You Are Dead is the eleventh thrilling crime novel in Peter James's Roy Grace series.
The last words Jamie Ball hears from his fiancée, Logan Somerville, are in a terrified cell phone call. She has just driven into the underground car park beneath the block of apartments where they live in Brighton. Then she screams and the phone goes dead. The police are on the scene within minutes, but Logan has vanished, leaving behind her neatly parked car and cell phone.
That same afternoon, workmen digging up a park in another part of the city unearth the remains of a woman in her early twenties…who has been dead for thirty years.
At first these two events seem totally unconnected to Roy Grace and his team. But then another young woman in Brighton goes missing—and yet another body from the past surfaces. Meanwhile, an eminent London psychiatrist meets with a man who claims to know information about Logan. And Roy Grace has the chilling realization that this information holds the key to both the past and present crimes. Does Brighton have its first serial killer in over eighty years?
Peter James is the #1 international bestselling author of the Roy Grace thriller series. Before writing full time, James lived in the U.S. for a number of years, producing films including The Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes. A TV adaptation of the Roy Grace series is currently in development, with James overseeing all aspects, including scriptwriting. James’s novella ‘The Perfect Murder’, started its world stage premiere in 2014, and his first Roy Grace novel Dead Simple has now been adapted for stage, and will tour the UK in 2015.
In 1994, in addition to conventional print publishing, James’s novel Host was published on two floppy discs and is now in the Science Museum as the world’s first electronic novel. Famed for his in-depth research, in 2009 James was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Brighton in recognition of his services to literature and the community, and in 2013 he was awarded an Outstanding Public Service Award by Sussex Police with whom he rides along regularly. He has also been out many times with the NYPD and the LAPD in the US and with many other police forces around the world, as well as doing extensive research with offenders in prisons and psychiatric institutions. He has served as two-times Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and is a board member of the US International Thriller Writers.He has won numerous literary awards, including the publicly voted ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards People’s Bestseller Dagger in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Wellcome Trust Book Prize for Perfect People in 2012. James’s novels have been translated into thirty-six languages and three have been turned into films.
All of his novels reflect a deep interest in the world of the police, with whom he does in–depth research and has unprecedented access, as well as science, medicine and the paranormal. A speed junkie, who in his teens was selected to train for the British Olympic Ski Team, he holds an international motor racing license and switches off from work by racing his classic 1965 BMW. James divides his time between his homes in Notting Hill in London and near Brighton in Sussex.
1. Tell us about YOU ARE DEAD—the eleventh novel in the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series. Does it pick up exactly where WANT YOU DEAD left off?
Sure! You Are Dead is my 11th Roy Grace novel. A young Brighton woman arriving home from work phones her boyfriend, to tell him she has just driven into their underground car park and can see a man acting strangely. Her boyfriend tells her to drive straight back out but before he finishes speaking she screams and the phone goes dead. He calls the police and rushes home himself – and she has vanished.
That same afternoon, workmen digging up a park in another part of the city, unearth the remains of a woman in her early twenties, who has been dead for thirty years. At first, to Roy Grace and his team, these two events seem totally unconnected. But then another young woman in Brighton goes missing – and yet another body from the past surfaces. Detective Superintendent Roy Grace has the chilling realization that there is a connection between the past and the present. Does Brighton have its first serial killer in over eighty years? A monster who has resurfaced after lying low for three decades?
Sure! You Are Dead is my 11th Roy Grace novel. A young Brighton woman arriving home from work phones her boyfriend, to tell him she has just driven into their underground car park and can see a man acting strangely. Her boyfriend tells her to drive straight back out but before he finishes speaking she screams and the phone goes dead. He calls the police and rushes home himself – and she has vanished.
That same afternoon, workmen digging up a park in another part of the city, unearth the remains of a woman in her early twenties, who has been dead for thirty years. At first, to Roy Grace and his team, these two events seem totally unconnected. But then another young woman in Brighton goes missing – and yet another body from the past surfaces. Detective Superintendent Roy Grace has the chilling realization that there is a connection between the past and the present. Does Brighton have its first serial killer in over eighty years? A monster who has resurfaced after lying low for three decades?
2. What is the best piece of writerly advice you’ve ever received?
To read and re-read the successful books that you’ve loved, in the genre in which you want to write.
3. Do you do anything creative in your spare time when you’re not writing?
Most recently I have hugely enjoyed getting involved in theatre. It has always been a dream of mine to see something I have written appear on the stage. For me, it’s a magical experience. I’ve had 3 of my books adapted for television and I’ve never been happy with those adaptations. But the stage adaptations of THE PERFECT MURDER and DEAD SIMPLE were just brilliant, I love watching the audience, as much as I love watching the play. Every time is different. DEAD SIMPLE the play is particularly special for me, because it’s the book that launched Roy Grace. It seemed quite complicated having somebody on stage in a coffin for half the play but the set designer has done a really great job on it.
The Perfect Murder is back on stage for it’s third nationwide tour in 2016!
4. Of all the books you’ve written, which one is your favorite?
The Roy Grace series – and I am just working on the edit of the 12th, called ‘Love You Dead’. Also I am very proud of my standalone novel Perfect People, which took me 12 years to research and write.
What is the one question you’ve always wanted to be asked?
How does it feel to be simultaneously number one on the New York Times & the UK Sunday Times Bestseller lists? When that day happens I will be a very happy man!
5. If you could choose any other profession, what would you choose and why?
I’d be a professional racing driver! When I was a kid I dreamed of being a racing driver, and I read everything I could find on the subject and every magazine about motor racing and motor rallying. I particularly loved the idea of the Monte Carlo Rally, and dreamed of driving in that one day. But I did not have the money, and my parents were dead against my doing any racing. But the dream continued. Then I read that the actor, Paul Newman, took up motor racing, when he was 50. I had just turned 50 so I thought, hell, it is now or never. So I began taking up the sport – and now I am totally addicted!
6. For fans just starting out in the series, would you suggest they start at the beginning or can they pick up with “You Are Dead”?
Every Roy Grace novel is a standalone, and they can be read in any order, although going through from the beginning of the series readers will get more out of the running threads.
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This novel sounds fascinating and enthralling. The locale, the mystery and the talented and brilliant author makes this novel a winner. I enjoyed learning about this creative writer. Thanks for this great giveaway and feature. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
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