Find Them Dead

Excellent book.though I had more ordered it in july .arrived well past the expected date..

This is the 16th Roy Grace story from writer Peter James.The books have been released annually every year since 2005 and I was looking forward to the latest book which was originally due for release in May 2020. However, the Coronavirus epidemic meant we all had to wait a bit longer for Find Them Dead, which was delayed until July.Find Them Dead is in the normal Peter James style - short sharp chapters that bounce from one setting to another. The story this time around focuses on a high profile Crown Court trial involving a major player in the Brighton drug world. I have to say I do enjoy court room dramas on TV but it is often difficult to maintain the suspense of a court room setting in a book.The biggest let down - I found the ending to Find Them Dead one of the most disappointing conclusions I have ever read. The central guest character of Meg is threatened and intimidated throughout the story to ensure as a jury member she pursuades the rest of her peers deliver a 'Not Guilty' verdict on the defendant who is a crooked lawyer able to buy his way out of everything. Her daughter Laura & friend Cassie are being 'watched' in South America where they are travelling, Meg's home is bugged and there is also a second member of the jury who is being leaned on too.The ending is dire -Meg doesn't suffer any repercussions for her actions at the end.The man supposedly following her daughter turns from villain to saviour - this is not properly explained.We do not actually find out how the bad guys keep tabs on Meg (i.e. how they are constantly watching her & getting in her home).Who is the second 'knobbled' jury member?What happens to the other members of the surveillance team working for Gready & Fox?Who gives Meg the note at the end & why?The character of Roy Grace is actually absent for much of the story & his character strangely has no involvement in the central story and no influence on the actual conclusion.I also found the sub plots with Cleo/Bruno & Casian Pewe a bit boring this time around, although I was thankful PJ kept these chapters limited in the story.Upon reading Find them Dead, it's as if Peter James had a good story to begin with but did not know how to tie up the loose ends and bring it to a satisfying conclusion. Very disappointing and sadly I am only giving the book two stars on this occasion.I do hope we see an improvement to Roy Grace 17 due in 2021 as Find Them Dead has been the weakest link in the series so far.

This book is an insult to all of us readers who have invested time and money in an author and characters.God it was boring! Its only saving grace is that DS Glenn Branson didn't say 'Yo, old timer', which was old before hecwas a character.Bruno should have been killed off with Sandy and my god did her death take a while...

There was far too much time spent on explaining court procedure, and how juries work. I skimmed pages and pages of this. And as others have commented, this was barely about Grace. I'm nearly at the end, thank goodness!

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of this series - until this one. Like other reviewers, I think it barely qualifies as a Roy Grace novel; to say he is incidental to the story is almost an understatement. Perhaps the author is well aware that the Roy Grace name somewhere in the publicity will garner many, many readers? A stand-alone novel, even by this author, perhaps less so?The plot is reasonable but not up to so many of the Grace series. There is some suspense, although I think the ending was a little weak. I missed the character development that is usually present; the small parts that there were seemed, again, written with a nod to it being Roy Grace. Somewhat disjointed and consequently, a disappointment. I usually look forward to each new release and have not been disappointed until this one. Based on the past, I shall probably pre-order for the next, but I do hope this is not a sign that the series is running out of steam? It does happen, unfortunately. Better to be kind and stop rather than fade out with weaker plots.

In common with other reviewers I have been reading the Roy Grace series from the start, and I've always looked forward to new ones and I've always enjoyed them.But this one is, by James' standards, really poor. When I finished this book as a reader, it felt like it had only been half-finished by its writer.Indeed, there was even some proof-reading that hadn't been done properly. (Example: First page in Chapter 60 refers to the 'anniversary' of an event, which confused me because I thought the narrative had jumped forwards a year. But further reading revealed that it had only moved forwards a week, and the word 'anniversary' was completely nonsensical.) But there were other gaffes as well.Please do better Peter; you know that you can!