Fall Down Dead

DI Ben Cooper is at the scene of a domestic murder.  It all seems straight forward, although DS Diane Fry is hesitant to say so.

Later DS Fry received a call from her superior telling her to report to HQ the following morning regarding professional standards.  Cooper at the same time is concerned about a group of missing hikers lost in the fog on Kinder Scout.  Fortunately they are found, but one of their group, a woman, is missing.

The following morning the missing woman was found at the foot of Dead Woman’s Drop.  When Cooper gets to the scene he wonders if she could have been pushed over the cliff.  Later, pathologist Chloe Young confirms his suspicions that she was possibly pushed.

Meanwhile, the professional standards inquiry into DS Fry have led to her sister Angela.  They also want her to take an assessment of her emotional and mental stability.  She turns to DI Cooper for help.  If he does help her, it could mean trouble for him, too.

Then errors are found in the murder inquiry, so DS Sharma has to dig further.  Will errors turn up in Cooper’s own investigation? And, what will happen to DS Fry?

Author Stephen Booth’s murder mystery is well written, and as usual his parallel stories keep the reader intrigued.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.