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.

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”. James was educated at Charterhouse and went on to Ravensbourne Film School. For a brief period of time whilst at film school, James worked as Orson Welles's house cleaner. Subsequently, he spent several years in North America, working as a screenwriter and film producer, beginning in Canada in 1970 working first as a gofer, then writer, on the children's television series Polka Dot Door. [1] Personal life [ edit ] This is a case that will frustrate and baffle Grace and his team. There is no body but there is absolutely a crime. Niall Paternoster files a missing persons report on his wife Eden. He claims that he last saw her when he dropped her at Tesco's on Sunday afternoon. Since then there has been no trace of her, no calls, no transactions on her cards, nothing. Is it murder? Or has she done a runner? You will have to read it to find out.

What made this book special and entertaining is not just the mystery, but the relationship dynamics between the characters. I loved the witty banter between the investigators. There’s also a tragedy in the life of one of the investigators that brings an added heartbreaking dimension. I like my detectives complicated and enjoy hearing some of their stories apart from the investigation. Although a bit long, the short chapters and a riveting plot kept the story moving along at a brisk pace. His father ran the business as well as an accountant. His sister Genevieve now runs the company along with her husband. He attended Charterhouse School and later attended Ravensbourne Film School. James spent a few years working in North America as a film producer and screenwriter. He got his start in 1970 on the Canadian children’s television show Polka Dot Door as an errand boy and later writer. He cofounded Movision Pictures in the nineties. 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. In 2005 The Merchant of Venice, directed by Michael Radford and for which James was executive producer, had a royal premiere in the presence of Prince Charles and received a BAFTA Award nomination. In 2006 the film also won the Silver Ribbon for Best Production Design ( Migliore Scenografia) from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.

Dagger in the Library UK Crime Writers' Association award for an author's body of work in British libraries (UK) [10] shortlisted If you are after a compelling police procedural with a likeable main character you can't go past Left You Dead. Peter said he was delighted with the way the city looked in the first show, which amassed 8.8 million viewers when it aired earlier this year.

I spent the start of Left You Dead faintly distracted by the names Niall and Eden Paternoster. This may be because of being traumatised for life by an incident getting out of a paternoster (one of those moving series of compartments now outlawed on health and safety grounds) at the University of Leicester … Peter J. James (born 22 August 1948) is a British writer of crime. He was born in Brighton, the son of Cornelia James, the former glovemaker to Queen Elizabeth II.

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 . Following its world premiere this summer, a stage play of Looking Good Dead, starring Adam Woodyatt in the lead role, is set for a run at Brighton's Theatre Royal in October. Shortlist for Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year Award 2009". digyorkshire.com. 2 June 2009 . Retrieved 17 June 2009. From the outset the reader knows that Niall couldn't have possibly have done it but the amount of evidence against him soon piles up - not helped that there was already cat litter in the family home along with a plethora of true crime DVDs and books. I thoroughly enjoyed Left You Dead, which is another engrossing read, full of twists and turns. I did guess the direction of the novel early on, but nothing prepared me for the detail, so I felt that I was hit hard by surprise after surprise and each new revelation caused me doubt my hypothesis and speculate even harder about events. It’s probably not very likely but, boy, is it entertaining and absorbing.

What is the latest book in Peter James's Roy Grace series?

Peter's contribution, Wish You Were Dead, centres around Roy Grace's family on a "holiday from hell". He is married to Lara James (m. 2015). [2] His first, 19-year marriage was to Georgina Wilkin, from 1979 until 1998. [3] Running alongside this storyline, Roy has a lot going on in his work and personal life. Unusually for these books, I went through a range of emotions as the story focussed on these other stories and found myself moved to tears at times. I loved Roy and Cleo’s moments together, and Roy’s friendship with Branson is exactly how best friends should be! All the familiar characters which we’ve come to either love or hate return as well! Cassian Pewe continues to rub Grace up the wrong way, and I shall be interested to see where the storyline goes for my favourite character, Norman Potting. I call it the everyday sinister - I'm more interested in the idea of something happening to any one individual, like you or me." 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.

Eden Paternoster goes missing without a trace. When her husband reports her disappearance to the police, Roy Grace is called in to head the investigation. What follows is an, as expected, police procedural as the team question Niall Paternoster and gather information from various sources. However, Peter James has introduced dramatic irony and the reader is savvy to information that the police don't have. This gives quite an interesting twist to the story and makes the mystery even more compelling. Host was adapted into a made for tv movie by the US Network in 1998. Dr. Joe Messenger, played by Peter Gallagher, gives into the seduction of a terminally ill woman. He later finds that she has uploaded herself into a computer. Now she threatens to destroy his family from beyond the grave. ITV made Prophecy into a feature in 1995. A Ouija Board, an archaeologist, and a widower with his son are all connected. Gone without a trace, Niall is arrested on suspicion of her murder. When DS Roy Grace is called in to investigate, it doesn’t take long to realize that nothing in this case is quite as it seems....Millard, Rachel (22 September 2015). "Crime writer's wedding bash goes off with a big bang". The Argus . Retrieved 20 May 2021. Le Grand Prix de littérature policère, shortlisted, La Mort Leur Va Si Bien (French translation of Looking Good Dead)