A murdered woman in the bath of a flat that is not her main home and she rents paying cash. Was she killed just slipping in the bath, was she electrocuted by the hair dryer in the bath? This is the mystery that awaits Roy Grace and what he will investigate.

You know what you will get with James as he takes you along. It will be well written there will be side issues in the book for Grace with his family life etc. and his superiors. These all add to the book and the character and he weaves a mystery that keeps you guessing as you go. The subplot that snagged me like a fish on a hook is the one involving the sullen, blatantly disobedient Bruno. There is an aura of doom about him. I think Roy has invited an evil, devilish child into his home. I feel that Roy’s wife, Cleo, and their baby son, Noah, are in danger. Why did Bruno keep insisting that his friend Erik’s female schnauzer, Adini, would never be found? Did Bruno kill it because it bit him on the hand? While reading Need You Dead, look for other clues to Bruno’s true nature. MY THOUGHTS: I love this series, and I enjoyed Need You Dead. What should have been a straightforward murder investigation turns into a twisty cat and mouse hunt, with surprising results. Peter James also highlights in Need You Dead the problems families have when one of them are members of Law enforcement. The readers of Need You Dead well learn about the issues parent and child have when it is the first time they meet each other. There is the very human story of Roy Grace being united for the first time with his son, while at the same time there is the horrific discovery of a woman’s body. There is the aftermath of the suicide of Grace’s first wife and all the complications of expatriating the body from Germany to the UK and the funeral arrangements to be organised.

About Peter James

DISCLOSURE: I own my copy of Need You Dead by Peter James, published by MacMillan, thanks to my husband who gave me this copy for Christmas. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Born and brought up in Brighton, Peter divides his time between his homes in Notting Hill, London and on the South Downs near Lewes in Sussex. An established film producer and script writer, he has produced numerous 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 Peter overseeing all aspects, including the scriptwriting. In 2009 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Brighton in recognition of his services to literature and the community.Roy Grace, creation of the CWA Diamond Dagger award winning author Peter James, faces his most mysterious case yet in Need You Dead. Meanwhile, Roy is preoccupied with burying his dead ex-wife, Sandy, who has been missing for many years and becoming a father to their ten-year-old son, Bruno. Bruno is a strange child. Something is terribly wrong with him. Furthermore, Roy’s nemesis, Assistant Chief Constable Cassian Pewe, is somehow connected to Bruno. James strikes a good balance between the professional and personal sides of Roy Grace's life, each enhancing the other. In Need You Dead, Grace meets his ten year old son for the first time. Bruno's addition to the Grace family unit is sure to inspire some great storylines in future books. In the penultimate chapter, there is an incident which may be nothing, or it may presage something very sinister indeed. I can't wait to read the next book in the series to find out. Peter’s novella, ‘ The Perfect Murder’ (2010) went straight in at No 1 in the iBooks chart and spent 40 consecutive weeks in the iBooks Top 10. It was adapted into a play called The Perfect Murder which did its first, smash hit tour starring Les Dennis in 2014 and is touring again with Shane Ritchie and Jessie Wallace in Spring 2016. The original run was followed by the play of Dead Simple in 2015, starring Tina Hobley and Jamie Lomas which was an equally big success during its 6-month nationwide run. Not Dead Enough, the third of Peter’s books to be translated to stage, is currently touring the UK to critical acclaim, starring Shane Ritchie as Roy Grace and Laura Whitmore as Cleo Morey.

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival. ABOUT THIS BOOK: Lorna Belling, desperate to escape the marriage from hell, falls for the charms of another man who promises her the earth. But, as Lorna finds, life seldom follows the plans you’ve made. A chance photograph on a client’s mobile phone changes everything for her.

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Lorna Belling was a work-from-home hairdresser, with a passionate hobby for dog breeding. She had aspirations and desires for a better life. But Lorna was also a victim of domestic violence. Her husband, Corin, was a very brutal individual with a vicious temper that Lorna invariably felt the impact of. Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. James just gets better and better and deserves the success he has achieved with this first-class series