Maggie Crew is attacked with a knife and left with terrible scars on her face. She can't remember anything about the attack or her attacker. The new Park Ranger then finds the body of Jenny Weston which has been laid out within the Nine Virgins stone circle on the Derbyshire moors. Jenny has been stabbed. The police believe that Jenny may have been killed by Maggie's attacker.
Detective Sergeant Diane Fry arranges many meetings with Maggie. She talks with her about why she was out walking on the moors and tries to jog her memory from around the time of the attack. Anything she can remember may help in the search for Jenny's murderer.
The police begin their investigations and interviews with people who have been within the area of the murder. As new pieces of information are discovered they implicate, or clear, different people within the investigation.
Detective Constable Ben Cooper knows the moors area well and he understands the difficulties faced by the local farmers who are trying to make a living on difficult land. He refuses to believe the guilt of some of the people implicated within the investigation. He sticks with his gut feelings about some of the people under interrogation but he is also very loyal to his colleagues.
There are many twists and turns within the investigation and we begin to doubt the truth of the stories of some of the people involved.
I have not read a Stephen Booth novel before. This is one of his earlier books within the Cooper and Fry series. All his books are based in the Peak District. Having not heard of the Nine Virgins stone circle I looked it up. It is generally known as the Nine Ladies, but all the other information about the legend of them being dancers and the outlying stone having been a fiddler all seems to be documented.
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