Stephen Booth (born 1952) is an English crime-writer. He is the author of the

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

-set Cooper and Fry series.

Early and personal life

Booth was born in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, the son of Jim and Edna Booth. At the age of two, he moved with his parents to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

where he attended Arnold School. He lives with his wife Lesley in

Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterfield Canal. Retford is located east of Sheffield, west of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Linco ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

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 The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. In 2001 he gave this up to be a full-time

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

Bibliography

Cooper and Fry series, about two young Derbyshire police detectives, Ben Cooper and Diane Fry, as they try to solve various murders: #'' Black Dog'' (2000) #''Dancing with the Virgins'' (2001) #''Blood on the Tongue'' (2002) #''Blind to the Bones'' (2003) #''One Last Breath'' (2004) #''The Dead Place'' (2005) #''Scared to Live'' (2006) #''Dying to Sin'' (2007) #''The Kill Call'' (2009) #''Lost River'' (2010) #''The Devil's Edge'' (2011) #''Dead and Buried'' (2012) #''Already Dead'' (2013) #''The Corpse Bridge'' (2014) # ''The Murder Road ''(2015) #''Secrets of Death'' (2016) #''Dead in the Dark'' (2017) #''Fall Down Dead'' (2018) Ben Cooper novella: * ''Claws'' (2007) Stand-alone novels: # ''Top Hard'' (2011) #''Drowned Lives'' (2019)

Awards and nominations

*2001 – Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel: ''Black Dog'' *2001 –

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors' organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its "Dagger" awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. ...

Gold Dagger The CWA Gold Dagger is an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom since 1960 for the best crime novel of the year. From 1955 to 1959, the organization named their top honor as the Crossed Red Herring Award. ...

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 The Dagger in the Library (Golden Handcuffs in 1992–1994) is an annual award given by the British Crime Writers' Association to a particular "living author who has given the most pleasure to readers". Yearly shortlists are drawn up of the ten auth ...

*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''

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Stephen 1952 births English crime fiction writers English male journalists People educated at Arnold School People from Burnley People from Blackpool Living people Barry Award winners English male novelists Writers from Lancashire