PICTURE YOU DEAD climbs the bestseller charts in first full week of sale, landing at Number 2

Peter James’s PICTURE YOU DEAD has flown to Number 2 in the Sunday Times paperback bestseller chart in its first full week of sale. Last week, it went straight to Number 3 after only three days on sale. Fans of Peter’s work – and of his brilliant hero Detective Superintendent Roy Grace – have raced to buy the eighteenth entry in the series, with thousands of positive reader reviews posted online.

‘There really is never a dull moment in this latest Roy Grace mystery thriller,’ writes CeeCee on GoodReads, ‘told at a brisk pace with plenty of plot twists and turns with an added amounts of mayhem, shenanigans, ruthlessness and sheer greed to keep your reading on.’

‘Although Picture you Dead is book eighteen in the series, the characters are so well written and described that it really doesn't matter if you start here. In fact, it's a great introduction,’ adds Val Wheeler, ‘the great thing is now I know I enjoyed it so much, I have another seventeen in the series and many others to catch up on.’

As well as the thrills of PICTURE YOU DEAD, Peter James fans can look forward to his upcoming events ‘An Evening with Peter James’ at the Ropetackle Centre in Sussex on 3rd June, and ‘The Sinister Everyday: The Fact And Fiction Of Crime Writing’ at the inaugural Queen’s Reading Room Festival at Hampton Court Palace on the 11th of June, as well as the ongoing stage tour of the gripping WISH YOU WERE DEAD adaptation.

In PICTURE YOU DEAD, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace finds himself plunged into an unfamiliar world of fine art – and art forgery. Outwardly the fine art scene appears respectable, refined, above reproach. But beneath the veneer, he rapidly finds that greed, deception and violence walk hand-in-hand.

Harry and Freya, an ordinary couple, dreamed for years of finding something priceless buried amongst the tat in a car boot sale. It was a dream they knew in their hearts would never come true – until the day it did… They buy a drab portrait for a few pounds, for its beautiful frame, planning to cut the painting out. Then studying it back at home there seems to be another picture beneath, of a stunning landscape. Could it be a long-lost masterpiece from 1770? If genuine, it could be worth millions. One collector is certain that the painting is genuine. Someone who will use any method he can to get what he wants and will stop at nothing.

And Harry and Freya are about to discover that their dream is turning into their worst nightmare…

Five more books in the bestselling Roy Grace series have been signed up by Pan Macmillan, including the nineteenth Roy Grace story, STOP THEM DEAD, which will be published in the UK on 28 September 2023 and in the US on 24 October 2023.

 About Peter James

Credit: James Clarke

Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels, repeatedly occupying the Number One slot on the Sunday Times bestseller charts in both hardback and paperback. Peter writes both thriller standalones and the hugely popular Brighton-set Roy Grace series, now adapted for ITV.

Peter’s books have been translated into thirty-eight languages, with worldwide sales of over twenty-one million copies and his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton, has given him nineteen Sunday Times Number Ones. In 2015 WH Smith customers voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he was awarded the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger, a lifetime achievement award for sustained excellence. In 2018 he received a Specsavers Honorary Platinum Bestseller Award. Peter James has also written two books based on true crime stories, with former senior detective Graham Bartlett.

Successful nationwide tours of the stage plays of THE PERFECT MURDER (2014), DEAD SIMPLE (2015,) NOT DEAD ENOUGH (2017), THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL (2019) and LOOKING GOOD DEAD (2022) have packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews. The stage play of WISH YOU WERE DEAD is currently touring the UK. Several other Peter James novels are optioned for film and in further development.

 Praise for PICTURE YOU DEAD

‘Whether your loved one is a fan of Grace (either in the book or TV show format), or just loves a good police procedural, PICTURE YOU DEAD won’t disappoint.’ – Darren Hardy, Amazon Editors’ Choice

‘The latest instalment in the Roy Grace series of mystery novels is also a personal favourite. James is a solid writer – character, action, and plot are perfectly balanced in this fantastic and gripping novel. If you haven’t read Peter James, make 2023 your resolution to start.’ – Andrew Gulli, The Strand Magazine, ‘Top 25 Mystery Novels of 2022’

Praise for Peter James

‘If you have never read Peter James’ crime thriller series about the Sussex detective Roy Grace, I would highly recommend you give it a try.’ – Queen Camilla, Press and Journal

‘Peter James is one of the most fiendishly clever crime fiction plotters.’ – The Daily Mail

‘Roy Grace ... is fast becoming one of the more memorable coppers in modern crime fiction ... A first class police procedural.’ – The Times

‘James just gets better and better and deserves the success he has achieved with this first-class series.’ – Independent on Sunday

‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ – Karin Slaughter

‘Probably the closest we’ll get to a British Stephen King’ – The Financial Times

‘Peter James is one of the most fiendishly clever crime fiction plotters’ – The Daily Mail

‘In uncertain times, I always tend to fall back on old, familiar favourites, so I’ll be reading Peter James’ Roy Grace series. They are thrillers with enough drama to keep you guessing. Reading a well-crafted mystery gives me a sense of accomplishment – almost as if I’ve solved everything myself!’ – Emma Shacklock, Books Editor, Women & Home Magazine

‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ – Lee Child

‘A master plotter.’ – The Bookseller

‘James has been compared with Stephen King, but in many ways he's better’ – Daily Express

‘This compulsive horror story is a tale of the search for immortality . . . I cannot remember when I last read a novel I enjoyed so much’ – Sunday Telegraph

‘A thought-provoking menacer that’s completely technological and genuinely frightening about the power of future communications’ – Time Out

Visit Peter’s website.

Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Another bestseller for Peter James’ Roy Grace series with PICTURE YOU DEAD

PICTURE YOU DEAD – the 18th instalment of Peter James’ barnstorming Roy Grace series – has leaped to Number Three in the Paperback Fiction chart, and Number Four in the overall UK Bestsellers list, after only three days on sale.

 The Roy Grace series has continued to go from strength to strength in 2023, with the latest bestseller adding to the plaudits received for the third-year showing of the hugely successful ITV adaptation and the latest touring stage show, bringing WISH YOU WERE DEAD to audiences around the country.

 The GRACE momentum continues with a fourth season of the ITV show due on screens in 2024 and with all the episodes to date streaming on BritBox in many countries across the world. The WISH YOU WERE DEAD theatre production continues to tour the UK with further dates in Salford, Dartford, Southampton, Malvern, Birmingham, Sheffield, Southend, Worthing, Leicester and Woking.

 In PICTURE YOU DEAD, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace finds himself plunged into an unfamiliar world of fine art – and art forgery. Outwardly the fine art scene appears respectable, refined, above reproach. But beneath the veneer, he rapidly finds that greed, deception and violence walk hand-in-hand.

 Harry and Freya, an ordinary couple, dreamed for years of finding something priceless buried amongst the tat in a car boot sale. It was a dream they knew in their hearts would never come true – until the day it did… They buy a drab portrait for a few pounds, for its beautiful frame, planning to cut the painting out. Then studying it back at home there seems to be another picture beneath, of a stunning landscape. Could it be a long-lost masterpiece from 1770? If genuine, it could be worth millions. One collector is certain that the painting is genuine. Someone who will use any method he can to get what he wants and will stop at nothing.

 And Harry and Freya are about to discover that their dream is turning into their worst nightmare…

 Peter will be out to meet fans and sign more books again soon, with two headline events planned: ‘An Evening with Peter James’ at the Ropetackle Centre in Sussex on 3rd June, and ‘The Sinister Everyday: The Fact And Fiction Of Crime Writing’ at the inaugural Queen’s Reading Room Festival at Hampton Court Palace on the 11th of June.

 Five more books in the bestselling Roy Grace series have been signed up by Pan Macmillan, including the nineteenth Roy Grace story, STOP THEM DEAD, which will be published in the UK on 28 September 2023 and in the US on 24 October 2023.

 About Peter James

Credit: James Clarke

 Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels, repeatedly occupying the Number One slot on the Sunday Times bestseller charts in both hardback and paperback. Peter writes both thriller standalones and the hugely popular Brighton-set Roy Grace series, now adapted for ITV.

 Peter’s books have been translated into thirty-eight languages, with worldwide sales of over twenty-one million copies and his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton, has given him 18 consecutive Sunday Times Number Ones. In 2015 WH Smith customers voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he was awarded the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger, a lifetime achievement award for sustained excellence. In 2018 he received a Specsavers Honorary Platinum Bestseller Award. Peter James has also written two books based on true crime stories, with former senior detective Graham Bartlett.

  Successful nationwide tours of the stage plays of THE PERFECT MURDER (2014), DEAD SIMPLE (2015,) NOT DEAD ENOUGH (2017), THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL (2019) and LOOKING GOOD DEAD (2022) have packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews. The stage play of WISH YOU WERE DEAD is currently touring the UK. Several other Peter James novels are optioned for film and in further development.

 Praise for PICTURE YOU DEAD

 ‘Whether your loved one is a fan of Grace (either in the book or TV show format), or just loves a good police procedural, PICTURE YOU DEAD won’t disappoint.’ – Darren Hardy, Amazon Editors’ Choice

 ‘The latest instalment in the Roy Grace series of mystery novels is also a personal favourite. James is a solid writer – character, action, and plot are perfectly balanced in this fantastic and gripping novel. If you haven’t read Peter James, make 2023 your resolution to start.’ – Andrew Gulli, The Strand Magazine, ‘Top 25 Mystery Novels of 2022’

 Praise for Peter James

 ‘If you have never read Peter James’ crime thriller series about the Sussex detective Roy Grace, I would highly recommend you give it a try.’ – Queen Camilla, Press and Journal

 ‘Peter James is one of the most fiendishly clever crime fiction plotters.’ – The Daily Mail

 ‘Roy Grace ... is fast becoming one of the more memorable coppers in modern crime fiction ... A first class police procedural.’ – The Times

 ‘James just gets better and better and deserves the success he has achieved with this first-class series.’ – Independent on Sunday

 ‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ – Karin Slaughter

 ‘Probably the closest we’ll get to a British Stephen King’ – The Financial Times

 ‘Peter James is one of the most fiendishly clever crime fiction plotters’ – The Daily Mail

 ‘In uncertain times, I always tend to fall back on old, familiar favourites, so I’ll be reading Peter James’ Roy Grace series. They are thrillers with enough drama to keep you guessing. Reading a well-crafted mystery gives me a sense of accomplishment – almost as if I’ve solved everything myself!’ – Emma Shacklock, Books Editor, Women & Home Magazine

 ‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ – Lee Child

‘A master plotter.’ – The Bookseller

 ‘James has been compared with Stephen King, but in many ways he's better’ – Daily Express

 ‘This compulsive horror story is a tale of the search for immortality . . . I cannot remember when I last read a novel I enjoyed so much’ – Sunday Telegraph

 ‘A thought-provoking menacer that’s completely technological and genuinely frightening about the power of future communications’ – Time Out

 Visit Peter’s website.

 Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

New bestseller PICTURE YOU DEAD by Peter James – ‘Picture perfect at peak’

Credit: Graham Franks Photography

PICTURE YOU DEAD by Peter James has flown to Number One in the Bookseller’s weekly ‘Bookstat E-Book Top 10’ and to Number Two in the Sunday Times hardback bestseller charts, after only three days on sale. ‘Picture perfect at peak for James’, the Bookseller reported, adding that ‘Peter James’s PICTURE YOU DEAD swiped the Bookstat e-book number one in a photo finish.’

The eighteenth instalment of the bestselling Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series is published by Pan Macmillan, who signed up 5 more series titles from Peter James last year.

PICTURE YOU DEAD was launched with a vigorous and inventive marketing and publicity campaign including a much-anticipated return to the traditional annual Roy Grace launch party – held again on Brighton pier after two years without an in-person celebration, and this time with ITV’s GRACE stars, John Simm and Richie Campbell, among the crowd.

Peter went on a whirlwind book signing tour across Sussex and beyond, visiting multiple independent bookshops, the Jersey Festival of Words, and Capital Crime Festival. He also embarked on an extensive regional radio tour. As well as the trade hardback, two exclusive editions of PICTURE YOU DEAD were also published: one with extra material exclusive to WH Smith, and a special edition for indie bookshops with beautiful sprayed edges.

In PICTURE YOU DEAD, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace finds himself plunged into an unfamiliar world of fine art – and art forgery. Outwardly the fine art scene appears respectable, refined, above reproach. But beneath the veneer, he rapidly finds that greed, deception and violence walk hand-in-hand.

Harry and Freya, an ordinary couple, dreamed for years of finding something priceless buried amongst the tat in a car boot sale. It was a dream they knew in their hearts would never come true – until the day it did… They buy a drab portrait for a few pounds, for its beautiful frame, planning to cut the painting out. Then studying it back at home there seems to be another picture beneath, of a stunning landscape. Could it be a long-lost masterpiece from 1770? If genuine, it could be worth millions. One collector is certain that the painting is genuine. Someone who will use any method he can to get what he wants and will stop at nothing.

And Harry and Freya are about to discover that their dream is turning into their worst nightmare…

Filming of the ITV series based on the Roy Grace novels continues in Brighton, with more of the thrilling stories to be broadcast in 2023. Peter is now writing the nineteenth instalment of the Roy Grace series which Pan Macmillan will publish next year.

Praise for Peter James:

‘Superior plotting and edge-of-the-seat suspense.’ – The Guardian

‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ – Karin Slaughter

‘A master plotter who cunningly tunes into contemporary concerns. Peter James cannot fail to thrill.’  – Daily Mail

‘Memorable characters and nail-biting tension.’ –  Kathy Reichs

‘Peter James creates a world we can smell, touch and feel for his Brighton detective Inspector Roy Grace.’ – The Times

‘With echoes of Thomas Harris, the closer analogue is to Jeffrey Deaver’s clock-racing thrillers… James delivers the goods.’ — Kirkus Reviews

‘James just gets better and better and deserves the success he has achieved with this first-class series.’ — Independent on Sunday

About Peter James:

Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels, repeatedly occupying the Number One slot on the Sunday Times bestseller charts in both hardback and paperback. Peter writes both thriller standalones and the hugely popular Brighton-set Roy Grace series, now adapted for ITV.

Peter’s books have been translated into thirty-eight languages, with worldwide sales of over twenty-one million copies and his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton, has given him 19 consecutive Sunday Times Number Ones. In 2015 WH Smith customers voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he was awarded the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger, a lifetime achievement award for sustained excellence. In 2018 he received a Specsavers Honorary Platinum Bestseller Award. Peter James has also written two books based on true crime stories, with former senior detective Graham Bartlett.

The 16th Roy Grace, FIND THEM DEAD, was a UK Number 1 in both hardback and paperback, spending four consecutive weeks at Number 1 in paperback, and reaching Number 5 in Australia and Canada too. In 2021 Peter James repeated the hardback and paperback Top Ten double with LEFT YOU DEAD and standalone thriller I FOLLOW YOU.

Successful nationwide tours of the stage plays of THE PERFECT MURDER (2014), DEAD SIMPLE (2015,) NOT DEAD ENOUGH (2017) and THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL (2019) have packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews. The stage play of LOOKING GOOD DEAD toured the UK in 2021, and WISH YOU WERE DEAD will premiere in 2022. Several other Peter James novels are optioned for film and in further development.

Visit Peter’s website

Like him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter and Instagram