International bestselling crime author Peter James is to be one of the six authors selected for the popular Quick Reads scheme, as confirmed in The Reading Agency’s announcement on 8 September, International Literacy Day. The Quick Reads Scheme is designed to promote adult literacy by creating books that are entertaining and appeal to the widest possible audience. Since its launch in 2006, over 5 million Quick Reads books have been distributed across the country. Ten years ago Peter’s novella A PERFECT MURDER was an immensely popular Quick Reads title and went on to become a smash hit play as well.
Peter’s novella, WISH YOU WERE DEAD, will be published by Pan Macmillan alongside works of leading authors Oyinkan Braithwaite, Caitlin Moran, Louise Candlish, Khurrum Rahman, and Katie Fforde. This phenomenal line-up will be released on 27th May 2021 to mark the 15th anniversary of this life-changing programme. All the titles will be available for just £1 from bookshops and are free to borrow from libraries and other institutions such as prisons and hospitals. When the Quick Reads scheme’s funding was threatened, author JoJo Moyes stepped in to fund the project for three years and Peter is delighted to be part of the re-launch line-up with WISH YOU WERE DEAD now.
WISH YOU WERE DEAD features Peter’s beloved character Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. Holidaying with his family in a beautiful old chateau in a far-flung corner of France, what should be a dream getaway quickly turns nightmarish… Told with his usual ingenuity and verve, WISH YOU WERE DEAD is a worthy addition to the Roy Grace series and we could not be more excited that it is going to be published as part of the invaluable Quick Reads scheme.
Credit: James Clarke
The 16th full Roy Grace title FIND THEM DEAD shot straight to Number One on the Sunday Times hardback bestseller list in July, and stayed in the Top Ten for 7 weeks. It will be released in paperback on 29 October, following the hardback release on 1 October of another striking standalone title, I FOLLOW YOU. The Roy Grace series will be filmed for ITV broadcast in 2021, starring John Simm as Grace, with shooting starting in Brighton shortly.
See more on Peter’s author website here.
About the author
Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels. His books have been translated into thirty-seven languages, with worldwide sales of over twenty million copies and his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton, has given him 16 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.
Praise for Peter James
‘Peter James is one of the most fiendishly clever crime fiction plotters’ – Daily Mail
‘A master plotter’ – The Bookseller
'Peter James has penetrated the inner workings of police procedures, and the inner thoughts and attitudes of real detectives, as no English crime writer before him.' – The Times
‘Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business’ – Lee Child