Technically one of Peter James's Roy Grace series, this features him as more of a supporting character as the majority of the drama takes place in the courtroom rather than in the solving of the crime. I quite enjoyed this change of perspective from the usual police procedural. The action follows a juror who is being threatened and manipulated by the defendant in order to give a not guilty verdict, despite it seeming as if the defendant has been caught bang to rights. Peter James builds the tension very well until the end of the novel and I found I was gripped from start to finish. But just in case you were looking forwards to checking in with Roy, there is a good dose of his personal life too. (You don't need to have read the rest of the series to enjoy this novel, it stands alone well despite this.)

I am an ardent fan of the Roy Grace series written by Peter James who has managed to give us a book with a definite courtroom drama feel, whilst not losing any of the traits that have had me entranced through the previous fifteen books in the series. Drug dealing and the associated violence is not something that translates particularly well in my opinion, to crime fiction but Peter James just goes to prove that with skill and interweaving sub-plots, it can be far more intriguing than I thought possible. We meet an array of characters, respectable legal aid solicitor Terence Gready, drug importer, Mickey Starr as well as a member of the jury Meg Magellan. Meg has a tragic back story and her only child Laura is about to embark on travelling before taking up a place at Edinburgh University leaving Meg in charge of her menagerie of animals. Because the centre of the action is on the trial and not one Roy Grace is appearing in as a witness we see his secondment to the Met to deal with the issue of knife crime and the moped bandits whose presence became a phenomenon that we can do without. We also get a glimpse into his and Cleo's life with their two sons as well as having a brief update on the lives of Cassian Pewe, Glen Branston and Norman Potting. A thoroughly enjoyable fast-paced and fresh feeling novel that was as always read with utter delight. .

Detective inspector Roy Grace is back and this time he’s part of a case involving the smuggling of drugs through international borders, using decoy sports cars. The case goes to court and on the jury is Meg. But soon she’s being blackmailed to persuade the jury to reach a not guilty verdict, with her daughter’s life in the balance if she fails: The narrative flips pleasingly between the defendants - a bent solicitor and his gofer - as well as Meg and the police. It’s fast-paced and compelling and keeps you guessing. The ending feels just a little rushed but the rest of the novel more than makes up for it. Recommended - I love a Roy Grace novel and this is a good one.

And it still keeps getting better This is the sixteenth Roy Grace novel (all of which I have read) and I find myself saying it is the best yet (again). There are so many aspects to these novels but I love the fact that the author, Peter James, is always bang up-to-date with current situations as well as being well-researched. Mickey Starr (or Lucky as some people know him) has a brother with downs syndrome who he idolises and has pledged to look after. However, the novel opens with Mickey trying to bring a large quantity of class A drugs into the country hidden in a fake, top of the range, Ferrari. He gets caught and his ultimate boss is then found and the two go on trial. Mickey pleads guilty in the hope of a shorter sentence so he can get out to his brother whilst the boss denies all knowledge of Mickey and the drugs. In the meantime, Meg Magellan is taking a redundancy package as she sees her daughter, Laura, going on a round-the-world trip with her best friend. Meg has a sad past with family bereavements and during Laura’s trip is required to do jury service. As the jury arrive there is somebody at the front of the public gallery filming the jurors with a view to trying to persuade them to return a ‘not-guilty’ verdict. This is easily a stand-alone novel, although my enjoyment is enhanced by the fact that I know the background to some of the characters and wait for their next moves. The ending was great. ‘I’m writing because I have something of interest about our mutual friend. No names mentioned because all these letters are read, but I know you were interested in doing something with that park bench.’ I cannot wait for the next instalment. Thank you to NetGalley, Pan Macmiilan and Peter James for my ARC of Find Them Dead in return for my honest review. Utterly brilliant read. Highly recommended.

Ok I’m not going to be popular but I found this a bit dreary. Don’t get me wrong I love Peter James and especially the Roy Grace series but there was not much of him in this book and also mostly court action which I find a bit dull. I’m desperate to find out more about Graces son Bruno and I think I was disappointed that there wasn’t much going on there. All told it was in the high quality reading that you expect from the master that is Peter James! #NetGalley#FindThemDead