WIN A COPY OF ALREADY DEAD

The UK paperback of the latest Cooper & Fry novel ALREADY DEAD is published this week. And here's a chance for five lucky readers in the UK to win a free copy for themselves: 

http://www.thecrimevault.com/exclusives/win-already-dead/

All you need to do is fill in your name and email address to enter. But make sure you enter by 29th May!

ALREADY DEAD is the 13th novel in the series and follows on from the dramatic ending of DEAD AND BURIED.

A summer of endless rain in the Peak District leaves the officers of Derbyshire's CID with a problem. They have discovered a man's body lying in shallow water, but torrential rain has swollen the rivers and flooded the roads, making travel difficult and forensic examination impossible.

And that's not all. The absence of DS Ben Cooper, on extended leave after an arson attack, has left a serious gap. DS Diane Fry is a reluctant temporary replacement, but now their makeshift team is about to be tested to the limit. The fatal events of one damp August night are likely to remain shrouded in mystery if they can't track down a car glimpsed only as a dark outline in the rain by a passer-by.

As the rain turns into a deluge, loyalties among the officers will be put under intolerable strain as they try to solve their toughest case yet. And that's before it emerges that Ben Cooper is not at home, but has vanished into thin air...

"Packed with atmosphere, suspense and danger, bestseller Stephen Booth's exceptional new Cooper and Fry thriller is a masterclass in British crime writing."

You can find out a bit about the writing of ALREADY DEAD over at 'Crime Time':

http://www.crimetime.co.uk/mag/index.php/showarticle/4746

Or you can get a taste of the book by trying the first chapter here:

http://www.stephen-booth.com/alreadydeadchapter.htm

You can order a copy of ALREADY DEAD from your favourite online bookseller:

Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Already-Dead-Cooper-Stephen-Booth/dp/0751551724

Waterstones:
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/stephen+booth/already+dead/9863707/

WH Smith:
http://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/already-dead-cooper-and-fry-13/product/9780751551723

The Hive:
http://www.hive.co.uk/book/already-dead/18374846/

Or call in at your local bookshop, of course.

The Kindle edition can be ordered here for the UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Already-Dead-Cooper-Fry-ebook/dp/B00A7YZ33S/

SPRING EVENTS START THIS MONTH

After a quiet couple of months for events, I have some Spring dates coming up later in March. They include two dates for Leicestershire's 'Words on the Street' festival - at Coalville Library on Friday 14th March (12pm) and at Blaby Library on Monday 24th March (7.30pm).

In between, I'll be in North Wales for the Flintshire ArtsFest, when I'm doing an event at Holywell Library on Friday 21st March (also at 7.30pm). At the end of the month, I'll also be talking to members of the Derby NHS Retirement Fellowship, and taking part in the Writers' Conference at Nottingham University. At the beginning of April I'll be chatting to aspiring writers again when I visit the 'World of Writing and Publishing' course at Derby's Quad arts centre.

More bookings are steadily coming in for events this summer. In May, I'll be attending CrimeFest in Bristol for the first time in a few years. Do say 'hello' if you're going to be there! Then there are festival events during May in Bollington, Cheshire, and Doncaster, South Yorkshire. 

More locally, in Nottinghamshire, I'll be doing a special event in the form of a Literary Lunch at the Clumber Park Hotel in the heart of the county's Dukeries area. Also appearing will be Samantha Priestley, author of 'Despite Losing it on Finkle Street', and the event is organised in conjunction with one of my favourite independent bookshops, Bookworm of Retford. The event coincides with the paperback release of the 13th Cooper & Fry novel ALREADY DEAD on 22nd May.

FRIDAY 14th MARCH, 12pm
Coalville Library, High Street, Coalville, Leicestershire, LE67 3EA - talk to readers for Leicestershire's 'Words on the Street' Festival. Tickets £3, booking essential. Tel: 0116 305 3565 or email: coalvillelibrary@leics.gov.uk

FRIDAY 21st MARCH, 7.30pm
Holywell Library, North Road, Holywell, Flintshire CH8 7TQ - talk to readers for Flintshire Arts Festival.
Tickets £4, available from Holywell Library on 01352 713157 (booking essential).

MONDAY 24th MARCH, 7pm
Blaby Library, Lutterworth Road, Blaby, Leicestershire LE8 4DW - talk to readers for Leicestershire's 'Words on the Street' Festival. Tickets £3 (including refreshments), booking essential. Tel: 0116 305 3516 or email: blabylibrary@leics.gov.uk

FRIDAY 28th MARCH, 2.30pm
Mickleover Country Club, Derby - talk to members of Derby NHS Retirement Fellowship.

SATURDAY 29th MARCH, 9.30am onwards      ** Now sold out **
Writers' Conference, Portland Building, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD - panel on 'Building Your Audience'. Conference details: http://writingeastmidlands.co.uk/projects/the_writers_conference/

THURSDAY 15th - SUNDAY 18th MAY
CrimeFest, Marriott Royal Hotel, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TA.
website: http://www.crimefest.com/

WEDNESDAY 21st MAY, 7.30pm
Bollington Arts Festival, Bollington Arts Centre, Wellington Road, Bollington, Cheshire SK10 5JR - author evening. Tickets £8, book online here:
http://www.bollingtonfestival.org.uk/events/25-stephen-booth-crime-writer

THURSDAY 22nd MAY, 12.30 for 1pm
Clumber Park Hotel, Blyth Road, near Worksop, Nottinghamshire S80 3PA - literary lunch, talk and book signing, in conjunction with Bookworm, Retford (with Samantha Priestley, author of 'Despite Losing it on Finkle Street'). Tickets £18.50 including two-course lunch and coffee, available from the Clumber Park Hotel on 01623 835333 or from Bookworm on 01777 869224.
Hotel website: http://www.clumberparkhotel.com/
Email: enquiries@clumberparkhotel.com

TUESDAY 27th MAY, 7pm
Doncaster Literary Festival, Doncaster Central Library, Waterdale, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN1 3JE - talk to readers. Details to follow.

WEDNESDAY 11th JUNE, 12pm
Trent Lock Golf Club, Sawley, Derbyshire NG10 2FY - talk to members of Long Eaton Ladies Luncheon Club.

FRIDAY 20th JUNE, time tbc
Gedling Book Festival, Arnot Hill Park, Arnold, Nottingham NG5 6LU - talk and signing (in conjunction with New Writers UK). Details to follow.

SATURDAY 21st JUNE, 10am - 12noon
Bookworm bookshop, Spa Lane, Retford, Nottinghamshire DN22 6EA - signing for the 14th Cooper & Fry novel THE CORPSE BRIDGE.
Phone 01777 869224 or email: sales@bookwormretford.co.uk
website: http://www.bookwormretford.co.uk/

SATURDAY 21st JUNE, 2.30 - 4.30pm
Scarthin Books, The Promenade, Cromford, Derbyshire DE4 3QF - signing for the 14th Cooper & Fry novel THE CORPSE BRIDGE.
Phone 01629 823272 or email: nickscarthin@gmail.com
website: http://www.scarthinbooks.com/

THURSDAY 26th JUNE, 7pm
Waterstones, 78-80 Peter Street, Derby DE1 1SR - talk and signing for the 14th Cooper & Fry novel THE CORPSE BRIDGE.
Phone 01332 296997

SATURDAY 28th JUNE, time tbc
BeaconLit Festival, Brookmead School, High St, Ivinghoe, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 9EX - crime panel. Festival website: http://www.beaconlit.co.uk/

THE DEVIL'S EDGE IS COMING

Well, this Thursday is publication day for THE DEVIL'S EDGE, and the books are arriving in the shops right now. In fact, one of the first readers to finish her copy of THE DEVIL'S EDGE bought her copy at the English Bookshop in Uppsala, Sweden!

My first signing for the new book will be this Saturday, 9th April (10am - 12 noon) at my local independent bookshop, Bookworm in Retford, Nottinghamshire:

http://www.bookwormretford.co.uk/events.html

Signed copies can be reserved from Bookworm by phoning 01777 869224.

Just a few tickets are left for my evening at Newbold Verdon Library, Leicestershire, next Tuesday 12th April (7pm). To book a place, call 0116 3053661. This is en event for Words on the Street:

http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/leisure_tourism/libraries/reading_writing/wordsonthestreet.html

If you're in the South Yorkshire/North Derbyshire area, I'll be joined by Sheffield author Danuta Reah for a crime evening at Waterstone's bookshop in Orchard Square, Sheffield, on Thursday 14th April (6.45pm onwards). Tickets are £3, redeemable against the purchase of a book on the night. To reserve a place, phone 0114 2728971 or call in at the shop.

There will also be signings for THE DEVIL'S EDGE at Waterstone's Chesterfield (Saturday 16th April 1-3pm) and Waterstone's Derby (Saturday 23rd April 12- 2pm):

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayDetailEvent.do?searchType=1&author=Stephen|Booth