Stephen Booth (writer)

Booth in 2021
Born	1952 (age 72–73) Burnley, Lancashire, England
Alma mater	Birmingham City University
Genre	Crime fiction
Website
stephen-booth.com/index.htm

Stephen Booth (born 1952) is an English crime-writer. He is the author of the Derbyshire-set Cooper and Fry series.

Early and personal life

Booth was born in Burnley, Lancashire, the son of Jim and Edna Booth. At the age of two, he moved with his parents to Blackpool ^[1] where he attended Arnold School. ^[2] He lives with his wife Lesley in Retford, Nottinghamshire. ^{[3] [4]}

Career

For over 27 years, he was a journalist for various newspapers and magazines including the Wilmslow Advertiser, Huddersfield Examiner , and the Worksop Guardian. He also worked as a sub-editor for the Daily Express and The Guardian . ^[5] In 2001 he gave this up to be a full-time novelist. ^[6]

Bibliography

Cooper and Fry series, about two young Derbyshire police detectives, Ben Cooper and Diane Fry, as they try to solve various murders:

1. Black Dog (2000) ^[7]
2. Dancing with the Virgins (2001)
3. Blood on the Tongue (2002)
4. Blind to the Bones (2003)
5. One Last Breath (2004)
6. The Dead Place (2005)
7. Scared to Live (2006)
8. Dying to Sin (2007)
9. The Kill Call (2009)
10. Lost River (2010)
11. The Devil's Edge (2011)
12. Dead and Buried (2012)
13. Already Dead (2013) ^[8]
14. The Corpse Bridge (2014)
15. The Murder Road (2015)
16. Secrets of Death (2016)
17. Dead in the Dark (2017)
18. Fall Down Dead (2018)

Ben Cooper novella:

• Claws (2007) ^[9]

Stand-alone novels:

1. Top Hard (2011) ^[5]
2. Drowned Lives (2019)

Awards and nominations

• 2001 – Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel: Black Dog
• 2001 – Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year (shortlist): Dancing with the Virgins
• 2002 – Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel: Dancing With the Virgins
• 2003 – Dagger in the Library ^[10]
• 2006 – Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award (shortlist): One Last Breath
• 2007 – Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award (shortlist): The Dead Place

Adaptation

A television series adaptation Cooper and Fry is set to air in the United Kingdom on on Channel 5 in November 2025, with Mandip Gill as Fry and Robert James-Collier as Cooper. The series consists of four two-hour episodes, each based on a different novel in the series: Black Dog, Dying to Sin, Blind to the Bones and Dancing with the Virgins. ^[11]

References

1. "SATURDAY PEOPLE: When dull life took a novel twist". Lancashire Telegraph. 6 October 2001. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
2. "Stephen on short list for awards". Lancashire Telegraph. 7 September 2001. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
3. "Crime pays for author Stephen". Lancashire Telegraph. 5 August 2000. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
4. "20th Century Notts: 1985-1987". Nottingham City of Literature. 12 October 2018.
5. "Stephen Booth – biography". Stephen Booth. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
6. "Stephen Booth". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
7. "The Cooper & Fry Series in Order". Stephen Booth. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
8. "Already Dead (Cooper & Fry, book 13) by Stephen Booth". Stephen Booth. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
9. "Signed copies of the Ben Cooper novella CLAWS". Stephen Booth. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
10. "THE CWA's 2003 Dagger Awards". Crime Writers' Association. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
11. Cormack, Morgan (3 November 2025). "Doctor Who star's new detective series Cooper & Fry confirms start date – and it's soon". Radio Times. Retrieved 5 November 2025.

External links

• Official Website