ITV GRACE COMING TO YOUR SCREENS 14 MARCH 2021 THE TIME IS FINALLY HERE! I am SO excited to confirm that the first GRACE episode, DEAD SIMPLE, will be aired 14 MARCH 8 pm on ITV. I have been lucky enough to have a sneak peek and was blown away by so many aspects of it.…
NEW BOOK RELEASE ‘I FOLLOW YOU’ IS OUT NOW! A huge thanks to all of you so far who have bought I Follow You my newest plot-twisting, page-turning thriller novel! I have really enjoyed seeing all your selfies and lovely comments on social this past week! If you have read and liked the book please give it all…
WOW! I have just heard that #FindThemDead has gone straight in at No1 in the UK Hardback charts…This makes it my 16th #RoyGrace No 1! A huge thanks to all of you, my wonderful readers. It means so very much to me, I’m beyond thrilled. So, no pressure on the next one then!
{{ vc_btn: title=GRAB+YOUR+COPY+NOW%21&color=vista-blue&size=lg&align=center&button_block=true&link=url%3Ahttps%253A%252F%252Fblackwells.co.uk%252Fbookshop%252Fproduct%252FFind-Them-Dead-by-Peter-James-author%252F9781529004328%7C%7C%7C }} Paperback readers, you have been SO patient, the time is finally here FIND THEM DEAD paperback is OUT TODAY, catch up with Det Supt Roy Grace’s most recent escapades here. A huge thanks to all of you that have read it already, helping me make it my 16th #RoyGrace No1!! All my best, Peter x
ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF PETER JAMES DEAD AT FIRST SIGHT GOES STRAIGHT TO NO1 I am absolutely thrilled that my new Roy Grace novel DEAD AT FIRST SIGHT has gone straight to Number 1 after just 3 days on sale and is top of the charts again for the second week! Thanks…
This is an article from Opal Magazine – December 2018 which is circulated all around Calgary:
To celebrate the publication of Absolute Proof by best-selling author, Peter James, we have this great Q+A interview with the author.
It sounds like something from the opening pages of a Dan Brown novel. A well-known thriller writer is typing away at his desk when the phone rings. He answers, and a mystery caller announces that he has proof of God’s existence, and wants the writer’s help to make it public. This, though, isn’t fiction. It…
As a magazine publisher, one of the biggest problems I encounter during layouts is imagery; specifically the fact that most authors have low-resolution headshots and book cover images, totally…
From devout Catholics gone rogue to enlightening reads, Peter James picks these top books about God Brighton Rock Graham Greene Apart from being the book that inspired me to become a writer, this is a marvellously conflicted story of murder and eternal damnation. Pinkie is a 17-year-old boy gangster in charge of a pathetic…
I want to personally tell you that on October 4th the novel I am more excited about than anything I’ve ever written, ABSOLUTE PROOF, will be published. I’ve been researching and working on it for an almost unbelievable 30 years!
Apologies for the delay since my last newsletter… but I am sure you’ll be pleased to know there is a good reason for this… which is that I have been flat out not only finishing the latest Roy Grace ‘Dead If You Don’t’ but also writing the sequel to ‘The House On Cold Hill’ which will be out Autumn 2019.
Interview with Fiona McVie from ‘Authors Interviews’ about the history, inspiration and concepts behind Peter’s writing… Click here to read the full article
Interview with Elena Bowes about the essentials of a thriller, his writing routine and what it was like to be buried alive… Click here to read the full article
Peter James’s thrillers are fast-paced but his first car was a hearse Peter James, writer of bestselling crime novels, was just two years old when he fell out of his father’s Standard Vanguard and needed 23 stitches in his head. A couple of years later, left alone in the front seat, he released the handbrake…
BESTSELLING crime author Peter James will step in to the role of Argus editor.. . if only for a day. The popular author will take the reins as guest editor at our new offices in Manchester Street tomorrow morning and join the daily news conference, hearing what interesting stories our fantastic team of journalists are…
The Orange County Register interview Peter James about Need You Dead Click here to read the full interview.
Hi everyone, welcome to my latest newsletter. I can’t believe that we are already well into April and I’ve started doing the advance publicity for my new Roy Grace novel.
Lara and I are just back from the amazing Maldives where I’ve been working on the final chapters of ‘Absolute Proof’ (more on this book below) – and I’ve managed to catch up on some reading.
Hi, and welcome to my latest newsletter. I’m here in one of my favourite places in our home, the library, with (L-R) Oscar, Spook and our late friend Cosmo – our cat who we had to sadly say goodbye to this month. RIP.
A great interview with our good friends from Amsterdam for their popular Blog: ‘De Perfecte Buren’ Click here to read it.
The Latest: Interview with Peter James about his life of crime. Click here to read the full interview.
To celebrate the first four re-issues, The Bagley Brief was fortunate to have an opportunity to interview the author Peter James, for whom Bagley was an inspiration. Please click below to read the article: Speaking of Desmond Bagley: An Interview with author Peter James
All year round I raise money for a number of charities I support, through donating my fees from events I do, and occasionally auctioning names in my books on behalf of the charities. I was delighted to present this cheque to Chief Superintendent Di Roskilly, Commander of East Sussex Police and Chair of the Sussex…
Click Here to read what happens when two guests by the same name attend the same restaurant on the same night!
Click Here to read 5 Top Research Mistakes Writers Make by Peter James on the Bang2Write website.
Click Here to read an excerpt of The House on Cold Hill as part of their “Best Books of the Halloween Season!”
Click Here to Read an excerpt from ‘House on Cold Hill’ by Peter James on Hypable
October 2016 Newsletter Sorry its taken me a while to get a Newsletter out to you, here at Team James we have made some big changes to my website and Newsletter that we’re really excited to show you. We have been busy filming loads more video content for my new YouTube channel so if you haven’t already,…
Check out this great new interview by Maggie James Fiction: http://www.maggiejamesfiction.com/blog/author-interview-peter-james
Fabulous introduction to Peter James | Books and Questions & Answers by Emma Violet: http://emmaviolxt.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/introducing-peter-james-books-and-q.html
Graham Bartlett and Peter James: Interview
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Great Interview with Mark Tilbury: http://marktilbury.com/interview-with-bestselling-murdery-mystery-author-peter-james/?platform=hootsuite
I am delighted to announce the winners of the two Roy Grace Xmas quizzes, and thank you all of you who took part, and for your very entertaining and creative entries! Huge congratulations to all winners! Mastermind Quiz 1st Prize: Sue Wright (Wins an invite for 2 to ‘Love You Dead’ book launch in May…
A CRIMINAL IGNORANCE By Eunice de Souza, Pune Mirror Click here to read the full interview for Pune Mirror
Click here to view the Peter James Newsletter February 2016
Click here to read: Are Paper Books Really Disappearing?
You Are Dead by Peter James…Book Spotlight and author Q&A
A Conversation with Best-selling Author Peter James
My Top Five Books of All Time by Peter James – Guest Blog
An interview with Peter James, author of You Are Dead
Every year Ken Owen, who had chosen my Roy Grace novels as his specialist subject on Mastermind, creates a Christmas Quiz for my readers. It is notoriously challenging, so this year to open it up to more of you who perhaps don’t have the time or the inclination to burrow through my books and the…
Click here to view the Peter James Newsletter October 2015
Click here to read: My real-life haunted house horror, by Peter James
Living in a house with several ghosts inspired my latest novel, says the crime writer Peter James My latest novel, The House on Cold Hill, was inspired by my experience of living in a haunted house; a beautiful Georgian manor on the edge of a hamlet in Sussex. There had been a monastery on the…
Interview with bestselling crime author, Peter James
Moriarty or Corleone? Christie or Chandler? Who IS the ultimate villain? And who’s the master of murder fiction? As the world’s biggest crime-writing festival opens in Yorkshire, Event hauls in eight top thriller writers for a grilling… Click here to read: How to make a killing: Hannibal Lecter or Tom Ripley? Britain’s top crime writers…
Published Wednesday 13 May 2015 12.13 BST From Julie Burchill to Jane Austen, the crime novelist picks his favourite fiction featuring a city ‘perpetually helping police with their inquiries’Noël Coward once described Brighton thus: “Ah, dear Brighton, piers, queers and racketeers.” And Keith Waterhouse said: “Brighton has the air of a town that is perpetually…
Published: 22:20, 9 May 2015 There’s a very good reason why stories by hit thriller writer Peter James chill the blood so effectively. He bases them on the REAL killers he meets in prison. Here he describes his most disturbing encounters… and explains why his latest monstrous creation is drawn from four of the most…
First published Friday 20 February 2015 by Duncan Hall Duncan Hall speaks to Sussex-based author Peter James about the stage adaptation of his novel Dead Simple. A STAG night prank gone wrong announced Brighton’s most famous detective to the wider world, and launched a series of books which has now sold in excess of 14…
NOVELIST Peter James talks to David Hurst about his love of vintage cars and the high-speed crash that almost killed him.
As part of their #WHSBookmarks project, WHSmith took to Twitter and Facebook to ask followers who they would nominate as their favourite fictional detective. View the full article
Click here to read: Author Peter James: ‘I locked myself in a coffin’
20 Holiday Reads selected by Thomas Cook plus their authors telling a holiday memory. My camping disaster in Spain is one of them! Click here to read Thomas Cook 20 Brilliant Holiday Reads
Click here to read ‘MY TURN: The accident that changed my life’.
by Jim Palmer, leisure editor When your books have sold more than 15 million copies all over the world, it is difficult to imagine you would be jittery about your most popular one being adapted for the stage. Especially since the first stage adaptation of your work – last year’s The Perfect Murder – was…
Christmas is coming, and along with Turkey, it means… …that the Roy Grace annual Xmas Quiz is here too! This is your chance to pit your wits against Mastermind maestro, Ken Owen, who four years ago chose the Roy Grace novels as one of his specialist subjects on this TV show – and got all…
Click here to read ‘Peter James wins e-Book of the year 2014’
Click here to view the Peter James Newsletter December 2014
Having sold over 15 million copies of his Roy Grace novels worldwide, several of which went straight to #1 on the Sunday Times Bestseller list, it’s safe to say that Peter James is one of the most successful and well-loved crime thriller writers in the UK. As well as winning multiple literary awards in both…
Click here to view the Peter James Newsletter October 2014
Beneath Brighton’s soft, candyfloss exterior lies a dark underbelly of wrongdoing, according to international best-selling crime novelist and Brighton resident, Peter James. View the full interview
Do ghosts exist? Bestselling author Peter James thinks so having seen one. As we approach Halloween he tells the tale of spooky sightings in his home. I have a dentist friend whose family was regularly chased along a corridor of their house by an angry female ghost and only recently a neighbour had all his…
Peter James, author of the best selling Roy Grace series talks about his formative years, the inspiration for Roy Grace and why Brighton is definitely the place to be! View the full interview
Downton Abbey Star Hugh Bonneville reveals how he became friends with bestselling crime writer Peter James. View the full interview
Thomas from Reader’s Warehouse got the opportunity to interview Peter James at their Tokai branch while Peter was touring South Africa. View the full interview
1. What is the last thing that you read that made you laugh out loud? Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. It is a book I re-read whenever I feel in need of either smiling or laughing out loud. It manages to mix so many emotions, and contains so much wonderful, simple philosophy. 2. What is…
We had a wonderful time with Peter James, the British best-selling author of the Detective Roy Grace novels.. Peter was in South Africa to promote his latest novel, Want You Dead, as part of The Bloody Book Week. The guests were instantly taken by his opening declaration that the people in Johannesburg were the nicest…
Guest Author: Peter James In July 2011, I was having dinner in New York with a detective friend in the NYPD, Pat Lanigan. He told me that his great-uncle was Dinny Meehan, the feared and ruthless head of the White Hand Gang – the Irish Mafia who controlled the New York and Brooklyn waterfronts, and…
Click here to view the Peter James Newsletter August 2014
The British crime author Peter James is back with Want You Dead, the latest thriller to feature his popular detective Roy Grace. He speaks to us about his newest work and dark inspiration. You have published a new book annually for the past 10 years, not to mention regularly visiting literary festivals. When do you…
As Peter James was born in Brighton, Sussex, on the South Coast, he has very kindly allowed us to talk about our new Internet Television Channel for the area, TVS Television. TVS Launched on 5 July 2014 with the Live broadcasting of neighbouring Eastbourne’s 999 Display. The event was filmed and broadcast Live by TVS…
Can James grab book chart crown from King? A CRIME author is hoping to bag another number one as he battles it out with a legendary horror writer at the top of the bestseller book charts. Peter James has been meeting his fans in Sussex this week to mark the release of his tenth Roy…
Peter James, the crime author, reveals his favourite haunts in Brighton, the setting of his Roy Grace novel series Why Brighton? Brighton’s unique in that it’s got a quite dramatic coastline on one side, and only a few miles north there is the South Downs national park (0300 303 1053; www.southdowns.gov.uk) and some of the…
Sudeshna Sarkar / 15 March 2014 Peter James has turned his killer instinct to perfect use, plotting a series of spine-tingling murders that have sold over 14 million copies. SUDESHNA SARKAR catches the man who gave the world Detective Superintendent Roy Grace in the act By his own admission Peter James would have probably remained…
Guest post contributed by The Book People If you’re an eager bookworm, then the chances are you probably get through rather a lot of reading material. If that is the case, then why don’t you put it to good use by telling the rest of the world just what you’ve been reading and what you…
Best-selling author Peter James might need to call his latest work Dead Funny after releasing a photo of himself with pants on his head. The Brighton writer has been in hospital in London for surgery on Carpal Tunnel syndrome on his wrist. The injury is thought to have been caused by his prolific writing. The…
Hall of Fame Winners 2013: Martin Ellis getting booked for speeding, in style, in Charles Pic’s F1 car! He need something to read in case he gets bored whizzing around the circuits… (from Martin Ellis) An authentic crime novel – blood and all (from Tracey Thomas) Solving crimes are a piece of cake for Pam…
First prize chosen on the limerick tie -breaker goes to Anne Curtler of St Ives, Cambs. She wins an invitation for two to the launch in early summer in Brighton of Peter’s tenth Roy Grace novel, Want You Dead plus a signed copy of the book. The winner is to be responsible for any travel…
He’s sold 14m ‘DS Roy Grace’ books (with their iconic ‘Dead’ titles). Now Peter James is preparing a seasonal thriller…specially for MoS readers. Peter James: The Books Interview. Bestselling British crime novelist Peter James is holding court. ‘I’m a stickler for accuracy,’ he says. ‘A lot of writers say accuracy doesn’t matter. But, besides entertainment,…
As the new season gets under way, skiers using Geneva airport need to be vigilant after early reports of passengers being robbed of valuable hand luggage. Claire Talbot reports. You really don’t expect it, not in Switzerland. Great skiing and punctual trains yes. Daylight robbery – no. But if you’re going to Geneva airport, hang…
Prepared by Mastermind contender, Ken Owen WELCOME to the Roy Grace quiz for Christmas 2013! All detectives know that it is never easy to find the solutions to the questions a crime creates. So it just wouldn’t be right if a Roy Grace quiz were to be … dead simple! So expect to have to…
Bestselling crime-fiction writer and producer PETER JAMES chats with DIVYA KAUSHIK on interesting stories which gave birth to his spine-chilling thrillers Thank God Peter James thought of weaving his real-life encounters and stories he came across into bestselling thrillers, else the world would have been deprived of such nail-biting, spine-chilling novels. He truly is the…
By Shantanu David The Indian Express Bestselling and award-winning author, BAFTA-nominated filmmaker (The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino), automobile collector, racing car driver, criminologist, paranormal researcher, skier. No, this is not a roll-call of a high-achiever’s club but Peter James’ resume. Best-known for his numerous award-winning crime fiction series featuring Detective Inspector Roy Grace,…
By Corrie Tan Singapore Straits Times The crime-writing novelists of the Singapore Writers Festival panel Criminal Minds explored humanity’s dark underbelly – with plenty of morbid laughs along the way. Best-selling British crime novelist Peter James, journalist Lucy Hawking (daughter of the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking) and American mystery writer Ed Lin spoke to an…
Suspense Radio brings you the best authors of today in the suspense / thriller / mystery / horror genre. Today’s ninety minute show will have just that, the best authors today, including Peter James talking about his latest book ahead of the launch of the hardback copy of Dead Man’s Time in the US and…
Author Peter James talks about the joy – and pain- of racing classic cars. Peter James – writer of the best-selling Roy Grace crime novels – talked to Motoring at the Goodwood Festival of Speed about his love of classic car racing. He explained what he finds so addictive about it, but also discussed the…
I am really thrilled that the stage play of my novella, The Perfect Murder, will start on tour in the UK in January, with a marvelous cast headlined by Les Dennis. All the details are in the press release below. Les Dennis and Claire Goose to star in WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF PETER JAMES’ BEST-SELLING…
Bestselling crime writer Peter James finds the side effects of his car-racing more agonising than writing, writes Sue Grant-Marshall It amuses international bestselling crime-thriller novelist Peter James that on his most recent visit to Joburg, he was warned he would be “mugged getting into a taxi and mugged getting out of it”. No wonder he…
Following my diagnosis on Friday of three slipped discs, compounding the motor racing injury from my crash in May, together with the pain I have been experiencing over the weekend after racing at Silverstone, my Doctors have banned me from flying or travelling. I really apologise to everyone who was hoping to see me on…
Voting ends on 7 September – VOTE FOR PETER JAMES HERE! The final category to preview this year is the Outstanding Contribution to Sussex Award. This is handed to someone who has professionally or personally made the county a better place. The winner should be someone who is an inspiration to us all. The bar…
Sussex Crimestoppers, of which I am co-patron, is having a divinely decadent ball on Friday Nov 22nd. All details are below – do make up a party and come along!
Peter James appearing on NBC Nightly News: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/52484000
Below is a text of the article I wrote for The Bookseller, which I hope you will find interesting. Aldous Huxley, one of my heroes, once said, “Has it ever struck you, what a lot of our finest romantic literature is the result of bad doctoring?” He also said that he would never drive a…
By BENJAMIN CORENNews Reporter International best-selling crime author and Henfield man, Peter James released the latest in his Roy Grace series, Dead Man’s Time, yesterday. (Thursday, June 6). Speaking to The District Post about the novel, Peter said: “It’s a thriller about burglary in Brighton in which 10 million pounds worth of antiques is taken.…
On Saturday, racing in the Masters Pre 1966 Historic Touring Car race, in my BMW 1800 Ti, I started the race in first position on the grid after my brilliant co-driver, Paul Taft and I got pole in qualifying. I had just completed the first lap, and as I came down the end of the…
For those of you who are interested in the subject, this is the report of the Independent Drugs Commission for Brighton and Hove, which I chair. https://www.peterjames.com/uploads/DRUG%20COMMISSION%20FINAL%20REPORT.pdf I’d be interested in your comments.
On Sunday I appeared on The Albion Roar radio show, you can listen to the show online at www.albionroar.co.uk, (but hurry as this will only be on there until Sunday). Alternatively there are variety of platforms by which you can listen in, including Android and Double Twist, and you can go to the iTunes Store…
I’m holding a contest for a chance to join me at FanFest July 12 in New York City! FanFest is a new invitation-only event that is part of the annual ThrillerFest event. I have three tickets to give away to loyal fans. Here’s what you’ll receive if you win: admission to the event, two drink…
I’m being arrested on Tuesday morning, along with the Chief Constable of Sussex, Martin Richards and the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne. We are going to be held in the cells of Sussex’s Old Police Cells Museum, with only bread and water to eat and drink, until our bail money is raised. The…
A sneak peek of one of the stories in the Short Shockers Collection! Please note, this video requires sound.
All your comments, if you have any views, would be of interest. Just over a year ago I was approached by Brighton MP Caroline Lucas and Chief Superintendent Graham Bartlett, Commander of Brighton and Hove Police to see if I would be willing to chair a new Commission, set up by the Safe in the…
Got invited to a lunch in Sydney by an old friend here. “Just a bunch of mates who appreciate decent wine” he said. Yep, he wasn’t lying!!! This is what 7 of us managed to get through in a great restaurant called Le Grande Bouffe – and we still were able to walk out of…
I’m pleased to deliver some exciting news to my fans in the United States! Starting now, you have access to ALL EIGHT of my Roy Grace novels in e-book format, available on Kindle, Nook and iPad. Not many of you may know this, but in 1994, in addition to the normal print versions, Penguin published…
Well done to so many of you for entering our fun Roy Grace Christmas Quiz, and huge congratulations to the winners and runners up – all details of which have been posted on Facebook.All the answers to the 50 questions are posted below so you can check how well you did! No QUESTION YOUR ANSWER…
Roy Grace, Glenn, Bella, Norman, E-J, Nick, Marlon and Humphrey – and of course their creator (!!!) wish you all Happy Holidays, Happy Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
ROY GRACE MASTERMIND QUIZ – Christmas 2012 Prepared by Mastermind contender, Ken Owen WELCOME to the Roy Grace quiz for Christmas 2012! There are six signed Roy Grace hardbacks to be won, and two magnums of fine Champagne! Roy wouldn’t be happy if you didn’t have to emulate his skills in solving some of the…
It’s not just women who suffer at the hands of stalkers. During their lifetime, nine per cent of men, compared with 18 per cent of women, have been victims of stalking and last year alone in the UK three per cent of men were victims. Top crime author Peter James is one of them. His…
Looking forward to seeing you at the Pirate Murder Mystery which promises to be really exciting, with lots of audience participation, sea shanties games, piratical pranks and a Caribbean themed menu and grog! Prizes for the shipmates who solved the mystery to whodunnit and for the best dressed pirates! Please support Sussex Crimestoppers which is…
Ian Rankin, who I like a lot and really respect, made this amusing comment about me in his interview in yesterday’s Metro newspaper:
I am very delighted that I have been shortlisted for the 2012 Wellcome Trust Book Prize for Perfect People. There is no public voting, so all I can ask you to do is cross your fingers! I am up against very serious competition, there are six authors on the shortlist – three novels and three…
I bet not many of you know I had a past as a boxer! Well, here is an account of my last fight, aged thirteen and a half, which I have relived to help save its venue for the residents of the area. For all those of you who might like to make a donation/buy…
Was invited to the fabulously glitzy Royal Premiere of Skyfall last night, attended by about 5,000 folk in their finest finery (including yours truly!), and in the presence of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. They both came to the Royal Premiere of my last movie, The Merchant Of Venice in 2004. Camilla is…
For those of you who missed the TV ad for Not Dead Yet, here is a chance to see it – I think it is fun! http://www.studiotinto.com/not-dead-yet-by-peter-james
In our new weekly feature your Interview, we give you, our readers, the chance to ask key figures across Sussex the questions you want answered. This week best-selling author Peter James answers your questions. Gary Collins: How on earth do you think up your plots? They’re so gripping. Is it a long process to develop…
Venue: County Halls, Stirling Date: Saturday 15th September Occasion: The inaugural Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival From left to right: In the red corner: Literary critics: Stuart Kelly and Professor Willy Maley Referee / Chair: Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh Book Festival In the blue corner: Crime Writers extraordinaire: Ian Rankin and Peter James…
Crime writer Peter James is working on his ninth Roy Grace book, the best-selling series about a fictional Brighton detective. Each book takes the best part of a year to write, but Peter always makes time for at least one annual skiing holiday When did you first take up skiing and how did you get…
I received the most wonderful news from my UK publishers yesterday, that after 10 days on sale, the paperback of Not Dead Yet has toppled the Fifty Shades Of Grey trilogy from the no 1 spot on the Sunday Times paperback bestseller list – ending its run of 25 weeks! It is always an amazing…
Internationally bestselling author, Peter James was born in Brighton, Sussex, England and educated at Charterhouse and then Ravesnbourne Film School. His mom, Cornelia James, was Glovemaker to Her Majesty the Queen, running the business with his late father who was a chartered accountant. Their firm is today run by his sister, Genevieve and her husband,…
A best-selling crime author says he is thrilled and honoured with an award from Sussex Police for a film he created exposing the dangers of rape to school children. Peter James – who lives near Henfield and is best known for his Roy Grace detective series – has won the Sussex Police Outstanding Public Service…
One of the proudest moments of life happened last Thursday, when, totally unexpectedly, Giles Yorke, Deputy Chief Constable of Sussex Police, presented me with the Sussex Police Outstanding Public Service Award. Three years ago when I was working on my 6th Roy Grace novel, Dead Like You which deals with the subject of rape, I…
I’m absolutely thrilled to have been longlisted for the highly prestigious 2012 Wellcome Trust Book Prize. And even better news you don’t have to vote for me! But… you can bet on me – or on any of the longlisted authors, if you are a gambler…. If you click on this link you’ll see all…
I’ve been nominated for a Barry Award in the US for Dead Man’s Grip, for Best British Crime Novel which I am thrilled about as this is the first US award nomination I’ve had for my novels. It is decided by public vote and I’m up against some stiff opposition: Now You See Me by…
By Neil Vowles11:30am Thursday 9th August 2012 Book lovers are being given the chance to follow in the footsteps of a fictional detective on the trail of a murderer round Brighton and Hove. For the first time ever, fans of bestselling crime novelist Peter James will be able to take a tour of the sites…
Listen to the storyMorning Edition [7 min 20 sec] Correction Aug. 7, 2012Earlier Web versions of this story, as well as the audio, included a description of a scene in one of Peter James’ books, and gave the wrong title of the book in which the scene is included. Any tour of Brighton, England, has…
Top British crime author, Peter James, was recently interviewed by Sandie George. He has just published ‘Not Dead Yet’, the 8th in the Roy Grace series based in Brighton and reviewed in our last issue. Last year he won the ITV3 People’s Best Dagger Crime Writer, beating David Baldacci into second place. Your latest novel,…
Many of you have already very kindly voted for me in the MILLION FOR A MORGUE campaign to have a teaching mortuary in Dundeed named after a crimewriter. 10 Crimewriters are competing for votes and donations. To give you an update on the work, this is a report just in from them for their top…
Hello, Hello and greetings from Cape Cod - a place I have always wanted to visit. I’m talking on August 11th at the SEAK Conference in Hyannis for doctors and lawyers who want to write novels, and arrived early in order to escape (a tad reluctantly) the Olympics razzmatazz in the UK and focus on…
Interviews | Thomas Quinn | Jul 5, 2012 The crime novelist on overnight success, acting as a Sussex police researcher and solving puzzles If you want to know how to write a bestselling crime novel, ask the expert. The author currently on top of the bloody heap in Britain, arguably, is Peter James. He bagged…
Carla McKay Jul 22, 2012 We speak with the author Peter James to get his recommendations for the best books to take to a desert island. Peter James is a crime thriller writer who has enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame in the past few years during which he has sold more than 11 million…
guardian.co.uk, Friday 6 July 2012 12.41 BST. The pressures on independent bookshops show no sign of relenting – more than 200 have closed since 2009 leaving only 1094 still trading this year. The annual celebration Independent Booksellers’ Week has seen a range of initiatives around the UK, from a crime writers’ festival at London’s Goldsboro…
Genre: Crime, thriller Jo Nesbo is one of the biggest names in crime fiction thanks to books such as Headhunters and The Snowman – soon to be a Scorsese film. He tells fellow crime writer Peter James how it all happened Britain has long been used to Viking invasions. So common were they between the…
Those of you who have read Not Dead Yet might enjoy this review and in particular some of the photographs…showing parts of the Royal Pavilion that appear in the book and which visitors never get to see! http://rpmcollections.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/murder-in-the-royal-pavilion-peter-james-not-dead-yet/
Peter James talks about his new novel which tells the story of a rock star stalked by an obsessive fan. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00vb9b1
I was very delighted to read this in this week’s Bookseller: “Last Thursday (7th June) was one of the biggest days in the 2012 publishing calendar as publishers released some of their biggest titles of the year with Father’s Day in mind. According to Nielsen BookScan data, 39 different books released on 7th June sold…
‘Make my day!’ Fact stranger than fiction as top author ‘outs’ his own real life stalker (The Argus)
The truth is often stranger than fiction, as bestselling author Peter James discovered when he was developing the plot of his new crime thriller Not Dead Yet, which was published yesterday. In auctioning off the right for someone to have a dead body found in their business as part of the plot, Mr James became…
Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards Winner Talks About His Thrilling Life. Not many people know this but in Russia, British crime author Peter James is a bit of a literary rock star! Six or seven hundred people will turn up for a book signing when he tours with the latest in his hugely popular Roy Grace…
Chris Flynn June 07 At the Picador party I was fortunate enough to attend in Sydney recently as part of the writer’s festival, my eyes zeroed in on two of Pan Macmillan’s literary stars—Tara Moss, who seemed to be somewhere in the region of nine feet tall in real life, and debonair British crime writer…
Posted by Stephen Stratford Never annoy a novelist, Part II. I blogged on Friday about how the crime writer Peter James was once snubbed by Martin Amis and swore to take his revenge in the next novel in his series featuring policeman Roy Grace. I am reading that novel, Not Dead Yet, and confirm that…
Ben FalkEntertainment journalist Peter James is the best-selling author of the Roy Grace series of crime novels including Dead Man’s Grip and Dead Like You, as well as several stand-alone books. Formerly a movie producer, James’s saga about the Brighton-based detective whose wife Sandy mysteriously went missing have sold over 11 million copies worldwide. The…
Hello, Yet again it has been a wonderfully busy month. The really big news has been the UK launch of the hardback, e-book and audio versions of my 8th Roy Grace novel, Not Dead Yet, as well as the paperback publication of my standalone thriller about “designer babies”, Perfect People. I was gratified to see…
Here are the results of the Roy Grace Mastermind Quiz: QUIZ Winner to receive a bottle of champagne and signed copy of Not Dead Yet:Nicky Stevens of Isle of Wight Runner up: Sue Wright from W Sussex Runners up x 3:Dave Wade of LancashireSusie Mackenzie-Fidlin of SuffolkAmy Graham of Hampshire All runners up will receive…
By Cole Moreton27 May 2012 Best-selling crime novelist Peter James is seeking revenge – on his stalker and novelist Martin Amis. The Home Secretary had better watch out. The last woman who upset Peter James is now on a mortuary slab. “She wrote something really nasty about me, so that was my revenge,” says James.…
Peter James’ worlds of crime fiction are closer to real life than you might think. http://media.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/behind-the-scenes/the-stalker-and-the-stalked-3319052.html
Hear Andrew Patterson’s full interview about what makes Peter James tick and how he gathers plots for his best-selling crime novels. http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Peter-James-Crimewriter/tabid/506/articleID/28097/Default.aspx
This off-the-cuff interview took place during my visit to the Sydney Writers Festival. I talk about Not Dead Yet and my writing in general. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu8j3S-BquE
Police raids, psychopaths and stalkers HANNAH FLEMING Best selling crime author Peter James talks to Hannah Fleming about how he got the idea for his new book and what it is like to meet killers. Peter James has been on risky police raids, spoken with some of Britain’s most dangerous psychopaths, and put up with…
I did this interview in the wonderful independent bookstore Readings in the Carlton district of Melbourne last week. As you can see I’m looking a little tired during my hectic Oz and NZ tour! Sleep – wozzat? http://www.readings.com.au/news/crime-author-peter-james-s-recommended-reads
A fun interview I did on ABC Radio in Adelaide: http://blogs.abc.net.au/sa/2012/05/not-dead-yet-peter-james.html
Hello, Well, my life doesn’t seem to be getting any less busy! I’ve just flown back to the UK from a wonderful but whirlwind book tour of Australia and New Zealand - both countries I love. I’ve been there promoting Not Dead Yet, which for the first time ever came out in Oz and NZ…
PUBLISHED: 22:21, 25 April 2012 By Peter James At first, I didn’t really notice her. I was doing a book signing in Edinburgh and there was nothing remarkable about the woman who quietly approached my desk carrying a copy to be signed. Somewhere in her mid-30s, she was nondescript — medium height and with fair…
On Thursday I added a new qualification to my CV! I am now officially a fully qualified Operator-Loader dustman! As part of my research for my next Roy Grace novel, I worked an eight hour shift, from 6am to 2pm on a team on a Brighton refuse truck, emptying garbage bins in the Queens Park…
Simon Bull, London24 editor Thursday, April 12, 2012 This is London24’s version of CSI – Crime Scenes of Interest. Bestselling crime author Peter James usually deals in fiction but here he has picked five real-life locations to write about.These are some of the most infamous places in London’s history, all connected to gruesome stories of…
I’m currently Chair of the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain, and we’ve just launched a new club for all fans of crime, thriller and mystery novels, the CRIME READERS ASSOCIATION. Membership is absolutely free and it takes 30 seconds to join. The CRA offers its members privileged insight into the way many successful writers…
Hello, And greetings from the Crime Writers Association conference, which I am chairing. 100 crime writers locked in a hotel in Southampton. It sounds like the start of an Agatha Christie novel… how long before there will only be 99…??? This past month has been busy - I was on book promo tour in France,…
This quiz has been prepared by Mastermind contestant Ken Owen – who many of you will have just seen answering questions on the Roy Grace novels as his chosen Specialist Subject. If you missed it you can watch it again online on iPlayer. The winner will received a signed copy of Not Dead Yet, before…
I’m thrilled to announce we have air dates in the UK for the Mastermind episode in which contestant Ken Owen has chosen my (first six) Roy Grace novel as his Specialist Subject. It screens on BBC 2 this Friday, March 23rd at 7.30pm everywhere except Wales, where it will be broadcast on Sat 24th at…
Bent’s Notes The Bookseller, 16 March 2012 While hosting the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s annual awards (the RoNAs) alongside author and columnist Jane Wenham-Jones, Crime Writers Association chair Peter James attempted to show the gathered home-counties crowd in the Gladstone Library at One Whitehall Place his softer, sexier side. Amidst some mild on-stage flirting with Wenham-Jones…
Thought you might enjoy this piece on my speech at the Romantic Novelists Association Awards this past Monday: The Gladstone Library at One Whitehall Place is not normally awash with glamorous ladies in full length, sequin-strewn gowns on a weekday afternoon but for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s annual awards on Monday it seemed entirely appropriate…
Hello, Hard to believe we are already nearly a quarter of the way through the year - and it looks like it will be an even busier one than last year! I am writing this on a Eurostar train on my way to Paris - one of my favourite cities - for four days of…
This interview is in both German and English (scroll down). Peter James, geboren am 22. August 1948 in Brighton, ist Drehbuchautor, Filmproduzent und Schriftsteller. Seine Schulzeit verbrachte er an der Charterhouse School und studierte anschließend am Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication. Danach lebte er viele Jahre in den USA. Seine erste Begegnung mit Hollywood…
A couple of months ago a very smart envelope popped through my letterbox. Inside was an invitation to spend Valentines night with The Queen. Had I been selected to be Her Majesty’s Valentine, I wondered? Then, reading on, I saw the invitation was also from the Duke Of Edinburgh, and I realized he was unlikely…
Crime writer Peter James, Chinese author and screenwriter Bi Feiyu and children’s writer Patrick Ness will be London Book Fair’s authors of the day at the 2012 event, which will take place between 16th and 18th April. The author of the day programme showcases one author each day of the Fair, through appearances at seminars,…
On Sunday I was a guest on the BBC Sunday Politics show, talking about the current and future proposed Police budget cuts in Sussex (and throughout the UK). You can view this, about 35 mins in, on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01b4h6z/Sunday_Politics_South_East_29_01_2012/ Whilst I understand that there have to be cuts across all areas of life in these tough…
Ten of the world’s best crime writers are competing to have a state-of-the-art morgue named after them – and you can vote for me! The morgue is going to be a centre for scientific research and training, helping the next generation of scientists, doctors and dentists to become better at saving lives and at developing…
Here is a list of all the questions and answers… Roy Grace Christmas Quiz Answers & Notes
I’m delighted to announce the winners of the Roy Grace Xmas Quiz, compiled by Mastermind contestant Ken Owen, as well as the winner of the separate limerick competition. 5 entrants tied on 49 points, so we used the limerick tie-breaker. This was won by James Fitt who gets a magnum of Champagne and a signed…
I’m delighted to announce the results of the 2011 Hall Of Fame competition! Firstly, thank all of you who participated, the standard this past year has been incredibly high, given me a lot to smile about, and made the judging really hard! Our judging panel was headed by my “real life” Roy Grace, Retired Detective…
Author of two bestsellers has come a long way since Polka Dot Door By Jamie Portman, For Postmedia News January 4, 2012 LONDON – Back in the days when he was working in a lowly position at the Toronto-based children’s TV show, Polka Dot Door, Britain’s Peter James knew he wanted to be a writer.…
Hello again, Firstly a very Happy New Year to all of you! We were skiing last week in Val D’Isere in the French Alps, and because there was so much snow there was a high avalanche risk and the whole village was under a curfew - we were not allowed to leave our hotels. It…
Ten of the world’s best crime writers are competing to have a state-of-the-art morgue named after them – and you can vote for me! The morgue is going to be a centre for scientific research and training, helping the next generation of scientists, doctors and dentists to become better at saving lives and at developing…
Joan Collins picked PERFECT PEOPLE for her ‘Book of the Year’ in this week’s Mail on Sunday. “Peter James is acknowledged as being one of the top thriller writers in the UK, and his series of crime novels featuring DI Roy Grace are the best of the current genre. But in his new novel PERFECT…
By Declan Burke Saturday, December 10, 2011 CRIME author Peter James says the concept of what makes us human will change dramatically in the next 100 years. “Bionics, memory, artificial intelligence, the length of the human life span … it’s all to play for,” he says. James is the bestselling and prize-winning author of the…
Ken Owen, who chose my Roy Grace novels as his Specialist Subject on Mastermind (the show will screen early in spring, 2012) has kindly prepared a fun Xmas quiz based around my Roy Grace novels for you. Some questions are straightforward, and some will require sleuthing work worthy of Roy Grace’s detective skills !!! First…
The best crime novels grip you right from the first sentence and don’t let go. We asked a bestselling crime author to tell us about his favourite examples of the genre Before we discuss your five book recommendations, I wanted to find out more about what got you interested in writing crime fiction. What got…
Where are you now and what can you see? I’m in my Portakabin; my temporary office in my new house in Sussex – a Victorian rectory we are restoring. I can see seven ducks on the lake, which is worrying as yesterday we had nine … definitely a case for Detective Superintendent Roy Grace! What…
Hello again, The past weeks have been very hectic. I was at a wedding in the wonderful Franchoek district of South Africa, then doing book promotion in Cape Town. I flew from there to Sharjah in the Emirates, as a guest of the Sharjah Book Fair. It is a beautiful place with lovely people, but…
A charity murder mystery evening co-hosted by Peter James and held at the Grand Hotel, Brighton has raised in excess of £15,000 for local crime fighting charity Sussex Crimestoppers, more than doubling last year’s total of £7,000. The evening was themed around the Mods and Rockers invasion of the seaside town during the 1960s, and…
Best-seller Peter James will be talking tonight about just why writers are attracted to the dark side of life … and, he tells Sarah Walters, it’s a genre Shakespeare would have found a home in. Crime: it’s not all doom and gloom. When we catch up with best-selling crime writer Peter James – author of…
Win a magnum of Champagne in my 2011 HALL OF FAME photo competition, which launches today! Deadline Jan 5th, 2012: To enter, email a photograph to me (scary@pavilion.co.uk) showing one or more of my books in a fun situation, or of you reading one in an amusing pose or unusual or interesting location. The prize…
If you are in Canada, my lovely Canadian publishers are giving away signed copies of Dead Man’s Grip. Here is the link: https://apps.odylfarm.com/harpercollinscanada/Giveaways/
BBC iPlayer – Radio 4 Front Row Interview with Mark Lawson
Hello again, Well, I have had quite a result this past week. Much to my amazement I won the TV3 People’s Bestseller Dagger Award!!! I beat Lee Child, David Baldacci, Mark Billingham and Peter Robinson, and I could not be more thrilled. I owe all of you who voted - and who so enthusiastically got…
Here’s a bit of sadistic Halloween fun for you! A Halloween interview and a quiz I did for Winebox TV: Winebox TV Halloween Special II – with guest Peter James
I’m delighted to announce the winning title chosen from over 5,000 entries is: “NOT DEAD YET” As several of you suggested this title, we decided to put the winning entries into a hat and give the first three that came out a magnum of Champagne each. The names are: … Lee Kelly, Kate Turney and…
Social networking – a vital tool or the digital equivalent of timewasting fag breaks? Peter James is a convert To tweet or not to tweet? That is the (140 character limit) question. And what about Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Google+ and Blogging? Or – erm – just getting on with writing a novel. (Wozzat? – Ed.…
This is the first review in of Perfect People, and I’m thrilled to bits with it. I am really excited about this book, and hope very much that all of you who read it will find it both an exciting read, but that it will give you much to think about, as this review says:…
Well, I made a promise to you all that if I won the Specsavers ITV3 People’s Bestseller Dagger Award, then I’d celebrate by buying fish and chips for any of you who turned up on Brighton Pier the following day! To my total and utter amazement, beating the other shortlisted authors, Lee Child, David Baldacci,…
Crime writer Peter James was born 22nd August 1948 in Brighton (that’s near us!). The son of Cornelia Jones (the former glove-maker to Queen Elizabeth II no less!) During his childhood Peter attended Charterhouse School and then, in later years went on to study at Ravensbourne Film School. As a result of his training there,…
Hello again, A sooner-than-usual follow up to my last newsletter, but there is a lot happening and on top of that, voting for the ITV 3 People’s Bestseller Dagger Award closes at the end of next week on Oct 7th. I’ve just found out that in addition to voting 5 times with each email address,…
I’ve just been in one of my favourite cities in the world, Toronto, promoting Dead Man’s Grip and advance promoting Perfect People. I lived here in the 1970s and it has changed a lot – back then you could not get a drink on a Sunday! This is the very charming blog of a budding…
Hello again, Firstly thanks so much for all your comments, I’m really pleased you like this new-look newsletter. The big, televised awards ceremony that I’ve been shortlisted for, the ITV3 People’s Bestseller Dagger Award will be televised on October 11th in the UK, not 7th as I previously wrote. Apologies. Thank you so much for…
I love getting letters from my readers, mostly truly lovely ones, occasionally an expert in a field correcting me on a fact I have got wrong, or someone pointing out a continuity error. Every now and then I get one I consider to be a real gem, such as the one below which I thought…
Well, I guess not many people end up in the stocks on their birthday…! But there I was, nobly on parade on Brighton seafront at 10am on a Sunday morning in order to formally open the Sussex Police, Fire and Ambulance Services 999 fun day, in aid of the quite wonderful Martlets Hospice in Brighton…
I mentioned in an earlier post that I’ve contributed a chapter to a serial novel, in aid of Leukemia research. My fellow contributors include Jeffery Deaver, Alexander McCall Smith, Kathy Reichs, RL Stine and David Baldacci. Ten of us attended the launch event in New York a few weeks ago, and we each had to…
Hello again, Welcome to my newly improved newsletter - in keeping with my newly redesigned website, which I hope you will take a look at, if you haven’t already. Firstly, I’d like to ask you all a favour, please. I’ve been shortlisted for the very prestigious and high profile ITV3 People’s Bestseller Dagger Award, which…
I’m elated to report that I’ve been nominated for a People’s Bestseller Dagger. The Crime Thriller Awards will be held in London, at the Grosvenor’s House Hotel, on October 7th and broadcast on ITV3 on October 11th. While the competition is fierce – I’m up against the likes of David Baldacci, Lee Child, Peter Robinson,…
What are your thoughts on the current state of crime fiction? I get very annoyed at the snooty literary ‘establishment’ that sneers at all commercial fiction, and quite forgets it is the commercial fiction of the past 3000 years that has survived, not the elitist stuff. Three years ago the Chair of the Booker Prize…
I mentioned a while ago I was thrilled to learn that a Mastermind contestant, Ken Owen (a really lovely guy) has chosen my Roy Grace novels up to and including Dead Like You, as his Specialist Subject. His show is recording on Friday July 22nd (I will let you know when it is going on…
Alison Flood guardian.co.ukTuesday 5 July 2011 16.33 BST Luminaries including Jeffery Deaver, Kathy Reichs and Faye Kellerman have contributed to No Rest for the Dead It’s the literary world’s version of consequences: from Alexander McCall Smith to Kathy Reichs, 26 bestselling crime writers have teamed up to create the multi-authored mystery No Rest for the…
I have contributed a chapter to the serial novel NO REST FOR THE DEAD which is published in the US this week. You can read about it on this BBC link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14027239 26 authors including David Baldacci, Kathy Reichs, Alexander Mcall Smith and Jeffery Deaver have each contributed a chapter. I’m particularly looking forward to…
For my signing in lovely Brussels bookstore, Filanes, yesterday, the staff presented me with these wonderful cupcakes. If you look closely you can see the titles of some of my books inscribed on them! They tasted even better than they looked. In face, dead good….. (sorry!)
Re-enacting a key scene from the novel, Peter James is pulled from a sunken white van in Shoreham Harbour, for the launch of Dead Man’s Grip – Watch the video
I recently participated in a project set up by the son of two ski writer friends, Peter and Felice Hardy, to ask 1000 people to define themselves in 100 words. Click the link below to read my entry: Peter James – 1000 Lives In 100 Words
Like the plot of an Ian Fleming thriller, Peter James’ remarkable Roy Grace thriller Dead Man’s Grip the seventh novel in James’ highly acclaimed detective series set at the dark edges of Brighton, has pipped Jeffery Deaver’s James Bond re-boot ‘Carte Blanche’ from the top of the UK charts, by just under 800 copies as…
Welcome all of you to my new website and I hope you will have fun with your visits here. I’m really excited about the design lay out and I think the team at TMB have done a terrific job. It is wonderful to be able to celebrate the launch of this site with the fantastic…
I’m excited by a new and experimental promotion by Tesco, to ensure all my readers can get a copy of Dead Man’s Grip on release day, May 26th:In 9 stores in the Brighton/Susssex you can pre-order the book now: Worthing, Shoreham, Hove, Eastbourne, Hastings, Burgess Hill, Gatwick, Portslade, Lewes. In addition, Tesco Lewes and Tesco…
The Roswell Incident has always fascinated me – not just because I’m intrigued by conspiracy theories, but also because I find it impossible to believe that we are the only inhabited planet in the entire Universe. The vast majority of scientists I’ve talked to believe the same. Of all the documented instances of possible UFO sightings,…
Last week I flew back from Sydney where I was doing book promotion, landed at Heathrow and then was driven straight up to Darlington – 5 hours – where I received the huge honour of being made Chair of the Crime Writers Assocation. Following in the footsteps of many great crime writers, starting with John…
Each year my cartoonist friend Peter Betts (http://www.peebycartoons.com/) kindly does a cartoon for each new Roy Grace book. I love this new one and thought it would be fun to share it with you all! Publication date of May 26th is looming every closer – just over two months to go….
I must be the only person ever to have been to Agra in India and not seen the Taj Mahal! I have just been in India, for the first time in my life, on a whirlwind book promotion tour for my publishers: Four cities in eight days, seventeen interviews, three bookstore talks and signings, the…
I was brought up, as all of my generation were, to believe that we had a three-tier class system in the UK: Upper class, Middle class and Lower or Working class. But ask any police officer today and he or she will tell you different, from grim experience. I’ve spent much of the past two…
I used to love that square on the Monopoly board, as a kid. It wasn’t until I became a writer of thrillers, then crime novels, and found myself spending more and more time in jails, happily so far as a day visitor rather than as an overnight guest of Her Majesty, that I started to…
Firstly, a very Happy New Year to you all! 2011 promises to be a very exciting year for myself and my mate, Roy Grace, with the new book, Dead Man’s Grip out in late May, and progress happening on the TV series (watch this space for updates!), and lots more exciting news as well. My…
I just received this fun email from one of my wonderful readers, Carrie Owen and thought it would be fun to share it! On the twelfth day of Christmas Roy Grace gave to Cleo, Twelve Juicy Murders,Eleven Rapist Burglars,Ten Finger Printings,Nine Briefing Meetings,Eight Special Divers,Seven Druggie Skivers,Six Car Thieves Twoking,FIVE WHITE VANS,Four Traffic Cops,Three Police…
PJ plays Santa! Thanks to you, my wonderful loyal readers, this has been the best year of my writing career. Dead Like You was No 1 on both the Sunday Times hardback and then paperback bestseller lists and was altogether 13 weeks in the Sunday Times Top 10. My novella, The Perfect Murder, which earlier…
I’m just back from a hectic week in New York promoting Dead Like You which has just been published in the USA. Despite the mad rush, did managed to see some of the glorious seasonal sights, such as the ice rink in Rockefeller Plaze and the tree there, and took in what must surely be…
I’m pleased to let you know that the development of the Roy Grace television series is now moving forward. It is still in early stages, but our next step is to find our lead actor to play the character of Roy Grace himself. Roy is 39 when we first meet him and is now coming…
“May you live in interesting times” is an ancient Chinese curse… well, this has certainly been an interesting and varied week for me, although I am happy to relate, not too badly cursed… At 2am on Tuesday, fuelled by a large vodka martini followed by copious quantities of a fabulous Mersault, and accompanied by…
Peter on how being diagnosed with diabetes changed his life
I have always had an absolute terror of heights, so you might be able to understand my frame of mind yesterday, when I arrived at Shoreham Power Station to do some research for a key scene in the next Roy Grace novel, Dead Man’s Grip, involving a secret tunnel under Shoreham Harbour, to be told…
In the week I’ve just heard that Dead Like You is No 1 again in paperback fiction, meaning it will now have spent 4 weeks at No 1 in the UK this year (!!), I’ve also learned the book has been shortlisted for the 2010 Galaxy Book Awards, under the “Popular Fiction” section. The full…
I’ve received the wonderful news that the paperback of Dead Like You has gone straight to No 1 on the official UK bestseller list after only three days of being on sale. This means the book has done a double whammy this year!!! In May we went straight to No 1 in hardback fiction after…
A quick round up of some appearances I’ll be doing in the South East of England to celebrate the paperback publication of Dead Like You: On Tuesday 19th October at 8.30pm – I’ll be speaking about ‘Dead Like You’ at the Guildford Book Festival in the Electric Theatre in conversation with Peter Guttridge (another Sussex…
Evening Standard article about Peter’s involvement in making a police education video for teens entitled “Rape – Short Word, Long Sentence”
After two years of trusty service, I’m upgrading to a newer model of my MacBook Pro. I always get sentimental when I change computer, and this one has accompanied me all over the world and I’ve written my last two novels plus my novella The Perfect Murder on it. As I am the co-Patron of…
I attended the splendid memorial service for my great friend, Russell Ash, last Wednesday, and there was a good write up on it that appeared in online publishing magazine BookBrunch. Many thanks for their permission to reproduce it here. Russell Ash – finding the fun in everything Sunday, 26 September 2010 15:16 Friends from across…
I’ve started a new section on my website called the Peter James Readers Hall Of Fame. It’s a selection of photographs sent to me by you, my readers, either reading a Peter James book in an usual, artistic or amusing way or location, or a fun picture of one of my books, or of something…
Apologies for being remiss with my blog – have been on a book promo tour in New Zealand and Australia and finally heading home now. Managed to avoid the perils of the Christchurch earthquake (but was there in March…) and managed to avoid being poisoned, stung or eaten in Australia. Read the charming statistic that…
Some of you may have read in my May 6th, 2010, blog (http://blog.peterjames.com/2010/05/now-you-seafood.html) the grim tale of the car that was pulled out of Shoreham Harbour, ten years ago, which had been underwater for an estimated four weeks. Inside were a lobster, a plump eel and what appeared on first inspection to be a football.…
Thought I would share this with you, written by one of my fabulous fans, Maria Annand. She has created a story using all the titles of my novels…. I think she’s done a brilliant job, I love it! “Petra Jameson stared bleakly out of the window. The one time SWEETHEART of the silver screen was…
I just received this wonderful email from a reader, which I thought you’d like to see!!! Dear Peter My daughter, Tamar, somewhat the worse for wear last Friday, was running at Victoria Station for one of the last trains to Brighton, when the signed copy of your latest masterpiece fell from her bag, bounced on the…
I am speaking at one of the Daily Mail’s famous literary lunches, on Thursday September) 30th, at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London. My fellow speakers will be Barbara Taylor Bradford and Quentin Letts, and the Master of Ceremonies, Gyles Brandreth. Tickets are £65. If you would like to come please send cheques payable to Daily…
Well, it was groundhog day again last Thursday at Harrogate. There I was, a shortlisted author for the third year running for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year, sitting in the auditorium as the winner was announced (the very charming RJ Ellory) with my Happy Loser Smile on my face. That same…
I had a novel experience this afternoon, while I was signing books at a large outdoor public event. It was the 250th anniversary celebrations of Shoreham Harbour, the major seaport at the western extremity of Brighton, and I had written a foreward for the book commemorating this event. I was signing copies both of this…
I’m delighted to tell you that I have just been shortlisted for one of the UK’s most prestigious crime writing awards, Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2010. This is also thanks to your help, because the public vote for the winner. To begin with, everyone has to vote for their favourites…
Peter on the mystery of the 11,500 people permanently missing in the UK
Well folks, almost exactly a year since my high speed crash on the Oulton Park race circuit, in my 2CV – which you can see here in YouTube if you missed it! I was back behind the wheel of a race car this weekend at Castle Combe. I was driving this works Honda Accord, one…
I am thrilled to tell you all that Dead Like You went straight to No 1 in the Sunday Times hardback bestseller list in its first week of publication – preventing James Patterson from getting to No 1 for the first time in several years. Now in the second week, we have done it again!…
Dead Like You at Victoria I’m delighted to tell you that in its first week of publication, my new Roy Grace novel, Dead Like You, has gone straight to No 1 in the official UK hardback fiction list, by Nielsen BookScan (which includes the Sunday Times). Above is the whopping great billboard poster for Dead…
I’m delighted to tell you that Dead Like You, the sixth Roy Grace novel, is published today. Here’s the plot synopsis: “Don’t imagine for one moment that I’m not watching you. . . The Metropole Hotel, Brighton. After a heady New Year’s Eve ball, a woman is brutally raped as she returns to her room.…
I have just heard the wonderful news that The Perfect Murder has won the Quick Reads Reader’s Favourite Award. This was voted for by you, my wonderful fans, as well as readers and adult learners around the English speaking world. The Perfect Murder beat off stiff competition from other 2010 Quick Read authors including Rolf…
Here’s a tale guaranteed to put you off your next lobster dinner. For a while, anyway… I’ve been spending more time than usual recently in one of favourite parts of Sussex, Shoreham Harbour, the major sea port immediately to the east of Brighton and Hove, and a major commercial port, because I’ve been asked to…
Last week at the London Book Fair I did a brief interview with BBC TV as part of a piece they were doing on the Stig Larson phenomenon. You can see it on this page of the BBC News site Now watch out for the PJ phenomenon!!!
Please note: this poll is now closed – thanks to all of you who voted! I’ve just heard there is a Reader’s Poll for the Quick Reads series – in which my book The Perfect Murder was published – which closes at 5pm Friday April 23rd If you would like to vote for The Perfect…
I spent last Wednesday out with the Met, doing research for my 7th Roy Grace novel. It is always interesting to compare police forces, and with 35,000 officers compared to Sussex’s 5,000, the London Metropolitan Police is a different beast in many ways. One of its former chiefs once described the Met as “human garbage…
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I’m delighted to learn that Dead Tomorrow has been shortlisted for the following two awards: SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARDS SHORTLISTSWe are pleased to announce the shortlists for the Sounds of Crime Awards for best abridged and unabridged crime audiobooks of 2009. The Sounds of Crime Awards are sponsored by Audible UK and the shortlists are:…
I’m just back from a round-the world trip where I stopped for book promotion and research in Cape Town, Sydney, New Zealand and, en route home, LA. Went to Auckland and Hamilton in NZ where I’ve been before then to South Island, Queenstown and Christchuch and loved it there. Great restaurants and incredibly friendly people…
I’m currently in South Island New Zealand, home of bungee jumping and stopped to take a look at this “fun” activity, just outside beautiful Queenstown, over a gorge where some of the filming for Lord Of The Rings took place. The idea of jumping off a bridge with an elastic band attached to my ankles…
Thanks to all of the hundreds of you who so enthusiastically entered my “The Perfect Murder” competition in my newsletter. I’m delighted to announce the winner is Karen Morgan of Faversham, Kent, pictured here with her Champagne prize.
Dead Like You from Peter James on Vimeo. I’m thrilled to show you this very evocative trailer that my publisher Pan Macmillan have put together for the sixth Roy Grace novel, Dead Like You, which is out in June. I think it’s beautifully shot and suitably dark and moody – what do you reckon? It…
Well, I suppose it had to happen one day – that I would fall foul of the law…. and here are the pictures below to show the whole sorry saga….! Arrested Charge being read out: “Crimes against sartorial elegance and wearing loud socks” Being processed… Languishing behind bars Time to reflect on my crimes… especially…
I don’t normally use my blog to raise funds for causes but this one is special to me. Ethan is the son of Nicky Mitchell, who was brilliantly helpful to me during my researching of Dead Tomorrow – she worked for the debt collection agency that is the model for the one my character Lynn…
As you might have already seen elsewhere on this website, my novella, The Perfect Murder, is going to be published very soon. Although the book is not officially on sale until March 4th, it is not embargoed to a specific date, like the Roy Grace novels, and a number of retailers, including Amazon, are already…
Peter James Scholarships As a token of thanks to Brighton University for awarding me an Honorary Doctorate last year, my publishers, Pan Macmillan, decided it would be a nice gesture to fund two annual scholarships for English at the University. Recently, Geoff Duffield, Group Sales and Marketing Director of Pan Macmillan, and I, attended a…
I accompanied 40 Police officers last Friday on a raid on three flats in central Brighton where the occupants were suspected of drug dealing on a large scale. It was a real adrenaline rush! It started with a 7am briefing at Hove Police Station. Then we were all shipped in vans, instructed to switch our…
I was delighted to learn that I was the most borrowed author in Brighton and Hove this past year, with Not Dead Enough hitting No 1 and Dead Man’s Footsteps at No 5. Let’s hope they all get returned! I had an email from a reader to say she had brought one of my earlier, out…
The excellent Shots crime magazine is currently running a competition where they’re giving away 3 signed copies of Dead Tomorrow – all you have to do is answer a simple Roy Grace related question to be in with a chance of winning your own copy! Please see the Shots Magazine Peter James competition page for…
I blame my mate, Arnie Wilson, ski writer for the Financial Times and editor of Ski + Board. He’s always trying to find ways to get revenge on me ever since I beat him in a mad off-piste race at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, some years back, in a duel to settle a dispute over carver…
Peter on being diagnosed with diabetes and the worst time of his life
A big thank you for all your wonderful support and enthusiasm for my writing during this past year. Thank you for your blog comments, your emails and your tweets! I wish you all a wonderful New Year and New Decade! And so does Roy, Glenn, Norman, Bella, Nick, E-J and all the rest of the…
Now can you spot Santa??? Every year I have to dress up on Xmas Eve for the little ones who join us for our Swedish Christmas Eve celebration. But I was rumbled last year by Oscar – I forgot that a dog doesn’t get fooled by a disguise – he could smell Santa! I…
My amazing agent, Carole Blake, has had her agency create a tree from its clients books. I rather like the star on the top…..!!!
Peter on Dead Tomorrow’s extensive research
I’m thrilled to report that after just three days on sale, the paperback of Dead Tomorrow has gone into the Sunday Times bestseller list at No 3. This weekend the TV ads start on Sky, peppered through the crime programmes on that channel, so keep an eye out, and one keen fan, Aron Peterson, took…
As mentioned last week, there is an unabridged audiobook version of Dead Tomorrow now available from Whole Story Audio Books – as you can see above, the cover is a little different to the paperback version of Dead Tomorrow, so I thought it was worth posting here in case you’re looking for it. You can…
Dead Tomorrow Bus Adverts – shown here in miniature form! The paperback of Dead Tomorrow is published on November 26th, and will available from all bookshops as well as many supermarkets. Dead Tomorrow will be supported by my first ever TV advertising campaign, which starts nationwide on November 30th and will also be advertised on…
Many of you have asked to see pictures of my new desk which I designed myself together with carpenter Antony Scudder. Ever since I wrote my first published novel, back in 1981, I have wanted to design my perfect desk, but never got around to it, and finally this summer I decided I would get…
Dined in on Tuesday night at the world’s most famous restaurant, El Bulli, in Spain, with my Spanish publishers. Co-owner/chef Ferran Adria is rated by all his peers as the world’s most inventive cook – and, as you will see from the pictures below, he has in some cases re-defined and reinvented what cooking is…
Peter explains the dark reality behind Dead Tomorrow
I wouldn’t want to give the impression that my trip to the Turks and Caicos was all work and no play… I did take the last day off, after I had delivered my book (Dead Like You) but I also had another reason for being there – the Assistant Commissioner of Police, the wonderful Neil…
Every profession/job has its good and bad parts and the life of an author is no exception. Loneliness, deadlines, writer’s block and the fear of bad reviews are just some of the clouds that cast dark shadows on our lives. But, there are some great upsides, too. For me one of the very best is…
The Grand Hotel, Brighton At 3am on October 12 1984 a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army exploded at the Grand Hotel, Brighton. The target was then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her ministers. It failed to kill her or any ministers, but five people were killed, including Conservative MP Sir Anthony Berry. Several…
Last year some of you may remember I sponsored a CD of the wonderful war poems of Rupert Brooke, read by Andrew Motion and many others, which had touched and inspired me as a young writer. (See my earlier Rupert Brooke post). The team behind this, The Useful Donkey Theatre Company, is headed by one…
PJ at the Goodwood Revival Well, the instructions for the annual Goodwood Revival Race meeting last weekend, for historic and classic sports and racing cars, said to dress up in period, preferably in a blazer and cravat, a suitable hat, and a prop, like a pipe. So here I am! I know my old school…
I was recently invited by Scott and Rebecca Simpson to a night of ghost hunting at Brighton’s most haunted house, the handsome Edwardian Preston Manor. Preston Manor – the most haunted house in Brighton. (No mean title in a city full of ghosts!) The house featured in a recent episode of “Most Haunted” and this…
So, here’s a sight you don’t want to see in your headlights!!! The original gamekeeper turned poacher! This was taken when I spent a Friday night out with Polegate Road Policing Unit (as Traffic Police are now called). They set up this laser speed trap on a 40 mph limit on the outskirts of Eastbourne…
Well, I never realized that after receiving my honorary doctorate, I would then have a Sussex street named after me as well!!! Just kidding. A friend of mine spotted this near the village of Fairlight, close to Hastings. But, just a thought, maybe every county should have one….!
I thought you’d like to see a few pictures of me as never before, and unlikely again!!!! These were taken during my graduation last Thursday at the University of Brighton in which I was made a “Doctor of Letters”. So now, when I’m next in a theatre and someone cries out “Is there a doctor…
I’m delighted to say that after a recent string of awards for which I have been shortlisted but haven’t won, today I am a winner at last! I am receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Brighton — conferring on me the title Doctor Of Letters. The press release below gives you the full…
Those of you following me on Twitter will know I’ve just been in NY – and that I took my real life Roy Grace – Retired Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Gaylor – with me. I joke that most authors carry their characters inside their head, whereas I travel around with mine!! Although they don’t look…
Just a quick note to let you know I’ll be giving a talk and signing in aid of Oxfam on Thursday July 16 in Brighton. The talk is at 6.30pm at Brighton Jubilee Library, Jubilee St, Brighton BN1 1GE. Talk and signing. Tickets are £5 – all proceeds to Oxfam. Tickets areavailable from the local…
I’m delighted that I have been shortlisted for two awards this summer, the Crime Writers Association “Dagger In The Library” which is voted for by librarians and the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year, for Dead Man’s Footsteps. The Old Peculiar award is the only one in the UK voted for by the…
Many thanks to Debbie Roberts for sharing these photos she took of my high speed crash at Oulton Park (mine is the yellow car) – looking at them, I really do feel lucky that I barely suffered a scratch! Photo: Debbie Roberts Photo: Debbie Roberts
Had a high speed smash in the second lap of my race at Oulton Park in Cheshire, yesterday. It was definitely one of those “oh sh*****t” moments, particularly in the seconds after impact when I found myself careening along on my side, before the car righted itself. The chain of events leading to the accident…
Thought I would share with you this wonderful photo sent to me by a fan, Carolyne Michael, taken on a family holiday in Cyprus last year – look carefully at their choices of beach reading! The Michael Family One of the real joys of being an author is receiving fan mail, and a wonderful email…
Today is publication day of Dead Tomorrow in the UK – I’m excited but nervous! Yesterday I was on Irish AM breakfast television in Dublin talking about the book. If you would to see it visit this page on the TV3 website, then click on the image to start the video.
As part of the promotional campaign for Dead Tomorrow which comes out on June 11th, you might have already seen these adverts in the press where you can text a number and get a phone call from Roy Grace himself! Simply text GRACE to 60300 and you will hear from Grace for yourself. Standard network…
Peter discusses Dead Tomorrow’s background research
by Lisa Frascarelli Peter James’s cleaning lady recently left a message on his desk which read: “Worried about you! You’re reading weird books — men’s pregnancy and women’s shoes. Are you OK?” “I think she saw the books and thought I was going to have a sex change and try to get pregnant,” smirks James,…
I’ve always been a massive fan of the Sussex daily newspaper, The Argus, right from when I was 15 years old and they gave me my first holiday job. I was working for the late Jack Tinker (who rose to become one of the most revered theater critics in the country) when he was working…
Every year my lovely friend, Peter Betts, the brilliant cartoonist Peeby, does a cartoon on the title of my new book. I’ve just received this one from him in advance of the publication date of June 11th for Dead Tomorrow, and love it! Hope you enjoy it too. www.peebycartoons.com
Woody Allen famously said, “Sex is the most fun you can have without laughing.” Well, clearly he’s never been in a police car during a serious pursuit. And I have to disagree about the laughing bit. Great sex does not have to be exclusive of humour. But pursuit driving certainly does. One of the most…
Some bad news – I’ve just been told the publication date for Dead Tomorrow, the 5th Roy Grace novel, has been put back by a week. Dead Tomorrow will now come out in hardback on June 11th, rather than June 5th as I told you previously. I’m afraid this is quite common, often for last…
So, OK, we all like the idea of going to bed with a good book. But going to bed with its creator????? Well that’s what happened last week in Munich! In Bed With Peter James Peter and Hans I was there as part of their wonderful Krimi Festival, and the organisers, Andy and Sabine decided…
I’ve recently been playing with Twitter, the microblogging service that’s become incredibly popular in the last year. Twitter lets people post very short messages (140 characters, the same length as an SMS) to their Twitter page, letting friends know what they are up to. (If you use Facebook, it’s a little bit like the Facebook…
One of the scary aspects of ageing, I have discovered, is that we shrink as we get older! Really! I got a shock a few weeks back when I went for a check up. Now, I’ve been five foot eleven inches for as long as I can remember, and reasonably happy with that, although there…
Your hero, suffering for his art… No I’m not referring to my last birthday, but to this past weekend! What is it that stops us human beings from learning our lessons? What is it in our brain that makes us think that having another large brandy at 3am, when we are already very drunk, will…
I always ask my publishers or hosts wherever I travel in the world if they can arrange for me to meet police officers – I find it immensely helpful for my research for my Roy Grace novels to have as broad a picture of the world’s police forces and their different problems in different countries…
I have always liked poetry, and although I’ve not written any since I left school, I like to read poetry when I am working on a novel. I often find great inspiration in the words and images of both classical and modern poets. The reason I don’t like to read fiction, certainly during the writing…
Thanks all of you who took part in my What’s Cooking quiz! Some of your answers were quite brilliant and really made me smile. Well, no one actually got all three answers right, although Steve Hargrave, Helen Bayley and Julie Hargrave came close! The correct answers are that it was indeed Dennis Nilsen who was…
There’s an in depth interview with me at Shots Magazine, the result of a very pleasant (and very long!) lunch at Christmas with the Shots Editors [Mike Stotter and Ali Karim], together with Barry Forshaw [Editor of Crime Time and The Encyclopaedia of British Crime Fiction] and Carla McKay [crime-fiction critic of the Daily Mail].…
PJ in hot pursuit on the slopes! So, moving on from grimy ovens to fresh white snow…. (the competition stays open for another week!) I thought you might be amused by this cartoon of me that appears in the current issue of the Ski Club of Great Britain publication, Ski & Board. As the son…
Some of you found my Xmas quiz this year a little hard, so to ease the pain of now being in damp, recession-clobbered January, here is an easier competition which any of you could win! Take a look at the photo above. A bottle of champagne to the first post which correctly identifies: A. The…
Well I guess my first post of 2009 should contain elements of my last posts of the year – food and the Brighton and Hove City Mortuary… As Christmas recedes, like our bloated tums, into distant memory, I’m reflecting on what were the highlights of the holiday period, and up there among them must rank…
As we head into 2009, all of us are affected in some way by the financial gloom that has enveloped the world. It is a timely moment to reflect on Shakespeare’s great and wise words from King Lear: “The worst is not so long as we can say, this is the worst…” It is all…
Five years ago, when I wrote Dead Simple, I told Geoff Duffield, the Sales and Marketing supremo of Pan Macmillan, and quite one of the nicest people in the world of publishing, that if he got Roy Grace to No 1 on the bestsellers, I would take him and his wife to any restaurant in…
I get many emails every day from you, my wonderful readers here in the UK and around the world. Mostly they are really nice, occasionally they point out an error, just occasionally they are somewhat blunt, like one I received a couple of months ago: “Dear Mr James, I have just worked out that I…
I’m delighted to say that thanks to all you wonderful readers, the paperback of Dead Man’s Footsteps, which was published on November 27, went straight into the paperback fiction bestseller lists at No 2 on WH Smith and No 6 on the Nielsen Bookscan. I will give a further update next week after its first…
Last week I spent two days in The Hague with privileged behind-the-scenes access to the first international War Crimes tribunal to be established since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials held after World War II. This is formally known as The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and is run by the United Nations. My…
One of the joys of being a writer is my office is a moveable feast. For much of the year I like the disciplines of being rooted to my desk in either London or Sussex, but a dramatic change of scene, and escape into the tranquillity of France, has become an essential part of the…
At the beginning of 2007 I took delivery of a Bentley Continental GT. I fell in love with the looks of these cars the moment they first appeared. To me they were pure sculpture on wheels, and next to my DB7, one of the most beautiful cars ever made. But my joy of owning this…
In response to enthusiastic requests from so many of you, I’m delighted to let you know that my publisher are arranging a short Northern tour for me on Dec 1st, 2nd and 3rd. It is still in the process of being finalized, but so far, I will be doing signings in Newcastle, York, Leeds, Huddersfield,…
A number of you have written to me to say that I appear as a villain in the Jeffrey Deaver novel Sleeping Doll! I met Jeffrey Deaver a couple of years ago for the first time when we were on a panel together at Left Coast Crime, and I must say, I think he is…
Just back this morning from Baltimore, where I was attending the biggest event in the US crime fiction calendar, Bouchercon – their equivalent to our Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, with a glittering array of star attendees, including Val McDermid, John Harvey, Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Laura Lippman, Karin Slaughter, Mark Billingham, John Connelly and many…
Well, the Awards ceremony was indeed a glittering affair at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, on Friday night, and as usual, whenever I am lucky enough to be shortlisted for an award, I always arrive a nervous wreck…probably even more nervous than usual this time as it was such a prestigious award, AUTHOR…
On Friday 19th September, accompanied by Macmillan marketing supremo Charlie King and my wonderful publicist, Claire Barnett, I gave the Roy Grace tour of Brighton to six lucky winners of the competition run by my publishers (see earlier blog entry). One particular bonus of an event like this is that it gives me the opportunity…
On Thursday September 25 (next week!) I am doing a fun event at Waterstones, Piccadilly at 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm as part of London Crime Scene. I am appearing with Roy Grace’s career “doppelganger” Former Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Gaylor, on whose career path I based Roy Grace’s, and who has been my principal…
I’m delighted to tell you I’ve been shortlisted for the Author of the Year category in the inaugural ITV Crime Thriller Awards – details of which are in the press release below. One of you kind readers sent me an email of commiseration when I failed to win the Theakstons Crime Thriller Of The Year…
I am going into seclusion in France to try to finish my new Roy Grace novel and will be offline now until the end of the month. The next blog post will be on August 27th. I will respond to your emails as quickly as I can after my return. In the meantime I leave…
Thank you for your votes for the Theakson’s Old Peculier Crime Thriller of the Year Award for which Not Dead Enough was nominated. As you may have read, we just lost on the final judging committee decision to Stef Penney for The Tenderness Of Wolves. As this is the third award in a row for…
On September 19th I am giving a tour of Roy Grace’s Brighton followed by a champagne fish and chip lunch on the pier to five winners of the competition on the Pan Macmillan website and to one prize winner from the wonderful St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne. So for any of you fancying a peek…
Just when I was thinking all the teething troubles I had with my Bentley had been sorted out, it went and caught fire! The saga began on a Sunday, three weeks ago, when driving along on a dry, sunny day, the windscreen washers suddenly came on and would not stop, even with the engine off…
Recently I did the popular Gordon Astley lunchtime show on Southern Counties Radio, which included picking five of my favourite records, and one I really hate!!! To find out which, click and listen to this MP3 file. It’s a 10 MB download, so it might take a little while. PJ on Southern Counties Radio MP3
Just a note to say that my appearance at Waterstones in Lincoln has been changed from the 17th July to the 16th July – 1 day earlier. I will be there from 7pm onwards – do come and say hello! You can see my complete list of scheduled appearances here
I’ve just heard the wonderful news that I have been shortlisted for this award – huge thanks to the wonderful voting support from so many of you. The winner will be announced on July 18th, so a white knuckle ride until then, especially as I am up against immensely talented competition: The full shortlist, drawn…
To celebrate the publication of Dead Man’s Footsteps, it gives me great pleasure to announce that my publisher Pan Macmillan have sponsored one of Brighton and Hove Police’s patrol cars! You can see how the jacket design of Dead Man’s Footsteps has been incorporated into the body work below. Eagle eyed readers might also have…
We have a new addition to our canine family, the hugely delightful, 12 week old Coco, bringing the strength back up to three hounds after the sad losses of Sooty and Bertie last year. Coco is a cross between a Shitzu and a Poodle. Apparently the breed is known as a Shipoo, which sounds only…
Peter talks to Hong Kong magazine Bookazine about all things Roy Grace
Peter on his Jewish heritage and Dead Man’s Footsteps
Dead Man’s Footsteps goes on sale in the UK on Thursday June 12th, and is strictly embargoed by my publishers until then. However, for those of you who really cannot wait (a huge thank you!!!!) Waterstones in Notting Hill Gate has a special exemption to sell it on the evening of Wednesday June 11th. I…
This year as every year, Julian Clapp, a very experienced police officer (and the only one to have arrested me… at least so far!!!) guides on a wonderful “Brighton Rock” walk all around Brighton town centre visiting locations featured in the film and book. The walk takes place during the Brighton Festival fringe and starts…
I’m delighted to learn that I have been longlisted for one of the UK’s most prestigious crime writing awards, Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2008 – along with some very heavy opposition! The award is voted for by the public, so if you would like to support me please go to…
I recently appeared on the Sky Arts Books Show, hosted by the really delightful Mariella Frostrup. My fellow guest on the show was Jeffrey Archer. You can see my one-to-one interview on this clip, and, as one reader has gleefully pointed out, my red socks!
Well, the one country where I did not expect my publishers to collect me from the airport in a stretch limo came up trumps indeed, with the biggest, bling-blingest limo of all!!! We even made a splash in Romania’s largest-circulation newspaper! PJ and Helen – superstars in Romania! My wonderful Romanian publishers, Nemira, heard that…
Last December 17th, in the UK (and abroad on digital radio) some of you may have heard me on BBC Radio Four, promoting a wonderful new literary magazine, Notes From The Underground, which was launched that day and handed out free, across London by men in bowler hats, looking like pastiches of the famous Magritte…
There’s a myth that most novelists insist on working alone, slamming their office doors to prevent interruptions, even from loved ones. Don’t always believe it. Although people can be a serious distraction, the same rarely applies to pets. On a recent visit to Hong Kong, British crime novelist Peter James spoke fondly of his dogs,…
Someone once likened being an author to being a mushroom. That we spend most of our lives in the dark, and occasionally someone opens the door of our shed and shovels shit over us…. Well – a few days ago was different! On one of the coldest days of the year, a freezing February morning,…
My love affair with Munich just got even more passionate this week, after the launch of the German edition Not Dead Enough (Nicht Tot Genug), part of which is set in Munich. To my delight, Nicht Tot Genug went straight into the Spiegel bestseller list at No 21 joining the paperback of Looking Good Dead…
Peter on having a difficult time with his ski gear
Peter describes his early career in film and how it led to Roy Grace
Back to reality with a bump from the Far East — but fortunately not such a big a bump as the BA 777 from Beijing that touched down at Heathrow just after us…. A salutory reminder for any nervous flier that air travel has plenty of dangers. I’m always intrigued by travel statistics: on Boeing’s…
By Jay Scott Kanes British crime novelist Peter James, like many of his fictional characters, often encounters the police. But unlike the shady individuals emerging from his imagination, Peter enjoys the experience. Peter often tags along with the police on his home turf in Brighton, Sussex. “I spend about a day each fortnight out with…
I am thrilled to be able to tell you that Roy Grace is ending 2007 on a high. Not Dead Enough has been No 1 in WH Smith and Tesco, and is currently in its fifth consecutive week at No 2 on the official Nielsen UK paperback fiction bestseller list – all thanks to you.…
So who says there is no humour inside mortuaries? This is the Brighton and Hove City Mortuary Xmas card and if you look closely you will spot the real life Cleo Morey (Elsie Sweetman), Darren (Sean Didcott) and the wonderful Victor Sinden. Two weeks ago I attended the Mortuary’s annual Xmas dinner at the excellent…
I was interviewed recently on the Simon Mayo book show on Radio 5, alongside James Lee Burke. We each had to read the other’s latest book in advance of the show, so we could comment. He read “Not Dead Enough” and I read his marvellous “The Tin Roof Blowdown” which resonated with me incredibly, because…
I’ve just had my first taste of being in prison today. I have visited various prisons in the UK on several occasions in the past, giving talks, but afterwards they have always let me leave. But not today! My incarceration took place at Lewes Prison, near Brighton in Sussex. Its inmates range from lifers to…
I’m thrilled to say that in its first week of paperback publication in the UK, Not Dead Enough has gone straight to No 2 in the Sunday Times Bestseller List and to No 1 in WHSmith. Thank you so much for all of you who support my writing so enthusiastically. All best wishes for the…
Peter gives a wide-ranging insight into how he came to be a crime writer
I clearly made my last competition too easy, as several of you bright sparks got the answer quite quickly. I hope you will find this a little tougher. But there will be clues in my next blog post if you are all stuck… So to win my festive bottle of bubbly all you have to…
I’ve just been on a book tour in Holland and Antwerp with my wonderful Dutch publishers, De Fontein. I had bad memories of Amsterdam from a previous visit 25 years ago. I sailed with my then wife, Georgina, in a dinky-sized yacht with two friends, from Orford Ness (a pretty Suffolk coastal resort with a…
My research for my Roy Grace novels has led to my developing some great relationships with a number of Sussex Police officersw, and they frequently tell me stories about incidents they have been involved with. I thought I would share this one with you, which was emailed to me yesterday by a young undercover officer,…
I used to be a big fan of Avis car rentals. Seven years ago in Los Angeles I was involved in a fairly major car accident, and fortunately in a substantial car, a large Cadillac. I was in Santa Monica on Olympic Boulevard, a multiple-lane dual carriageway, dashing to a meeting, when my mobile phone,…
Peter explains why he loves his house to the Independent newspaper
One of the questions I often get asked is ‘what does a writer do all day when he is not actually writing?’ So having effectively finished the second draft of my latest novel, (Dead Man’s Footsteps) I thought I would share my Monday with you: This morning, and through lunchtime, I spent with a young…
I’ve just had real eye-opener into how little some medics know. Let me start by saying that I have met many doctors over the years and I have great respect for some, but certainly not for all of them. I admire especially all those who have an open mind, the ones who freely admit that…
Publishing News reports on Peter’s novel way of getting liquids on a plane in Moscow airport.
The answer….. …..to all of you who ask me how I relax when I have finished my latest novel; Just gently, quietly contemplative of a murder or two….. Picture courtesy of Maxim Aryukov
Here’s a little test for all the geographers and linguists among you! A bottle of champagne to the first person to correctly name in a comment here the English titles of these two books, and to guess the railway station where the billboard is displayed!
Knowing my interest in meeting police in every country that I can, my publishers in Moscow arranged for me to meet the Chief of Police for central Moscow, Alexandr Havkin — whose bailliwick includes the Kremlin and all the surrounding area. I had been briefed to bring a gift of a UK police hat and…
I’ve just been in Moscow for my Russian publishers, Centrepolygraph, attending the Moscow Book Fair and doing a number of bookstore signings, as well as a press conference with over 25 journalists lasting some three hours. I hadn’t realized Roy Grace is huge in Russia — and it was really a thrill. And no, sadly…
Good news! In Moscow this past weekend (more of which to come), I finally finished the first draft of my new Roy Grace novel, “Dead Man’s Footsteps”, which will be published next June. It is always a strange feeling sending your book off to your editor and your agent — it reminds me of all…
My apologies to you all that my anticipated 12 days absence from blogging to finish my new Roy Grace novel (Dead Man’s Footsteps) has now extended to a month – and I’m still not quite there yet… Years ago my close friend, the writer James Herbert, gave me a valuable piece of advice: that the…
Apologies for the absence of a new blog post. I am closeted away trying to finish my new Roy Grace novel, “Dead Man’s Footsteps”, by August 12th and having to put everything else aside in order to write flat out. I will resume my blog as soon as possible, and also forgive my tardy reply…
Thanks to all of you who have emailed me about the prospect of a TV series based on my Roy Grace books. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes about the possibility of a Roy Grace television series, but please do not expect it to happen anytime soon. At the moment…
I have been getting a lot of emails from readers about why my novels Getting Wired, Dead Letter Drop, Atom Bomb Angel and Billionaire are all out of print. I’ve now updated this website’s Books page with more info about all these books and my reasons for deliberately keeping all four books permanently out of…
Sunday was a black day for liberty in England. In my view it is one of the worst days for human rights in England in my living memory. Today there comes into force a total ban on all smoking indoors in public places, in particular the work place and all restaurants bars and clubs, imposed…
I’ve just agreed to participate in an online storytelling website, called The NeverEnding Story. In it, writers have to write the first few hundred words of a story then anyone can add to it.I have started a story something a little different to what I normally write and it will be fun to see where…
Our beloved Tibetan Terrier, Sooty, died a few weeks ago at the ripe old age of 16 – 112 years old in human years. Actually the last four years were a bonus, because I ran him over in 2003.It was one of those truly terrible moments, where you wish so desperately that you could rewind…
Once a year I go bonkers… I swap my latest exotic, comfortable wheels (currently my wonderful Bentley Continental GT) for 24 hours in a Citroen 2CV in yet another pathetic attempt at promoting my latest book-du-jour. For those of you who have spent the last 12 months on Mars, it is my third Roy Grace…
My new baby, Not Dead Enough (which I was pleased to see was the No 1 most pre-ordered novel on Amazon prior to its release) was given a fantastic send-off at Borders bookstore in Brighton on Thursday night, with a group of 200 people there, including half of Sussex CID, the Mayoress, and the whole…
Peter’s article for the Evening Argus on how Brighton council’s traffic policy is scaring away visitors.
I’ve just had my second blind date! My first, last year, was with the very delightful Anja Koenig, (chaperoned by her equally delightful husband, Stephen) (see my earlier blog) who won a competition in Germany to have dinner with me. This time it was with Sarah Hobden, who won a competition in Sussex Life magazine…
I’ve recently spent a few extraordinary days in New York with two police officers, Detective Inspectors Dennis Bootle and Pat Lanigan, researching for my new Roy Grace novel, which will be published next year, and which features a character who tries to benefit commercially from the attack on the World Trade Centre. Part of the…
Well, we all have different styles of working. Me, I like to sit at my desk, slurping my vodka martini (at my evening session only!!!) opera or jazz gently pumping out of my Bose speakers. Neil Pearson is clearly the hunched forward, raring-to-go type, while William Gaminara – well, clearly a little laid back. Neil…
UPDATE 25th May: The site should be pretty much restored now. If you find any broken links or strange looking pages, do please leave a comment and I can get it fixed Due to technical problems with my web host, Easynet, which have resulted in my website being offline for over a week, a large…
Continuing my crazy round of world travels, I barely got back from launching Dead Simple (Levande Begravd) in Sweden – when I had to go up to Worcester, with my silver tongue polished, to give an after-dinner speech to the Association of British Investigators, and then fly on to New York, to attend the Edgar…
It has been a bad few weeks for some of the major influences in my life. First the tragic death in a car accident of my old film director friend and mentor Bob Clark, and now, after a fall in his apartment, the death of Kurt Vonnegut, author of one my ten favourite novels of…
I was in Lyons in France last weekend for the Crime Writing festival there, and was delighted to discover much of the crème of modern British crime writing (and therefore of the world!!!) also there. Some of the creme I met Mark Billingham (whose books I like a lot) for the first time. Everyone had…
I was immensely saddened to learn today of the tragic death of Bob Clark, the film director who gave me my first break as a producer, and a man who became a very close friend for many years back in the 1970s. Bob and I worked together on the late stages of Children Shouldn’t Play…
Many of you probably know that Ian Rankin beat me for the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Galaxy British Book Awards last night – no doubt exacting his revenge for my having beaten him last October in France for Le Prix Polar International! I have heard that the result last night was…
Today the voting opens for the Galaxy British Book Awards. This is like the Oscars of the British book publishing industry, but the voting is done by you, the readers. The winners of the Galaxy British Book Awards receive a Nibbie, an Oscar-like golden ornament shaped like a giant pen nib which could also double…
Recently I went to a drinks party at the Royal College of Pathology. Being pathologists, I’d kind of expected them to be in a damp, tiled basement lined with drain gulleys, serving Bloody Marys out of the chest cavities of opened-up cadavers, in soup ladles…. Instead to my surprise the organization occupies very spacious, swish…
Readers of this blog get the first sneak preview of the jacket for Not Dead Enough, the next Roy Grace novel due out in June. I’ve just been going back through the proofs one final time and I can’t wait for it to arrive on the shelves! It’s a pretty atmospheric cover, I think –…
We all have those moments when we really would like the ground to open up and disappear us whole! Well, I do, at any rate, with alarming frequency… My latest was earlier this month in Paris, where I had gone to receive my award, Le Prix Coeur Noir. I was staying at the Plaza Athénée…
A couple of blog mentions of winning Le Prix Coeur Noir – Macmillan CEO Richard Charkin chips in with Vive Le Anglais! while Mark Farley, of my favourite London bookstore, Waterstones in Notting Hill Gate, very kindly says Congrats Crime Master. If you’ve seen – or write! – a blog that’s mentioned me or my…
I’m absolutely thrilled to have won the French prize Le Prix Coeur Noir. Here’s some pics from the awards ceremony and the slighty cheeky press release! French beaten on home turf for major literary prize by plucky Brit Crime novelist Peter James wins prestigious Prix Coeur Noir British Author Peter James has been awarded the…
So, could you fall in love with a city where this ugly looking crustacean is the local and very seriously expensive, speciality? It’s called a Moreton Bay Bug. Although it doest actually taste a lot better than that other Melbourne speciality – flies… Morton Bay Bug You’ve all seen those comic Aussie hats with corks…
Reluctantly leaving New Zealand (blog on which to follow) where I’ve been treated wonderfully, and the amazing Pennys’s bookstore who put on the best window display for my books I’ve ever seen – spot all the artefacts from Dead Simple – the shovel, the whisky bottle, the walkie talkie, etc… and the CDs from Looking…
Currently in Australia on a tour to promote Looking Good Dead, with New Zealand next up. (You can see my full public appearance schedule here if you’re interested). There was a nice clipping in the New Zealand press which explains my upcoming appearance in Hamilton (you can read it here), and Linda at Penny’s Bookstore…
So I’m just back from a glorious week in the ski resort of Courmayeur, high in the Italian Alps, where I was President of the film jury at the Courmayeur In Noir film and book festival. Sounds grand, “President”, but actually (as the pic shows) the reason I got voted President is because I was…
I was put up as a dinner date by the German crime-writing website Krimi Couch – they held a national competition centred around the promotion of the hardback launch of Looking Good Dead (Stirb Schon) in Germany this autumn, and the luck (or unlucky, depending how you look at it…) winner got to have a…
The New Zealand press highlight Peter’s arrival in the city of Hamilton on his 2007 book tour.
Peter’s article for the Daily Express on the fashions of the book industry and how being classified a horror novelist nearly killed his writing career.
Profile piece on Peter and his sister Genevieve on swapping roles – Peter cooks a meal for 8 and Genevieve flys a helicopter!
Today I heard the brilliant news that the paperback of Looking Good Dead has gone to No 2 on the Sunday Times bestseller list. And… we sold almost 10,000 copies more than Jeffrey Archer, which gives me almost as much pleasure… And in addition we are No 1 in Tesco – the UK’s largest supermarket…
I attended the Royal Premiere of Casino Royale last Tuesday, courtesy of my very charming Swedish cousin, Erik Olsson, a Bond fanatic (see the two of us downing an appropriate tipple at the pre-screening party). It’s always a levelling experience to walk along that red carpet across Leicester Square, all dressed up. You are aware…
After all the dire warnings that to fly to Yemen was insane, we landed in Sana’a on a Tuesday evening, to one of the most friendly airports I’ve been to. US immigration officers should spend a few days there getting a lesson in politeness. Having been on a five week German, US and then French…
I’m just back from ten days in Yemen and Oman, and a very mixed bag of experiences. I went there as one of a group of four UK crime writers to lecture on the ship “Spirit of Adventure” (I tried to persuade them to give the ship to me as a thank-you prezzie, but all…
I’ll be making two appearances in Germany, one in December this year and one in March 2007. Here are the details: 3rd December 2006, 8pm:Münchner Buecherschau, Kulturzentrum Gasteig/Kleiner KonzertsaalTickets: www.muenchenticket.de or 089-54818181 Here’s more information in German about the event: 25th March 2007, 6pm:Krimifestival München, Schloss Seefeld, Seefeld/Obb.Tickets: 0 81 52/98 08 97 More information:…
I’m really thrilled to be able to tell you that this weekend in Cognac, France, I won Le Prix Polar International, for Comme Une Tombe (Dead Simple in French translation), the top award at the 11th Polar Salon held in Cognac this weekend. This is one of the most prestigious literary awards for crimewriting in…
Some new dates for appearances this year: December 3rdMunich, Germany December 5th to 11thCourmayeur, Italy – at the “Cormayeur Noir In Festival” – I will be a judge on the International Jury of Cinema. On Thursday Nov 27th at 10.30 I will be interviewed about Dead Simple and my writing by Lia Volpatti. Jan 31st…
My German publishers Verlagshaus Fischer have put together a German language website for the publication of Looking Good Dead, published there under the title “Stirb Schoen”. Or, as they say in Germany:Für alle deutschen Leser von Peter: Sie finden viele Informationen zu Peters neuestem Buch “Stirb schön” auf einer eigenen, deutschsprachigen Website unter www.stirbschoen.de sowie…
I’m recently back from my first visit to New Orleans – NO for short – or as the local wags now call it, “NO Orleans.” Everyone I meet in England asks, “So, what’s it like now?” To which I can only answer, “I don’t know what it was like before, but I would happily go…