Peter James has penetrated the inner workings of police procedures, and the inner thoughts and attitudes of real detectives, as no English crime writer before him. His hero, Roy Grace, may not be the most lively cop, nor the most damaged by drink, weight or misery, but he’s one of the most believable. You Are Dead is the eleventh in the Roy Grace series, and I felt that it somehow assembled all the best of James’s attributes, and emerged as his most frightening and gripping tale yet. Grace is confronted by a serial killer who has been plying his evil predilection for women with long brown hair for more than 30 years.
