WH Smiths’ Top Crime and Thriller Detectives: Peter James’ ROY GRACE makes Number 7!

We’re pleased to announce that much-loved Detective Superintendent Roy Grace made it to the Top 10 of WH Smith’s Top 20 Detectives as voted for by the public, ahead of the detectives created by Michael Connelly, Mark Billingham, Peter Robinson, Jo Nesbo, Dorothy L Sayers, Henning Mankell, Patricia Cornwall, Lee Child and even the classic Nancy Drew!

 They find that “Roy Grace is intelligent and intuitive and fiercely stubborn when it comes to getting to the bottom of his cases.” We couldn’t agree more!

The 2006 novel DEAD SIMPLE, which launched the Roy Grace series, is not only enjoying the glories of its detective basking in literary successes: Roy Grace is now returning to the stage after the critically acclaimed theatre production of THE PERFECT MURDER. It previewed in January after adaptation by Shaun McKenna and direction by Ian Talbot, and has now begun a nationwide tour.

International bestsellers, the Roy Grace novels are set in Brighton and have enjoyed critical and commercial success for many years and are published in more than 35 languages.

Peter also recently spoke to The Sunday Express about his near-death experience in a 95-mph car crash.

Praise for Peter James:

'Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business.' -- Karin Slaughter

'The rapid-fire suspense builds to a terrifying, graphic conclusion that leaves tantalizing room for future instalments in the series.' -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

'Exceptional, knock-your-socks-off.' -- Washington Post

Two Blake Friedmann Authors nominated for Sainsbury’s Ebook of the Year

For the second year running, Blake Friedmann has seen multiple authors longlisted for the Sainsbury’s Ebook of the Year awards.

Peter James’ 10th Roy Grace novel, WANT YOU DEAD, has been nominated for the prize, as well as two novels by Sheila O’Flanagan, THINGS WE NEVER SAY and IF YOU WERE ME.

The winner will be decided by public poll at eBooks of the Year. Voting closes on December 11 with the winners announced on the 15th.

Peter James’ WANT YOU DEAD out in paperback today!

WANT YOU DEAD, Peter James’ 10th novel featuring detective Roy Grace, is out in paperback today.

The book was published in hardback in June and went straight to number two in the Bestsellers’ Chart, only narrowly missing out on the top spot, and remained in the top ten for seven weeks, breaking all sales records (in both hardback and ebooks)  in comparison to his previous titles.

In WANT YOU DEAD a relationship turns sour when Red discovers everything her lover told her about himself is untrue. Then he turns into a stalker, intent on destroying her.  WANT YOU DEAD features Peter’s most sinister villain yet.

Macmillan have recently reissued all nine previous Roy Grace novels with new covers. His short story collection, A TWIST OF THE KNIFE, is published in November and BILLIONAIRE, one of his first novels, will be republished in December, as part of the Vintage Peter James collection.  The first Vintage Peter James novel, DEAD LETTER DROP, published in January of this year, has sold over 100,000 copies.

For WANT YOU DEAD, Macmillan have also created an interactive choice of ending for the novel – decide how you want the novel to end here.

Praise for WANT YOU DEAD:

‘With over 14 million book sales, there’s no arguing with James’ lethal talent but even by his stellar standards this terrifying, excruciatingly tense tale of twisted obsession is outstanding. This is the 10th book in the DS Roy Grace series and it might just be the best one yet.’ – The Daily Record

‘James rachets up the tension to an almost unbearable level in his 10th Roy Grace thriller, as Bryce’s game of cat-and-mouse works towards a terrifying conclusion.’ – Bella Magazine

Praise for Peter James:

'Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business.' -- Karin Slaughter

'Exceptional, knock-your-socks-off.' -- Washington Post

‘Sinister and riveting…Peter James is one of the best British crime writers, and therefore one of the best in the world.’ -- Lee Child

WANT YOU DEAD shoots straight to No 2 in hardback bestseller chart

WANT YOU DEAD, the 10th novel in Peter James’ Roy Grace series narrowly misses out on the hardback No 1 spot... by only 200 copies.

WANT YOU DEAD, the 10th novel featuring detective Roy Grace, was published in hardback by Macmillan on 2 June, and by the end of the first week on sale, narrowly failed to take the top spot in the bestseller list from Stephen King...by only 200 copies! WANT YOU DEAD has broken all sales records in comparison to his previous titles though and Peter James, in The Argus, said: “I am happy to be number two to Stephen King’.

There was a fantastic party in Hove last week to celebrate 10 years of Grace. It took place in The Engineerium, a recently renovated Victorian museum with very cool interiors and a steam engine on display, a perfect location to host over 500 guests. Managing Director of Macmillan, Anthony Forbes-Watson spoke at length about Macmillan’s wonderful tradition of publishing Peter James, and presented Peter with a very special edition of the first ever Roy Grace novel, DEAD SIMPLE (in the shape of a coffin!).

Peter James spoke about his association with the White Ribbon campaign this year and every copy of WANT YOU DEAD has a white ribbon to raise awareness of this brilliant and worthy cause.   

In the run up to the release, Peter has spoken at the Bristol CrimeFest, as well as the Dark & Stormy Festival in Brighton and Hay Festival in Wales. As for every Roy Grace publication, Peter James has had the national media queuing out of the door to interview, review and feature him for the publication. Brighton Pier even features a 100m Roy Grace banner for a month. We’ve also been negotiating offers for WANT YOU DEAD from his option publishers in the US, Holland, France, Sweden, Hungary and Serbia.

Reviews for DEAD MAN’S TIME:

‘...the plotting is tight and polished and steadily paced with constant red herrings and misdirection to unsettle any reader who gets too comfortable in their assumptions’.  – Sunday Express

‘Peter James is a master storyteller… 4 stars.’ -- Bookseller Preview