Soon there will be a killing. Close your eyes and breathe in the aroma. I can smell it right now, can't you? So powerful, so sweet. So irresistible. It's the scent of death.

'It's perfectly simple. All you have to do is find the dead place'

The anonymous caller who taunts the Police with talk of an imminent killing could be a hoaxer, his descriptions of death and decomposition a sick fantasy. But Detective Diane Fry is certain she's dealing with a murderer. The voice - so eerily, shiveringly calm - invites the police to meet the 'flesh eater'. Fry fears it may already be too late to save the next victim.

DC Ben Cooper, meanwhile, is looking into Derbyshire's first case of body snatching. The investigation takes him into the dark, secret world of those whose lives revolve around the dead and their disposal - from funeral directors to crematorium staff and a professor whose speciality is the study of death.

Where is the dead place? And what terrible deeds are done there?

'Stephen Booth's Black Dog sinks its teeth into you and doesn't let you go. A dark star may be born!' Reginald Hill

'In this atmospheric debut, Stephen Booth makes high summer in Derbyshire as dark and terrifying as midwinter' Val McDermid