Peter James is the popular British author of the Roy Grace crime mystery series. While his first novels were standalone works, he really came into his own when Roy Grace was born in 2005 in Dead Simple.
This was also the year when I first learned about this author. I have been reading the Peter James Roy Grace books ever since.
Here are the Peter James books in order not only for his popular British crime mystery series but also for his several standalone novels which the author continues to write even today.
New Peter James Books
They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy’s Story (Roy Grace companion novel), 2024
One of Us Is Dead (Roy Grace #20), 2024
Roy Grace Books in Publication Order
- Dead Simple, 2005
- Looking Good Dead, 2006
- Not Dead Enough, 2007
- Dead Man’s Footsteps, 2008
- Dead Tomorrow, 2009
- Dead Like You, 2010
- Dead Man’s Grip, 2011
- Not Dead Yet, 2012
- Dead Man’s Time, 2013
- Want You Dead, 2014
- You Are Dead, 2015
- Love You Dead, 2016
- Need You Dead, 2017
- Dead If You Don’t, 2018
- Dead At First Sight, 2019
- Find Them Dead, 2020
- Left You Dead, 2021
- Picture You Dead, 2022
- Stop Them Dead, 2023
- They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy’s Story, 2024
- One of Us Is Dead, 2024
Roy Grace Short Stories
- In the Nick of Time, 2014 (withIan Rankinin theFaceOffseries)
- Footloose, 2018 (withVal McDermid, in the MatchUp Collection series)
- Wish You Were Dead, 2021
Cold HillBooks in Publication Order
- The House on Cold Hill, 2015
- The Secret of Cold Hill, 2019
Max FlynnBooks in Publication Order
- Dead Letter Drop, 1981
- Atom Bomb Angel, 1982
Standalone Novels in Publication Order
- Billionaire, 1983
- Possession, 1988
- Dreamer, 1989
- Sweet Heart, 1990
- Twilight, 1991
- Prophecy, 1992
- Host, 1993
- Alchemist, 1996
- The Truth, 1997
- Denial, 1998
- Faith, 2000
- Perfect People, 2011
- Absolute Proof, 2018
- I Follow You, 2020
Novellas and Short Stories
- Christmas is for Kids, 2011
- In the Nick of Time, 2014
- Footloose, 2018
- Wish You Were Dead, 2021
Short Story Collections and Anthologies
- Dark Voices 4: The Pan Book of Horror, 1992
- Narrow Houses, 1992
- Cyber-Killers, 1997
- Dancing with the Dark: True Encounters with the Paranormal by Masters of the Macabre, 1997
- Criminal Tendencies: Great Stories from Great Crime Writers, 2009
- The Sounds of Crime, 2010
- The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 7, 2010
- Guilty Consciences, 2011 (author foreword)
- The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 9, 2012
- Suspense Magazine October 2012
- Venice Noir, 2012
- The Killer Cookbook, 2012
- Deadly Pleasures, 2013 (Crime Writer’s Association Anthology)
- OxCrimes: 27 Killer Stories from the Cream of crime writers, 2014
- FaceOff, 2014
- A Twist of the Knife, 2014
- Terror Tales of the Ocean, 2015
- MatchUp, 2017 (edited by Lee Child)
- Ten Year Stretch: Celebrating a Decade of Crime Fiction at CrimeFest, 2018
- Afraid of the Shadows, 2021 (in the Afraid of the Light series)
Non-Fiction Books
with Graham Bartlett
- Death Comes Knocking: Policing Roy Grace’s Brighton, 2016
- The Babes in the Woods Murders: The Shocking True Story Of How Child Murderer Russell Bishop Was Finally Brought To Justice, 2020
Who is Roy Grace?
Roy Grace, Peter James’ main character is a Detective Superintendent of the CID, in Sussex, England. The character is based on Dave Gaylor, the officer who investigated the author’s burglary back in the 1980s. While Roy Grace is an outstanding detective who is solving other people’s crimes, he is also dealing with his own very sad story based on his wife’s disappearance.
That’s why reading the Peter James books in order, at least for the Roy Grace series, is important, as the topic of the disappeared wife comes up in every book. And readers can’t but want a resolution to unsolved things, and what best way to get there than read all the books for a possible solution?
The detective is quite a down-to-earth guy who finds humor in situations despite his own tragic home affair. He can’t stop hoping that his wife will turn up at some point and that there is a logical explanation to her disappearance. Until then, however, he is a man haunted by his missing wife’s shadow.
Peter James Biography
The author Peter James was born in 1948 in Brighton, UK. As an interesting trivia, his mother, Cornelia James, was the glovemaker to Queen Elizabeth II. In fact, her company is still the official glovemaker of the Queen, which now is run by his sister, Genevieve and her husband, who supply the court with gloves even today.
During his childhood, he spent most of his summers in France as his parents had a flat near St. Tropez. From the age of 7, he started writing stories. At the age of 14, when he read Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, he realized that his ambition in life would be to write books.
He attended the Charterhouse School, a prestigious boarding school inGodalming,Surrey, after which he enrolled at theRavensbourne Film School in London.
After graduation, Peter James moved to the US, where he worked as a screenwriter and film producer. Before that, he went to Canada to work several jobs, including being a gofer and later on a writer on Polka Dot Door, a Canadian children’s TV series.
Peter James started writing standalone novels from the time he was still working fulltime in TV and films, with Dead Letter Drop being his debut novel. He followed this book with several additional standalones, until 2005 when he wrote Dead Simple, a novel that would become the first in his bestselling series featuring Roy Grace, aBrighton-based Detective Superintendent.
Dead Simple started as a short original story written many years ago. Eventually, the author decided to turn it into a full-fledged thriller since its topic was so strong and could be fleshed out into something much better. Later, when the publisher asked the author to write a crime series, Roy Grace was truly born and flourished in the next 14 novels (and counting).
The story goes that Roy Grace was born once the author’s home was burglarized. Without this sorry incidence, Peter James might have still remained a spy story writer, similar to the first two books he wrote in the Max Flynn series. However, soon the author became friends with some of the detectives on his case, and he got a newfound appreciation for the hard work they do in catching criminals.
Over the years, the author Peter James wrote spy thrillers, supernatural thrillers, psychological thrillers, even a black comedy (The Perfect Murder), and crime thrillers like his Roy Grace novels.
So far, these books have sold over 19 million copies all over the world and were translated into almost 40 languages.
Overall, the Roy Grace series brought Peter James at least 12 consecutive times to the first position of the UK Sunday Times newspaper.
The Peter James books are said to be the first to be printed electronically as well. His novel Host was published by Penguin Books in 1993 not only on paper but also on two floppy disks. In fact, the Science Museum in London has one of the copies on display.
Of course, this made the author a very controversial figure back when traditional publishing was the norm. Many readers and critiques were against electronic books, claiming that Peter James was about to help destroy the regular novel.
Peter James was a heavy spokesperson for eBooks, and in 1996 he found himself on stage speaking ata conference at UCLA speaking on the topic of the future of reading. Some other spokesmen on that very conference were Steve Jobs and the Time Warner CEO.
Host was also adapted to a TV movie titled Virtual Obsession in 1998. Peter James has worked also on over 25 other movies and films, being either a producer or writer. Some of the actors playing in these movies were Sharon Stone, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Michael Cane, among others.
In the meantime, Peter James got a 7-figure deal for his next three books, with the first one to be published in May 2020. The publisher, Pan Macmillan, is thrilled to get three more books written by this bestselling author, whom associate publisher Wayne Brookes calls “a dream author.”
The Peter James books and the author himself have so far won or were nominated over 40 times, includingKrimi-Blitz, Best Crime Writer of the year in Germany in 2005,Sounds of Crime Award in 2010,ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Winner, People’s Bestseller Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year in 2011,Sussex Police, Outstanding Public Service Award in 2012,CWA Diamond Dagger Award in 2016,Specsavers Honorary Platinum Award for book sales over 5 million in 2018, and many more.
Novel Adaptations
The Peter James books have been adapted into an ITV series titled Grace starring John Simm as Roy Grace. The series has four seasons and it started airing in 2021, with the second season being released in 2022, and the third season in 2023. The 4th season will air in 2024.
Peter James Awards
Over the years, Peter James’s books have received and was nominated for several awards. The author also received national and international awards for his work as a writer in general.
- The author was awarded the German Krimi-Blitz for best crime writer of the year in Germany in 2005
- Dead Simple received the Le Prix Coeur Noir French award in 2007
- The author received the Honorary Doctorate by the University of Brighton for his ongoing contribution to the arts and to the status, infrastructure and culture of Brighton and Hove in 2009
- The Perfect Murder received the Quick Reads Readers’ Favourite Award in 2010
- Dead Like You received the Sounds of Crime Award for best-abridged novel in 2011
- The author received the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards and People’s Bestseller Dagger for Crime Novel Of The Year in 2011
- Dead Man’s Grip received the US Barry Award in Best British crime novel in 2011
- The author received the Outstanding Public Service Award by Sussex Police in 2012
- Want You Dead received the Sainsbury’s eBook of the Year in 2014
- You Are Dead received the Dead Good Readers Dr. Lecter Award for Scariest Villain in 2015
- The author received the CWA Diamond Dagger Award in 2016
- The Roy Grace series received the Dead Good Readers Tess Gerritsen Award for Best Series in 2016
- The author was recognized by WHSmith, as The Best Crime Author of All Time in 2015
- The House on Cold Hill received the Book of the Year award in the Horror Category in Poland in 2017
Praise for Peter James
James has got the gift for turning mind-stretching subjects into novels that are irresistibly readable as well as utterly believable (Robert Goddard)
James is a master plotter… this follow-up to Dead Simple cannot fail to thrill’ Daily Mail ‘Will have you glued to your deckchair (Observer)
An exciting, fast, satisfying read.” Eurocrime “One of the most fiendishly clever crime fiction plotters. (Daily Mail)
James really knows how to plot a procedural thriller, and he enjoys a sly joke. (The New York Times Book Review)
Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business (Karin Slaughter)
Sinister and riveting… Peter James is one of the best British crime writers, and therefore one of the best in the world. (Lee Child)
Exceptional, knock-your-socks-off. (Washington Post)
Compulsive … I cannot remember when I last read a novel I enjoyed so much. (Sunday Telegraph)
One is always tempted to read “one more chapter” – and then another. Until, arriving at, say, page 350, and, desperate to know how it will all end, it’s all too easy to read the final 50 odd pages with ferocious speed. (Huffington Post)
I like your books, especially the last one—the torture was really good. (reader in Marbella)
Every parent’s nightmare becomes Roy Grace’s most challenging case (the RealBookSpy)
References
Books Reading Order » Authors » Peter James Books in Order
