Product Description

It was meant to be a harmless stag night prank. A few hours later four of his best friends are dead and Michael Harrison has disappeared. With only three days to the wedding, Detective Superintendent Grace - a man haunted by the shadow of his own missing wife - is contacted by Michael's beautiful, distraught fiancée, Ashley Harper. Grace discovers that the one man who ought to know Michael Harrison's whereabouts is saying nothing. But then he has a lot to gain - more than anyone realizes. For one man's disaster is another man's fortune . . . Dead simple . . .

'James has got the gift for turning mind-stretching subjects into novels that are irresistibly readable as well as utterly believable' Robert Goddard

'A brilliant idea, superbly crafted. A terrific page-turner' James Herbert

'A page-turner of a book with some terrifying twists . . . a very satisfying read' George Baker, Inspector Wexford

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1342 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
"'James has got the gift for turning mind-stretching subjects into novels that are irresistibly readable as well as utterly believable' Robert Goddard"

From the Author
Dear Readers,

This brief note is to tell you little bit about my new novel DEAD SIMPLE and a character – drawn from real life police officer I know – who I have been developing for several years.

I have been addicted to stories featuring the great detectives of fiction since I was a child, from Sherlock Holmes and Philip Marlowe through to Morse and Rebus. To me all these great characters are compelling not so much because they are brilliant at solving crimes, but because they succeed despite their flaws. They have weakness and fallibility, just like all of us ordinary folk.

In DEAD SIMPLE my central character, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is such a man. He is brilliant at fighting crimes that happen to others, yet unable to solve the mystery of his wife who vanished into thin air nine years ago. And he is unable to resist resorting to mediums for help in his police work despite the risk to his career prospects from his sceptical chief.

I hope you will enjoy reading the first adventure of Roy Grace as much as I have enjoyed creating him and writing the book.

Very best wishes

Peter James

About the Author

Peter James was educated at Charterhouse and then at film school. He lived in North America for a number of years, working as a film-maker, before returning to England. His previous novels have been translated into twenty-six languages and reflect the author's deep interest in medicine, science, and the paranormal. Peter James lives in Sussex.

Customer Reviews

Dead Simple
I bought this book specifically for holiday and am glad i did - although it gripped me very early on and i read it in no time at all. I found the plot very good and didnt guess the "bad guy" at all which for me is quite unusual and very enjoyable. I would defintely recommend it and am now trying to decide which Peter James book to read next!

Great page turner, americanised style
This is the first time I've read Peter James and picked it up after hearing it reviewed positively on Simon Mayo's show. It really is a page turner! The chapters are very to fairly short which makes it a great book for people like me who have a 25 minute train commute - you can usually time the finishing of the chapters just right for your stop.

The book involves a stag night prank of burying a mate in a coffin. If if this seems somewhat unlikely, James does get away with explaining the history that leads to this event, making it plausible enough to stick with it. When the perpetrators are killed in a van crash our man is trapped in the coffin with only one person in the world knowing where he is; and that person has most to gain by him staying lost (trust me I give nothing away, we're only up to page 40 or 50 here!). Therein hangs the first of many twists; there are several, yet somehow they are nearly all credible within the confines of this tale. And speaking of confines, some of the coffin scenes really are claustrophobic to read.

The slight downsides then. As has been referenced elsewhere the author I believe has been a scriptwriter in the States and at times there is an americanisation to the story that grates ever so slightly, including the use of american type terminology that wouldn't naturally be used here. Stylistically it has more of an american feel than say a traditional English crime fiction feel about it. I don't say that this is bad, by the way, but just be aware that PD James it ain't (and that may well be a good thing for some of you)! The ending is also a little rushed and slightly patly contrived, but by then you've rattled along with the book at such a pace that you forgive this minor(ish) transgression.

In conclusion then, a page turner it most certainly is. I knocked this off in two days because I couldn't put the blooming thing down. If like me you have a busy life from which you need to be occasionally transported, released into a private world of high drama that goes at a rattling good pace, has plenty of twists and genuine 'oh my god!' moments, then this is the book for you.

fab, loved it
This book is the first crime/thriller i have read in a long time.I loved it!!!i was gripped from the very first chapter right till the last.The twists in this book left me gasping out loud.I really enjoyed this book.10/10