BOOK DESCRIPTION
Roy Grace, creation of the CWA Diamond Dagger award winning author Peter James, faces his most mysterious case yet in Need You Dead.
Lorna Belling, desperate to escape the marriage from hell, falls for the charms of another man who promises her the earth. But, as Lorna finds, life seldom follows the plans you’ve made. A chance photograph on a client’s mobile phone changes everything for her.
When the body of a woman is found in a bath in Brighton, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to the scene. At first it looks an open and shut case with a clear prime suspect. Then other scenarios begin to present themselves, each of them tantalizingly plausible, until, in a sudden turn of events, and to his utter disbelief, the case turns more sinister than Grace could ever have imagined
HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS AND REVIEW
Now I will be total honest and say that this is my first Peter James Book and although it reads perfectly well as a stand alone, this is a series that I want to go back to the beginning and read them all. It is absolutely awesome! Peter James is rightly an international best seller. This is a story about a victim, not a body count, a pure quality realistic police investigation into a death of a woman to find out if it was suicide, accident or staged but it goes far deeper.
The story real consists of the police procedural investigation into the suspicious death of a local woman Lorna Belling, who is known to the police because of domestic violence incidents between her and her husband. Lorna’s body has been discovered in a secret hide away flat in a run down area but the scene just doesn’t add up. As the case progresses a number of possible suspects begin to emerge from her life.
I just loved the investigation that followed Lorna’s death, what a cracking story this is, so many times I thought I had it all sussed and have since come to the conclusion that I would make a dreadful detective. There was a real sense of the tremendous impact that something like this has on everyone involved and how at times a trail can lead to a suspect and a subsequent crime not related to the original investigation.
I loved Detective Superintendent Roy Grace from his first appearance in the story. A pretty cool character that has seen his fair share of the worst of people in his career and at times personal life. I don’t really want to say too much about what is going on in his personal life because of course being a series it could take the edge of impact from readers. He is a man I admired immediately. A dedicated man to his career but also one that has learnt lessons the hard way in the past about getting that balance between work and home. What a super wife he has in Cleo. Roy Grace at work comes across as a man who cares deeply for his team and yet also has a tone when he means business with them.
There is one particular harrowing scene in the book which is brilliantly written. There was no need for graphic descriptions of the horrific event, all it took was a telephone conversation and my own imagination. Total perfection.
This story begins as a snowball and by the time it ends it makes one hell of an avalanche. Some of the scene is already set for book 14 with Roy Grace’s home life, I feel very uneasy. I think it could even top this one!
HERE IS A LITTLE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PETER JAMES is one of the UK’s most treasured crime and thriller novelists. His Roy Grace detective novels have sold over 18 million copies worldwide in total. The series is now published in 37 territories. Peter’s Roy Grace novels, have had 11 consecutive Sunday Times No 1s. In the Autumn of 2012, Not Dead Yet toppled the 50 Shades Of Grey trilogy off the No 1 paperback fiction slot, ending its 25 week domination of the chart and in May 2015, You Are Dead, derailed The Girl On The Train’s 3 month chart domination going straight in at No 1 in the Sunday Times bestseller charts. ‘Love You Dead’ in hardback was Peter’s eleventh Sunday Times No 1 bestseller and Peter’s first non-fiction title ‘Death Comes Knocking’ written in association with Graham Bartlett, Head of Sussex Police was published in July 2016, scoring Peter a hat trick of titles in the Sunday Times charts within a month.
Peter’s novella, ‘The Perfect Murder’ (2010) went straight in at No 1 in the iBooks chart and spent 40 consecutive weeks in the iBooks Top 10. It was adapted into a play called The Perfect Murder which did its first, smash hit tour starring Les Dennis in 2014 and is touring again with Shane Ritchie and Jessie Wallace in Spring 2016. The original run was followed by the play of Dead Simple in 2015, starring Tina Hobley and Jamie Lomas which was an equally big success during its 6-month nationwide run. Not Dead Enough, the third of Peter’s books to be translated to stage, is currently touring the UK to critical acclaim, starring Shane Ritchie as Roy Grace and Laura Whitmore as Cleo Morey.
Peter, an established film producer, was educated at Charterhouse then at film school. He has produced numerous films, including The Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino. He has an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Brighton in recognition of his services to literature and the community, is Patron of Neighbourhood Watch nationwide, Patron of Crimestoppers in Sussex, Patron of Brighton & Hove Samaritans, and Patron of Relate, among many other charitable posts he holds. Peter has been two-times Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and has won many literary awards, including the publicly voted ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards People’s Bestseller Dagger and he was shortlisted for the Wellcome Trust Book Prize. As popular internationally as in the UK, he won the US Barry Award, for Best British Crime Novel in 2012. Last year, 2015, he was voted by WH Smith readers as The Best Crime Author of All Time.
Born and brought up in Brighton, Peter divides his time between his homes in Notting Hill, London and Sussex. Peter is available for interviews and to write features. Find out more about Peter James at www.panmacmillan.com and Peter’s website www.peterjames.com and follow him on:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/peterjames.roygrace
Twitter. http://twitter.com/peterjamesuk
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YouTube: You can subscribe for free here: www.peterjames.com/YouTube
Roy Grace Series in order
Dead Simple
Looking Good Dead
Not Dead Enough
Dead Man’s Footsteps
Dead Tomorrow
Dead Like You
Dead Man’s Grip
Not Dead Yet
Dead Man’s Time
Want You Dead
You Are Dead
Love You Dead
Need You Dead