Blood on the Tongue

Guilt, sacrifice and redemption in a freezing Peak District winter feature in this tense psychological thriller from the acclaimed author of BLACK DOG and DANCING WITH THE VIRGINS. It wasn’t the easiest way to commit suicide. Marie Tennent seems to have curled up in the freezing snow on Irontongue Hill and stayed there until her body was frosted over like a supermarket chicken. And hers isn’t the only death the Derbyshire police have to contend with – not after the discovery of a baby in the wreckage of an old air force bomber, and the body of a man dumped by the roadside. As if that isn’t enough, snow and ice have left half of ‘E’ Division out of action, and Detective Sergeant Diane Fry is forced to partner with DC Gavin Murfin. She and Ben Cooper were never a match made in heaven - but, next to Murfin, working with Ben starts to look like a dream. Cooper is on a trail of his own, though – and one as cold as the Peak District January. In an equally bitter winter in 1945 an RAF bomber crashed on Irontongue Hill, killing everyone except the pilot, who walked away and disappeared. Now the pilot's grand-daughter is in Derbyshire desperate to clear his name, and Ben can’t help taking an interest. But is a fifty-year-old mystery really the best use of police time? Or does a vicious attack in the dark Edendale back streets prove that the trail isn't quite so cold as he thought? Could the past be the only clue to present violence as an icy winter looks set to get even chillier? BLOOD ON THE TONGUE is the third novel in the multiple award-winning Cooper & Fry series, set in England's beautiful and atmospheric Peak District.