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Need You Dead (13) (Roy Grace) Hardcover – June 6, 2017
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When the body of a woman is found in a bath in Brighton, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to the scene. At first it looks an open and shut case with a clear prime suspect. Then other scenarios begin to present themselves, each of them tantalizingly plausible, until, in a sudden turn of events, and to his utter disbelief, the case turns more sinister than Grace could ever have imagined.
- Print length400 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMacmillan UK
- Publication dateJune 6, 2017
- Dimensions6.02 x 1.5 x 9.21 inches
- ISBN-101509816313
- ISBN-13978-1509816316
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From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews
Review
“This skillful twister shows why James was awarded the 2016 CWA Diamond Dagger.” —Publishers Weekly Online
“[A] riveting page-turner." —San Francisco Book Review Online
"totally satisfying."—Library Journal Online Xpress Review
“This is police procedural writing of the highest order.” —Providence Journal
“James’s writing is superb.” —Gumshoe Review
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Macmillan UK
- Publication date : June 6, 2017
- Edition : Main Market Ed.
- Language : English
- Print length : 400 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1509816313
- ISBN-13 : 978-1509816316
- Item Weight : 1.5 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.02 x 1.5 x 9.21 inches
- Book 13 of 21 : Roy Grace
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,703,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,814 in Police Procedurals (Books)
- #25,121 in Murder Thrillers
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Peter James is a UK No.1 bestselling author, best known for his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, now a hit ITV drama starring John Simm as the troubled Brighton copper.
Much loved by crime and thriller fans for his fast-paced page-turners full of unexpected plot twists, sinister characters, and accurate portrayal of modern day policing, he has won over 40 awards for his work including the WHSmith Best Crime Author of All Time Award and Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger.
To date, Peter has written an impressive total of 19 Sunday Times No. 1s, sold over 21 million copies worldwide and been translated into 38 languages. His books are also often adapted for the stage – the most recent being Looking Good Dead.
Visit Peter James www.peterjames.com
Follow Peter on Instagram > @peterjamesuk
Follow Peter on Twitter > @peterjamesuk
Follow Peter on Facebook > www.facebook.com/peterjames.roygrace
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book to be a compelling read with an interesting plot and lots of twists and turns that keep them engaged until the end. The writing receives positive feedback, with one customer noting the author's expertise in crime fiction. The character development receives mixed reactions, with some customers appreciating the well-developed characters while others find there are too many suspects.
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Customers find the book to be a compelling and excellent read, with one customer noting that it improves with each new installment in the series.
"...This is representative of the series and is a good read...." Read more
"A great read but perhaps not as good as the other novels in the series" Read more
"Another excellent book had to keep reading as so many things going on I needed to know what happens. As always a fabulous read." Read more
"Great read. Never a disappointment. Can't wait for the next book. Love the Roy Grace character and that it's set in Ebgland" Read more
Customers enjoy the book's engaging plot with lots of twists and turns that keep them intrigued until the end.
"As with all his books - well written, great story but a little too many words" Read more
"...This is a compelling novel, but there are too many suspects and too much taken for granted. DS Roy Grace is not up to his usual standards...." Read more
"...Good story line with lots of twists. It sets up new story lines for the next book. I can hardly wait." Read more
"Very disappointing. So much reposition and padding that it got boring. All over the place so did not bother to finish it...." Read more
Customers praise the author's crime writing style.
"...familiar with values and language I'm understand and is generally well written...." Read more
"Simply, Peter James is an excellent writer of crime fiction; the Roy Grace series never disappoints and are therefore a good read for any lover of..." Read more
"Peter James,as always,best crime writer ever. Great plot,keeps you guessing until the end." Read more
"Well written and intriguing till the end" Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the character development in the book, with some finding them well developed while others note there are too many suspects.
"...The characters are well developed and real. The plot is an interesting one...." Read more
"...Too many suspects and too soon the supervising officer thinks he has the right man. Think again, and try to assemble the convoluted twists and turns...." Read more
"...The Great Britain setting and the array of characters made for a compelling read. I will definitely be reading more of these." Read more
"...Very exciting story-telling and great character development." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2017Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseI've read all of the Roy Grace series and have enjoyed every one. This is representative of the series and is a good read. Also, representative of the series, you should have read previous ones to fully enjoy (and not suffer spoilers of previous books needed to explain the current one). ANd also typically, it ends on something of a cliff hanger. THe central crime is solved, never fear, but a little taste of the next book and a continuing issue for that one is thrown in.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2017Detective Superintendent Ray Grace has had a pretty complicated and often miserable personal life. His wife, Sandy, left inexplicably over ten years ago, and has recently died. Grace finds he has a ten year old son, Bruno. Now, this is a peccadillo. Sandy was psychologically a mess, it seems, and Bruno her son is showing the same attributes. Does this man have no respite? He is happily remarried to Choke with a new baby son, Noah. Sandy was a burr in the last 12 books, and quite frankly I was sick of her popping up at the end of the book. Now, we have another mess.
Grace's professional life is moving along. He is now Detective Superintendent with a bothersome and often wrong boss, ACC Pewe. A murder of a young woman, Lorna Belling in Brighton, has many complications. Too many suspects and too soon the supervising officer thinks he has the right man. Think again, and try to assemble the convoluted twists and turns. This is a compelling novel, but there are too many suspects and too much taken for granted. DS Roy Grace is not up to his usual standards. I am very wary of his son, Bruno, and hope he gets help ASAP, before his story becomes much too much.
Recommended. prisrob 07-03-17
- Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2017Loved this lastest book of the series. My favorite to date. The only problem was that I enjoyed it so much I couldn't put it down and finished it too quickly. Good story line with lots of twists. It sets up new story lines for the next book. I can hardly wait.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2017As much as I loved this book I am sad it’s over for now. I can only hope there will be more in the fantastic Will Grace series. Peter James is an amazing author. I will be enthusiastically looking into his other writings. Job well done. 5 stars!
- Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2017By my count, this is the 13th Roy Grace novel by Mr. James. They are always tension filled and well plotted, but sometimes, as in this case, there are a tad too many red herrings. Roy is a fair and good cop with a sense of humor and sense of loyalty to his team. He's likable. He, and the reader, suffered through his first wife's disappearance, his remarriage to Cleo, and now, his reunion with a son he did not know he had. This mystery, however, the death of Lorna Belling, had too many possible villains. Her husband was abusive, the man to whom she sold a car was abusive, her secret lover (maybe) was a killer, just too much. The violence is more graphic than usual with severed body parts, horrific traffic accidents, so if you're squeamish, you may want to skip some scenes. Troubling to me is that Bruno, Roy's "new" son, is hinted at being the new unknown thread, like the Sandy thread through all those novels. Sandy, in her dying declaration, sends a veiled warning about Bruno, but what does it mean? I'm guessing that we'll have a 10-year-old psychopath as a continuing character; the ending, to me, suggests just that.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2017Format: HardcoverVerified PurchaseI have read all the Roy Grace novels and for the most part have enjoyed them. I grew tired of the Sandy storyline and was glad when she was finally killed off. Now we have the psycho son which I guess will go on as long as the Sandy story did. I do NOT want to read about the son trying to do harm to the baby or dog or whatever so I won't be buying anymore of the Roy Grace books until I know that the son is out of the picture. Also, why is it that in most mystery novels I read that the serial killer (in this book Tooth) is supposed to be dead, in a coma, or in jail that they suddenly appear again? I hate this and don't want to read any more books in which this happens.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2017One of the best books in the Roy Grace serie...LOVED IT!!! I can't wait for the next one. Hopefully it will be published this year cause it will be difficult, even painfull to wait...Pls pls plsssss Peter James, don't let us wait too long.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2017Peter James delivers yet another strong entry in the Roy Grace series. (It's so current that it mentions Theresa May as PM.) In Need You Dead, Grace is investigating the death of a beautiful young hair stylist. Three strong, prime suspects immediately emerge: her abusive husband, her ex-lover, and a bad-tempered character who wanted to buy a car she was selling. But there's also an unknown, a current boyfriend who was lying to her about everything, including his name. The search for this character hits very close to home for Grace.
There's also a secondary story, as is usual, about Grace's home life. We have a new character in the series, Grace's son from a previous marriage. Bruno is now living with the Graces following the death of his mother. There's obviously a lot more to come with this addition. Stay tuned for the next entry!
Top reviews from other countries
- SnapdragonReviewed in Australia on December 7, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific
Despite his fame, this is the first Peter James novel I’ve read, and it won’t be the last. His knowledge of policing is second to none, and of course, in this day and age, policing is very technical indeed. The long list of police personnel listed in the acknowledgments testifies to his research. All of this wouldn’t matter much if the plotting and characterisations were bad, but they’re not... they’re also excellent. The only slight gripe would be that the person whodunnit in this case isn’t at all sign-posted with clues we fail to spot until very near the end. The story is about a lovely young woman with an abusive husband and a secret lover on the side. She dies and there are three decent suspects, or possibly, it was suicide. Then it looks as though one of the investigating team is guilty, but DI Grace can’t quite square him with the villain. There’s a gripping chase scene and interesting sub-plots. Grace discovers that his ex-wife had their son ten years ago. She is now dead, and Grace goes to Munich to pick the boy up. Of course the boy is traumatised but there are a few hints that there might be something more unsettling going on. We’ll have to wait and see... Great stuff, and BTW, don’t marry a copper. They get called into work just when you’ve planned a holiday or a wedding anniversary or similar.
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in Canada on October 3, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars A great story teller and always has a twist.
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseI love this series and I love the plots. There storyline is complex and lots of characters to keep track of. I keep track of all the names by making my own legend. I wish Mr James would include a reference in his books. But love Roy Grace character and am reading them in order ! Get hooked. It’s easy.
- Susan HampsonReviewed in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars My first Peter James book and I am now an instant fan!
Now I will be total honest and say that this is my first Peter James Book and although it reads perfectly well as a stand alone, this is a series that I want to go back to the beginning and read them all. It is absolutely awesome! Peter James is rightly an international best seller. This is a story about a victim, not a body count, a pure quality realistic police investigation into a death of a woman to find out if it was suicide, accident or staged but it goes far deeper.
The story real consists of the police procedural investigation into the suspicious death of a local woman Lorna Belling, who is known to the police because of domestic violence incidents between her and her husband. Lorna’s body has been discovered in a secret hide away flat in a run down area but the scene just doesn’t add up. As the case progresses a number of possible suspects begin to emerge from her life.
I just loved the investigation that followed Lorna’s death, what a cracking story this is, so many times I thought I had it all sussed and have since come to the conclusion that I would make a dreadful detective. There was a real sense of the tremendous impact that something like this has on everyone involved and how at times a trail can lead to a suspect and a subsequent crime not related to the original investigation.
I loved Detective Superintendent Roy Grace from his first appearance in the story. A pretty cool character that has seen his fair share of the worst of people in his career and at times personal life. I don’t really want to say too much about what is going on in his personal life because of course being a series it could take the edge of impact from readers. He is a man I admired immediately. A dedicated man to his career but also one that has learnt lessons the hard way in the past about getting that balance between work and home. What a super wife he has in Cleo. Roy Grace at work comes across as a man who cares deeply for his team and yet also has a tone when he means business with them.
There is one particular harrowing scene in the book which is brilliantly written. There was no need for graphic descriptions of the horrific event, all it took was a telephone conversation and my own imagination. Total perfection.
This story begins as a snowball and by the time it ends it makes one hell of an avalanche. Some of the scene is already set for book 14 with Roy Grace’s home life, I feel very uneasy. I think it could even top this one!
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CalimeraReviewed in Germany on November 7, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Spannend
Also ich persönlich kann mich der ersten Rezension überhaupt nicht anschließen. Ich habe die gesamte Roy Grace Reihe gelesen und finde, dass dieses Buch zu den spannendsten (aus dieser Reihe) gehört. Der Fall ist nicht so trocken wie manch anderer aus der Serie. Von "Luft raus" kann hier überhaupt nicht die Rede sein - zumal die Reihe mit diesem Buch noch lange nicht zu Ende ist. ☺️
- Venkataraman SReviewed in India on July 21, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Peter Adam's an author worth waiting for.
Fast moving and interest-sustaining phase, and clear about Ploce internal procedures too.