great read full of suspense and heartfelt emotion. It was well written with interesting characters and believable dialogue. I enjoyed all the Roy Grace series, but found this one to be the best yet. Encompassing the murder and mayhem of his job, as well as pain and sorrow in his personal life, this story holds you captive to the end.

What would you do if your partner popped into Safeway and did not return – and you found yourself accused of their murder?

This is the premise for Peter James’ newest book, Left You Dead, #17 in his detective Roy Grace series. Nursing the book idea for over 20 years, James became obsessed with stories of missing people and the challenges investigators face in “no body murder” cases. Researching for this book, James was told that the hardest cases to investigate are the perfect murder cases because there’s no hard proof of a body. That’s how this story begins.

Eden Paternoster insists that her husband Niall stop at the supermarket on the way home. She tells him to wait in the car while she runs in and gets a bag of cat litter. She kisses him goodbye and never returns.

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to investigate his most challenging case yet - this case of the missing woman in Brighton. It’s left him totally confounded. While focused on this case, life throws Grace an unexpected curveball and he’s left reeling. We get to see him under pressure, at work and at home, as he struggles to investigate this case of ‘nothing is as it seems.’

James is a new author to me and I haven’t read any of his previous 16 books in this series, yet I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is able to stand alone. I was in awe of his cinematic writing style. It’s so detailed, descriptive and well-developed. It was as though a movie was running in my mind as I was reading. With so many side stories and characters to balance, James proved himself a master director. His characters were extremely realistic and it’s obvious he spends time watching people. I wasn’t surprised to read of the author riding along with police officers during his research phase; his police procedural is authentically accurate. Readers will find themselves easily absorbed in this book. The crime itself is almost a minor storyline because there’s so much going on in this book. I loved the unexpected final few twists.

Publishes July 1, 2021

I was gifted this advance copy by Peter James, Pan Macmillan, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Well written and full of suspense. Plot twists aplenty and well fleshed out character made Left You Dead a quick engaging read. The Roy Grace series of novels by Peter James is alway entertaining. A hit. Can’t wait for the next one.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

Once again Peter James brings to life his detective Roy Grace and his team in this 17th outing. A missing woman is at the heart of this story and for those who follow the series you'll know how close this hits home to Detective Grace. But fear not if you don't follow the series, James is a writer who provides lots of background so it's easy to read his books as stand alones. The plot is complex with lots of twists and turns. The ending heart gripping. Overall and excellent read. I highly recommend the book, and in fact, the entire series.

5 stars plus for Left You Dead.

My favourite series and for good reason.

Roy Grace you are my hero and your team along with Glen Branson worked as hard as ever to solve the puzzling case of Eden who goes missing

I binged read Left you Dead as I just had to know what happened.

The pages flew by as I held my breath many times. I cheered Roy on, I cried with him and I applauded him more than once.

Peter James you never disappoint.

My copy of Left You Dead is pre ordered to sit on my shelves beside the others in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley, Pan MacMillan, MacMillan UK for the best read in quite awhile.

On a busy Sunday afternoon Niall Paternoster drops his wife Eden at a busy supermarket so she can purchase a bag of kitty litter. She vanishes without a trace and within a day Niall is in police custody accused of Eden's murder. This is one of three storylines in Peter James's 17th Roy Grace series of police procedurals. The others deal with Roy's son Bruno, who is struck by a car, and with Roy's immediate superior, Assistant Chief Constable Cassian Pewe, who is unmasked as benefitting from some insider stock tips.

The storytelling moves along briskly even though the book is lengthy and maybe suffers some unnecessary padding. The missing person storyline is dominant and is full of surprises, with an exciting "do-or-die" conclusion. Bruno's story comes to a bold resolution that seems premature as well as shocking. We need to get to the last pages to find out the fate of ACC Pewe: will he be able to return? All told, there's a satisfying conclusion to the book, and I was left looking forward to the next Grace novel. James writes well about police procedure and the internal organization of a "Major Crimes" investigation which adds authenticity; this detail is often missing from British police procedural crime novels. The glossary of police acronyms at the end of the novel is helpful too.
This book can be read as a standalone although some nuance and backstory will be lost.
In short, this is a fascinating and readable crime novel.
I received a complementary advance reading eBook copy of "Left You Dead" from the publisher via Netgalley for my independent review. The comments about it are my own.

Left You Dead by Peter James is the seventeenth installment of the wildly popular Roy Grace series, and the first that I have had the pleasure to read. This one can easily be read as a standalone, although I would love to catch up on the previous books in order to acquire more knowledge of Grace's backstory. I have read many positive reviews for this series, and I can honestly say that I now count myself among the numerous fans.

A woman makes a quick stop at the supermarket while her husband waits in the car. When she fails to return, the case of her disappearance falls to Roy Grace, and it will prove to be a difficult one.

I found myself becoming fully immersed in the intrigue of the plot, and felt very early on that Grace is a complex, well fleshed out character whose personal life is just as compelling as the cases he investigates. Admittedly, the length of this novel was initially daunting, but I was quickly flying through the pages, not wanting the story to end. I look forward to catching up on this series, and reading much more from the talented Peter James.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an ARC.

Admittedly, I haven’t read the previous books with this detective and thus do not have any previous background. However, that didn’t stop me from appreciating the detective or this book. This was a unique spin - it reminded me a little bit of one of my favourite books, which I will not name because it would spoil a surprise in this one! Haha. The twists were a bit predictable but that didn’t detract from the story or my enjoyment of the ride. The detective has a particularly emotional and moving story in this book and it definitely made me feel something for him and his wife, despite being my first time encountering them. I can only imagine the impact if you’ve been reading the series from book 1. All in all, a great read with plenty of twists and emotion.

I listened off an on to the audiobook of this as well - great narrator, although, I found his voice sometimes too calming and would get sleepy ahaha.

A huge thanks to Macmillan and NetGalley for the e-copy. All opinions are my own.