Want You Dead by Peter James - Reviewed by The Bookman on Radio NZ National 20 August 2014

This is the 10th title in the Brighton-set crime series featuring Detective Superintendent Roy Grace who this time is racing against time to protect a young woman from her obsessive former lover who has vowed to destroy her and everyone who is important to her.

This one also has a sub-lot featuring major developments in Roy Grace’s private life involving parenthood and marriage which provides a pleasant contrast to all the murderous aspects of the novel !.

Author Peter James has written another gripping and authentic police procedural for which he is acclaimed which I know his many fans will greatly enjoy as I did.  

His books have sold over 14 million copies worldwide and been translated into 35 languages. Astonishing figures by an standard.

2014 marks 10 years of the Roy Grace novels, so 10 novels featuring him, along with several stand-alone novels, all in 10 years,  makes James a prolific writer. This book runs to some 400+ pages and the story is set over 20 days. I note too that all his Roy Grace novels have DEAD in the title, from the first one, Dead Simple, to last year’s Dead Man’s Time and now Want you Dead.

One of James’ hallmarks is his detailed and impeccable research on everything he writes about. Interesting that when I looked in his acknowledgements at the back of the book I see that some of the characters in the book are in the acknowledgments i.e. they appear in the book with their real names e.g. Alan Setterington, former deputy Governor of Lewes Prison, Matt Wainwright of the Worthington Fire Station and a number of senior police officers, pathologists and other medical professionals. All folk I guess who helped him with his research.

Back in 2012 I had the great pleasure of talking to Peter James about his writing life at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival and I remember him saying then that he spends a lot of time with the Sussex Police. And I note too that he says in his acknowledgments that the idea for this novel came from the Divisional Commander of Brighton & Hove Police.

·         Interesting too that he was awarded the 2012 Sussex Police, Outstanding Public Service Award. He has also of course won loads of awards for his writing including crime novel of the year on a number of occasions. In 2009 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters at the University of Brighton.

·         He has served two consecutive terms as chairman of the UK Crime Writers Association, and is Overseas Vice-President of International Thriller Writers in the USA.

All round a most interesting fellow and a great crime fiction writer.  I agree with Lee Child who called him one of England’s outstanding crime fiction writers, in fact I would go further and say he is one of the most outstanding in this field throughout the English speaking world