It was, above all, a human landscape , settled and shaped by people, and still a place where thousands of years of history might be expected to come to the surface, if you cared to look.

– Black Dog, Stephen Booth (Cooper and Fry #1)

The Cooper and Fry series are thrillers set in the Peak District. Yes, murder and intrigue right next door to me – how could I resist? The Peak District is one of my favourite places in England, and its somewhere I have actually been and actually kind of know, so I knew I had to read these books.

Thankfully, they exceeded my expectations.

The main characters are Ben Cooper and Diane Fry – Ben being the local lad, and Diane being the newcomer from the city (in book one.) Ben is instantly likeable- he’s a very interesting character with a cheerful, approachable front hiding very dark thoughts and insecurities. At first, I hated Diane fry and this made it difficult to get through the first book. She was so judgemental, so selfish and close minded. I was horrified at some of the things she thought appropriate to say out loud. I didn’t like, nor get, how she could have formed such negative, extreme views of the countryside.

Then again, I may have been feeling defence because of my love for the Peak District.

Anyway, I grew to sympathise with Diane fry once her background is revealed even if I still didn’t like her. It also helped that I love the dynamic between Cooper and Fry- Cooper softens Fry, whilst she likewise toughens him. They challenge each other, and their dialogue is delightful. And I just love how the tough, ambitious Fry falls so obviously and so fast for Cooper, way before he even thinks of her as a friend. Cooper is attractive and intrigues her, and its amusing how often she thinks of him, as if its totally natural. Cooper thinks Fry has beaten him in everything, without realising there is one way he has Fry utterly defeated. I felt for Cooper and the way Fry challenged his position in the force, but by book two I could see he needed that. Again, Fry toughened him- made him question and challenge himself. They have such an interesting dynamic that swings from dislike and annoyance to grudging respect and attraction.

The writing is delightful. At first I wasn’t sure about how often the point of view changes, but the author manages to build up strong characterisation even so. The crimes are intriguing, with no clear answers. The writing is clever, with a dry sense of humour, a bit dark too, that often had me laughing out loud. I loved how I don’t know- playful? Teasing? The writing is. The writer has a great way of leading your thoughts in one direction with regards to what’s happening, only to reveal the situation or meaning is something else entirely. It could be so annoying- but its done so cleverly, and the answer always revealed quickly without dragging it out that it made me grin every time. Also it has to be said that the books have a strong sense of place. I actually thought Edendale was a real place! And I love the focus on life in the country, and this also adds an interesting element to the crimes – what do the police do to handle crimes in open, mostly remote areas with temperamental weather? It’s fascinating.

These books are so very enjoyable. I ploughed through the first three books in a matter of days.

The one downside to these books is that they are an unfinished series- I don’t want the series to become tired or plodding. Already by book three I felt myself becoming impatient, looking for a conclusion that wasn’t there. The books all stand well on their own in regards to the cases but the strands of the personal lives of Copper and Fry, and the teasing hints of potential romance, is something that is always open ended. I don’t like this.

“Knew, too, that it wasn’t just Mona he wanted to run away from. It was everything. Back to a place where life had once seemed simple. A return to childhood, back to the womb. How easy it was now to ignore the fact that he had spent most of his adult life avoiding just that. Easy to forget that as a teenager nothing had seemed more important to him than leaving.”

– The Blackhouse, Peter May (Lewis Triology #1)

I recently wrapped up the Lewis trilogy by Peter May. I was drawn to this series by the setting – the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The books are long and complex, heavy with nostalgia and regret. They are interesting but difficult, and dreary.

The trilogy starts with The Black House. Fin Macleod, Edinburgh detective, recently divorced and grieving after the death of his child in a hit and run, finds himself unwillingly returning to the village he grew up in on Lewis, to investigate a death similar to that in Edinburgh. In the present, the book explores Fin’s return as he meets friends and acquaintances from his childhood and investigates the crime and in the past, it follows the events that led to his departure, for him an escape, from Lewis. The setting is unique, and the book is a fascinating look at life on the islands in the later 20th century, and at the Hebridean practice of Guga hunting, with a twist at the end that is truly shocking, for I never saw it coming.

By book 2, The Lewis Man, Fin has quit the police and returned to the island for good. A body is found in a peat bog that has some relation to the father of Fin’s childhood sweetheart Marsailis. Like book 1 the book alternates between past and present- though in this book we get Fin’s view as he tries to settle in to life on the island and repair his relationship with Marsailis, and then the view of Marsailis’s father in the present and also his view in the past, showing the events that led up to the death of the boy in the peat bog. Again, the description of the island and the life there is vivid and here, the author highlights a part of history I never knew of- how children were taken from broken homes or orphanages in Scotland and sent to work for crofting families in the Outer Hebrides. It’s interesting, but I found the book slow, and it dragged in the middle, such that I ended up bored and almost dropping the series. Even if the book was as clever and complex as the first, it didn’t have the same impact despite another unexpected ending.

In the final book, The Chess Men, Fin is still on the islands, when a bog burst reveals the lost body of a rock star and Fin’s former friend. I realised I shouldn’t have taken a break from the books in book 2 as by the last in the trilogy I was lost- I was struggling to keep track of who is who, and how they fitted in the previous books, book 1 especially. The order of the books felt off- with book 1 and 3 revolving around both Fin’s past and present, whereas book 2 departs to the story of Marsailis’s father. (In fact, I’m reading goodreads reviews now and it seems that the character of Whistler wasn’t actually mentioned in book 1 which explains my confusion, and furthers my disappointment in this book – why wasn’t he mentioned if his friendship was apparently so dear to Fin?) I also realised I didn’t much like Fin here- he came across as arrogant and selfish. It started to feel arrogant that he was nosing his way into these crimes, as if no one else could solve them. I found his actions towards others cold. The writing was still clever and vivid, but I found it veered on the melodramatic at times- the descriptions of Fin’s emotions felt over the top in those moments.

There was something really off with Book 3 – it wasn’t a satisfying end to this trilogy at all. In particular, the conclusion of Fin’s son death was rushed, and his relationship with Marsailis left by the wayside and there was an abrupt, sudden character death.

By book 3 I was really struggling with this series and it tainted my reading experience. I adored the setting and the look into things like the Guga hunting, the ‘Homers’ and life out on the islands in general, but although the writing was mostly very good it veered towards being a bit heavy handed at times and the the sex scenes were awkward, and the trilogy ends very abruptly and without a good conclusion. Worth reading, and memorable, but with a bitter after taste. I enjoyed The Blackhouse most of all.

As an aside: I do find the title of book 3 very clever – in the subtle way it relates to the plot, and the solving of the crime.

Audio book notes: The Blackhouse was read by Steve Worsley and the other two by Peter Forbes. Both were excellent and I loved all the different accents. I found it amazing how Forbes could switch from Scottish to Southern English and to Cockney London with such ease! These books were probably a bit long and contemplative for audio- perhaps I missed some details or because I spent so much time on them I got confused by book 3, and it may have been that they were being read that by book 3 the writing came across as a little over dramatic. Peter Forbes reading was very flat, not particularly animated, probably because of the sombre atmosphere of the books, but it did make it tough going. I enjoyed both readings but I do wonder what kind of reading experience I would have had if I’d stuck to paperback instead.

“The yearning was back, that thing that lived inside her like a ravenous, puling child. How was she supposed to be happy while she had this feeling? This queasy, bored feeling, which attached itself to the weirdest objects as though they had the answer to all life’s problems: every morning for as long as she could remember she had woken up hoping that today she’d feel satisfied, contented, fulfilled. But then the feeling would start to seek her out. It hid in her favourite songs, or it lazed in the eyebrows of exotic boys, or, like now, it rolled in with the grey waves as she watched them.”

– The Resurrectionists, Kim Wilkins

I wasn’t sure about this book – was it horror or fantasy? I do not read horror books. Yet, I tried to have a little faith in one of my favourite authors, and I’m glad I did. Maisie is in her early 20s, daughter to famous musicians, girlfriend to an up and coming opera star. She is a cellist but feels no passion for it and feels trapped in the life her parents and boyfriend want for her, desperate for something else, something that can fulfil her, but not sure what it is. So she decides to take a trip to England to clear out her recently deceased grandmothers cottage there, as well as sort out her mind. She arrives in England to the tiny and very hostile village of Solgreve with its unusually large cemetry, a small, cluttered cottage filled with secrets and soon discovers many suspicious details surrounding her grandmothers death, as well as as the gorgeous, charming former gardener to her grandmother, Sacha and a gift of hers that promises her the fulfilment she seeks – but what can she do with it? Mirroring Maisie’s story is the dairies she finds of Georgette, a French aristocrat in the 18th century who falls in love with and elopes with a poet to Solgreve, both young and full of romantic notions, that are soon pulled to pieces.

I admit, at first the book is a little hard to get into – Maisie comes across as spoilt, selfish and bitchy. Her loneliness, whining, judgements and ridiculous pining over Sacha is annoying. The setting felt ridiculous – I live in a village in Northern England, so seeing Maisie’s romantic notions about England, and seeing the way the village was presented felt very much made for a book. But I stuck with it, again trusting in Kim Wilkins, and soon the layers were being peeled back, and I was hooked. The atmosphere of the village becomes very sinister once the supernatural bits start coming into force. The isolation and the cold weather starts to become very atmospheric once there is that edge to it. The reverend is a very well layered villain – you can see his underlying misgivings – which probably makes his crimes worse, but also gave them more impact. Maisie can come across as spoilt and selfish but she’s also a very sympathetic character. I loved that the author didn’t create some tragic back story for her- unhappiness doesn’t need a cause after all. She’s ordinary in every way, with a privileged upbringing and a lovely if not slightly controlling boyfriend and yet she feels trapped and dissatisfied. Its remarkably relatable and refreshingly low key. I felt for Maisie and her longing for something different, something more, something better. She wants so much for the perfect life, for passion and excitement that she’s setting herself up for failure- “but already her desperation to hold it and possess it was eroding the pleasure.”

At for Maisie and Sacha – it soon becomes clear that he’s another element in the fantasy she wants to build herself. I felt for Sacha who couldn’t help be drawn to Maisie, even though he knows their relationship is hopeless. Their conversation where Sacha tells her that he could never be enough for her, and that eventually she’d grow bored of him too, was so painful. What is lovely though it that Sacha is willing to be there for here but he doesn’t put up with her – he doesn’t change himself, and talks honestly to her even when she doesn’t want to hear it (he also calls her out for exoticizing his gypsy background, thankfully)

Georgette’s dairy entries were wonderful. I was confused as to how or why they were hidden all round the house, and the italics were difficult on the eyes, but oh the content. At first I wasn’t sure about Goergette- she seemed so young, naive and spoilt (like Maisie really, the parallels between them were quite well done) But although Georgette may have been spoilt and thought some fairly nasty things, it became obvious that her actions were anything but- she was trying incredibly hard to adjust to her new life, even when things began to go wrong. Her diary entries were tragic – how they started so optimistic, and how slowly but certainly her optimism became more and more forced, until everything fell apart. You really felt for her and her husband. They tried so hard and did not deserve any of what they got for it.

Eventually Maisie and Sacha decided to work together to stop what is happening in the village, and the resolution to this problem was a little neat – I was surprised at how easily their plan worked out and felt a bit deflated, but then a sudden twist drew me back in and finally, the ending broke my heart – it was expected, realistic and yet still devastating. Oh, I cried. This is another powerful, dark book from Kim Wilkins. I don’t know why its marketed as horror though nor fantasy – there are definitely parts which are paranormal and its certainly unsettling but there also spiritual elements* and overall the focus seemed for me to be very much on Maisie’s emotional journey. It’s a hard book to define. And those looking for something thrilling would probably be put off by the unhurried pace and the introspectiveness of the book.

(By spiritual: there is a small exploration of the spiritual beliefs to do with death and souls, and the psychic arts feature heavily which aren’t technically magic; they are very real beliefs, so they can’t really count as fantasy?)