Title: Dancing with the Virgins
Author: Stephen Booth
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Publisher: Pocket
Copyright: 2001
ISBN: 0743431006
Pages: 528
Keywords: mystery
Reading period: 6-11 January, 2008

One woman has been mutilated and another murdered on the bleak moors of Derbyshire. Detective Constable Ben Cooper and Detective Sergeant Diane Fry investigate.

The novel is at least as much about the tense relationship between Cooper and Fry as it is about the mystery itself. This is the second in a series of Cooper-Fry books. Cooper is a local boy, deeply rooted in the rural community, pleasant and trusting. Fry is a bitter loner, who transferred in from a distant city. Quickly promoted over Cooper, she can't understand his easygoing nature.

The mystery is effective, with enough twists to keep you guessing. The characters feel real and human, not authorial puppets.