Left You Dead: A Realistically Creepy Crime Thriller (Roy Grace Book 17)

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The case itself made a welcome distraction as Niall Paternoster becomes the prime suspect in the potential murder of his wife Eden who has gone without a trace.

This book presented us with a very clever and engaging mystery that shape shifted every time we looked at it. Niall Paternoster reports his wife missing the morning after she disappeared. They were on their way home from a day out visiting a stately manor when Eden, the wife, wanted to stop on the way for some kitty litter. An argument ensued but they finally stopped at a Tesco superstore and Eden dashed in while Niall looked for a parking space. When she had not returned after 45 minutes he first searched the store then went home thinking she may got a lift with someone else. She wasn’t home either so Niall finally went to bed thinking she’d gone off in a huff as she had done once before. In the morning he went to the police. Richard & Judy Galaxy British Book Awards – Crime Thriller of the Year, shortlisted, Looking Good Dead There is a second plot that explores the deep and emotional theme of organ donation and how vital it is. Left You Dead is the seventeenth thrilling crime novel in the Roy Grace series. Enjoy more of the Brighton detective’s investigations with Dead Simple , Looking Good Dead and Not Dead Enough .James is patron of the Sussex Police Charitable Trust, patron of Brighton & Hove Samaritans, patron of the Brighton Greyhound Owners Association Retired Greyhound Trust, patron of Brighton and Hove Independent Mediation Service, patron of Relate in Sussex, patron of Terrys Cross House, patron of Little Green Pig, national co-patron of Neighbourhood Watch, co-patron of Sussex Crimestoppers, honorary patron for the South Mid Sussex Community First Responders, vice-president of The Old Police Cells Museum in Brighton. He is an ambassador for the University of Brighton, and a Martlets Hospice Champion (which he also supports through his annual Peter James Golf Classic). He supports Action Medical Research. [6] He also supports and works with The Reading Agency, a charity with a mission to give everyone an equal chance in life by helping people become confident and enthusiastic readers. Having dropped her in Tesco's car park, Niall gets increasingly frustrated that she hasn't returned half hour later as he wants to catch the end of the Grand Prix. Thankyou to Macmillan Australia for providing me with a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. Le Prix Cœur Noir at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines festival, Comme Une Tombe (French translation of Dead Simple)

Peter's contribution, Wish You Were Dead, centres around Roy Grace's family on a "holiday from hell". Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is brought on to the case and grows suspicious when the one friend who wasn’t out celebrating refuses to collaborate on the case. All of a sudden, a motive surfaces, and Michael’s near accident may not be so accidental after all. In Looking Good Dead, published in 2006, Tom Bryce finds an apparently lost cd and decides to try to return it to its owner. But when his mission to return the cd leads to him witnessing a ghastly homicide, his family is threatened if he decides to go to the police. Meanwhile, Roy Grace is still haunted by his missing wife. It’s been nearly ten years since she disappeared. His interests include criminology, religion, science and the paranormal, as well as food and wine. He has written many restaurant columns. He is also a self-confessed "petrol head," having owned many fast cars over the years, including four Aston Martins, AMG and Brabus Mercedes, a Bentley Continental GT Speed and two classic Jaguar E-Types. He holds an international racing licence, and has in the past competed in the Britcar series in both a Honda Accord and a former British Touring Car Championship SEAT Toledo. His 1965 BMW 1800 Ti, with his co-driver Steve Soper, came 10th overall in the St Mary's Trophy in the Goodwood Revival in 2013. James currently races a 1962 C1 Corvette and a 1964 Mini Cooper S. He has donated two police cars to Sussex Police, which bear his name, and a police car to States of Jersey Police.Crime writer Peter James to receive honorary doctorate". brighton.ac.uk. 24 July 2009. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012 . Retrieved 4 August 2009. The writing is effortless and smooth. The characters are devious, astute, and committed. And the plot, including all the subplots, unravel and intertwine into a mysterious tale full of twists, turns, manipulation, deception, desperation, red herrings, police politics, familial drama, and personal tragedy. Dagger in the Library UK Crime Writers' Association award for an author's body of work in British libraries (UK) [10] shortlisted

All the signature elements that makes this series great is included - I always enjoy Norman Potting's ill timed quips whilst Grace and ACC Cassian Pewe's frosty relationship is also explored. There’s two main plot lines at play in Left You Dead - the police investigation and a secondary plot that strikes the core of Grace’s family. Suffice to say I rarely get teary in books, most certainly not crime fiction, but I’ll admit to some sniffles in this one. And I’ll remember a quote from this book as well “I heard a quote today that I love, .... about how it’s hard to forget pain, but harder to remember happiness - because we don’t have scars for happiness”. His 1992 novel Prophecy was adapted into the first episode of the 1995 Chiller TV series. Since 2021, his Roy Grace series has been adapted into the ITV series Grace, starring John Simm. In a nutshell, it’s a did he/didn’t he set-up, but James, one of the best storytellers around, keeps the clever plot motoring. And the very scary ending will put you off going out on a dark night …Niall Paternoster drops his wife Eden at Tesco in Brighton while he parks and waits in the car and that’s the last he sees of her. He duly reports her missing the following day. Meanwhile Detective Superintendent Roy Grace visits Ford Prison and obtains some interesting information about his arch nemesis Assistant Chief Constable Cassian Pewe. . The novel opens with a recounting of Eden’s disappearance from Niall Paternoster’s point of view and this sets the tone, a relatively straightforward account that seems true until the doubts creep in and the reader is unsure what to believe. This happens throughout the novel. It’s skilfully done and insidiously clever. Roy Grace’s attention is not wholly on the case as he has some other things going on, offering both heartbreak and potential joy, and yet he’s still the one to connect all the dots. The upshot is that this novel is a rollercoaster. I was continually on edge trying to work out what exactly was going on, then it had me in tears when tragedy strikes and finally I felt uplifted as hope blooms at the last minute, setting up the next novel nicely.