to garner comparisons to Barbara Vine and Reginald Hill, Stephen Booth makes a powerhouse debut.