ONE OF US IS DEAD, the 20th instalment of Peter James’ internationally bestselling Roy Grace series, has jumped straight to Number 3 in the UK bestsellers list after only five days on sale. ONE OF US IS DEAD was the second-highest new entry in the bestsellers list with a volume sales increase of 13% against the same period last year. ONE OF US IS DEAD is published by Pan Macmillan in the UK and the US.
In ONE OF US IS DEAD, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace finds out just how dangerous a dead man can be… When James Taylor arrives late for a funeral, he has to stand at the back of the small church. But, as the service progresses, Taylor notices a man six rows in front of him. At first he thinks he must be mistaken, but the more he looks at the man, the more convinced Taylor becomes that this is his old schoolfriend Rufus Rorke. Except it couldn’t be him, could it? Because two years ago Taylor attended Rufus Rorke’s funeral. He even delivered Rufus’s eulogy. On the other side of Brighton, at Police HQ, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace has been alerted to a number of suspicious deaths that he can’t get out of his mind. But how are they linked? And could they possibly be connected to Rufus Rorke?
The ONE OF US IS DEAD publication tour saw Peter carry out book signings, Q&As and radio interviews across the UK, along with a spectacular book launch on Brighton Pier. Peter was also a Special Guest at Harrogate Festival in July, co-headlined Bloody Scotland in September with Elly Griffiths, and will be appearing at Chiltern Kills Festival, Murder One Festival and Fatal Shore in October.
ONE OF US IS DEAD joins Peter’s many other chart successes this year: the paperback edition of STOP THEM DEAD flew straight to Number 2 in the bestseller list on publication in April, and THEY THOUGHT I WAS DEAD, the much-anticipated standalone revealing the mystery of Sandy Grace’s disappearance, was an instant Number 1 bestseller on publication in May. The paperback edition of THEY THOUGHT I WAS DEAD is out on 7th November 2024.
Fans of the Roy Grace book series – and all crime fans alike – can also tune in to series four of GRACE on ITVX, starring John Simm and Richie Campbell. Recently announced, the much-loved tv series will return for series five in 2025, featuring four feature-length episodes.
About Peter James
Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels. Peter writes both thriller standalones and the hugely popular Brighton-set Roy Grace series. The opening episode of GRACE, based on the first Roy Grace novel, DEAD SIMPLE, was broadcast in March 2021 with John Simm starring in the lead role as the tenacious detective. It was a TV Pick of the Day across all the major UK newspapers, appeared on ITV 1’s prime Sunday night slot and viewing figures quickly reached more than 8.8 million, with glowing reviews. The fourth series aired in Autumn 2024 and the fifth series will be broadcast in 2025.
Peter’s books have been translated into thirty-eight languages, with worldwide sales of over twenty-three million copies and his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton, has given him 20 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 and in 2024 he won four Silver Nielsen Bestseller Awards. 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), LOOKING GOOD DEAD (2021) and WISH YOU WERE DEAD (2023) have packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews. His stage shows to date have grossed over £17 million at the box office. PICTURE YOU DEAD begins touring in 2025 and tickets can be purchased here. Several of his works are optioned for film.
Peter took part in the launch podcast of the Queen’s Reading Room in January 2024, having had the Grace series featured on the Royal Reading Room previously. He appeared on the podcast again in June 2024, where he was named one of Her Majesty’s favourite crime writers and Roy Grace her favourite fictional detective!
Praise for ONE OF US IS DEAD
‘Another just-one-more-page-thriller.’ – Anna Bonet, i newspaper, ‘The best new books to read in September 2024’
‘All hail the Queen’s favourite detective as the indefatigable Peter James returns with the 20th Roy Grace mystery… Grace’s instincts are as sharp as ever, but can he outsmart Anthony and complete the rest of the murderous jigsaw? His adage that it’s the mistakes that criminals make that bring about their downfall will be tested to the limit in a climax aboard a light aircraft high over the Channel. That royal warrant should be on its way any day now.’ - The Times, ‘New Thrillers for September’
‘DS Roy Grace returns in the twentieth gripping instalment in Peter James’ bestselling series, as links to a man supposedly dead and buried start cropping up in an ongoing investigation into a series of suspicious deaths.’ – Waterstones, ‘September’s Best Books’
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
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