LEFT YOU DEAD BY PETER JAMES JUMPS STRAIGHT TO NUMBER ONE ON THE HARDBACK BESTSELLER CHARTS

Peter James’s seventeenth Detective Superintendent Roy Grace novel, LEFT YOU DEAD, has flown straight to the Number 1 position in the Sunday Times hardback bestseller chart after only three days on sale, giving Peter his eighteenth Number 1 on the British charts this Sunday. The stellar three-day sales also make LEFT YOU DEAD the biggest hardback fiction title launch of the year.

In LEFT YOU DEAD, Niall and Eden Paternoster start their Sunday the same way they always do – with a long drive, a visit to a country house and a quick stop at the local supermarket on the way home. But this Sunday ends differently – because while Niall waits and waits in the car park for Eden to pick up supplies, Eden never returns. She’s not waiting for him at home, and none of their family or friends have heard from her.

Gone without a trace, Niall is arrested on suspicion of her murder. When DS Roy Grace is called in to investigate, it doesn’t take long to realize that nothing is quite as it seems – and this might be his most mysterious case yet.

Later this month, WISH YOU WERE DEAD, a Roy Grace novella written by Peter for The Reading Agency’s Quick Reads scheme will be published by Pan Macmillan. And next month, Peter James fans will be able to get their hands on a paperback of Peter’s standalone thriller, I FOLLOW YOU. 

March saw the much-anticipated release of ITV’s GRACE, based on the first book in the Roy Grace series, DEAD SIMPLE. The series launched in a prime-time Sunday slot to widespread praise from the critics and 8.8 million strong viewing figures. The show was launched in April by Britbox North America with DEAD SIMPLE and LOOKING GOOD DEAD streaming for fans in the US and Canada.

Praise for Peter James:

‘Sinister and riveting… Peter James is one of the best British crime writers, and therefore one of the best in the world.’ — Lee Child

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

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

'Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business.' — Karin Slaughter

About the Author:

Peter James is an international bestselling crime and thriller writer. In 2015 WHSmith 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.

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 played to packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews. The newest Roy Grace theatre production, LOOKING GOOD DEAD, will tour in 2021.

Visit Peter’s website

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THE YOUNG TEAM by Graeme Armstrong shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize & Awards

We are thrilled that Graeme Armstrong’s THE YOUNG TEAM has been shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize & Awards for a debut novel by a writer under 35. Judge Vaseem Khan commended the shortlisted novels for being ‘measured and precise’, ‘erudite and linguistically nimble’, ‘quietly powerful’, and ‘a narrative whose power lasts long after the reading stops’. Also shortlisted are Bad Love by Maame Blue, The Last Good Man by Thomas McMullan, The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams, The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and The Water House by Nneoma Ike-Njoku.

The Betty Trask Prize and Awards, awarded by the Society of Authors, were founded after Betty Trask left a bequest to the Society of Authors in 1983 to fund prizes for first novels written by authors under the age of 35 in a traditional or romantic, but not experimental, style. The total prize fund is £26,200. ​Past winners include Zadie Smith, David Szalay, Hari Kunzru and Sarah Waters.

The winners will be announced online on Wednesday 9th June, in an online ceremony presented by novelist Joanne Harris.

THE YOUNG TEAM was published in 2020 by Picador and became a Times top 10 bestseller. The paperback was published in April 2021.

2005. Glasgow is named Europe’s Murder Capital, driven by a violent territorial gang and knife culture. In the housing schemes of adjacent Lanarkshire, Scotland’s former industrial heartland, wee boys become postcode warriors.

2004. Azzy Williams joins the Young Team [YTP]. A brutal gang conflict with their deadly rivals, the Young Toi [YTB] begins.

2012. Azzy dreams of another life. He faces his toughest fight of all – the fight for a different future.

Expect Buckfast. Expect bravado. Expect street philosophy. Expect rave culture. Expect anxiety. Expect addiction. Expect a serious facial injury every six hours. Expect murder.

Hope for a way out.

Inspired by the experiences of its author, Graeme Armstrong, THE YOUNG TEAM is an energetic novel, full of the loyalty, laughs, mischief, boredom, violence and threat of life on these streets. It looks beyond the tabloid stereotypes to tell a powerful story about the realities of life for young people in Britain today.

‘Raw and lyrical . . . written in a voice that recalls Irvine Welsh and Alan Warner – dialect that fizzes off the page.’ – The Observer

‘Graeme Armstrong's debut novel is an instant Scottish classic.’ – The Skinny

‘Vivid, dynamic and sharp as a whip.’ – Janice Galloway, author of The Trick is to Keep Breathing

‘[A] gripping debut novel . . . [Armstrong] is quite a phenomenon . . . one of the most admired young voices in British fiction.’ – Mike Wade, The Times

Photo: Robin Farquhar-Thomson

Graeme Armstrong is a Scottish writer from Airdrie. His teenage years were spent within North Lanarkshire’s gang culture. He was inspired to study English Literature after reading Irvine Welsh’s TRAINSPOTTING at just sixteen. Alongside overcoming his own struggles with drug addiction, alcohol abuse and violence, he defied expectation to read English as an undergraduate at the University of Stirling; where, after graduating with honours, he returned to study a Masters’ in Creative Writing.

He regularly volunteers within the community visiting prisons and schools, giving talks on his experiences of gang-culture and substance abuse. He promotes a message of anti-violence and abstinence-based recovery.

Follow Graeme on Twitter

GRAY HUGHES DIRECTS JOE MARLER'S SKY SPORTS DOCUMENTARY BIG BOYS DON'T CRY

Big Boys Don’t Cry, directed by Blake Friedmann client Gray Hughes, follows England Rugby forward Joe Marler as he discusses his own struggles and learns new methods of managing mental wellbeing

The documentary first aired at 4pm on Sky Sports Arena on Wednesday 14th May – Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK – follows Marler as he travels the UK to open up conversation around mental health challenges and to learn about how people manage with their mental wellbeing, taking the plunge in freshwater swimming and getting involved in singing in a choir along the way.

Recently the England and Harlequins player has spoken about his battles with mental health during his private live and his time playing rugby on the international stage.

Marler also explained his thoughts behind making the hour-long documentary Boys Don’t Cry, “I wanted to meet people who, like me, had gone down their own mental health ‘rabbit holes’. I wanted to hear about how they found their own ways of getting out of them and gain a better understanding of how mental health issues affect us all.

“I hope that talking about my own mental health will get others talking about theirs and help to normalise it, especially in an alpha male-dominated sport like rugby. We are required to dominate and intimidate opposing players when we cross the white line on the pitch, we must show no weakness or vulnerability in order to win. But it doesn’t have to be like that off the pitch. I want to help spread the message that many others have done already that it’s okay not to be okay. And help people find the right tools to cope.”

You can read more here and watch the show here.

ITV COMMISSIONS A SECOND SERIES OF DETECTIVE DRAMA GRACE, BASED ON BESTSELLING BOOK SERIES BY PETER JAMES

We are delighted to announce that ITV has commissioned a second series of GRACE, the detective drama based on Number One bestselling author Peter James’s Detective Superintendent Roy Grace book series. John Simm will return as Brighton-based Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, with Russell Lewis returning as screenwriter.

Co-starring Richie Campbell as DS Glenn Branson and Rakie Ayola as ACC Vosper, the first GRACE film DEAD SIMPLE (which aired on ITV in March) achieved consolidated ratings of 8.8m viewers and received glowing reviews from the critics. DEAD SIMPLE is currently being rolled out around the rest of the world along with the second episode, LOOKING GOOD DEAD.

The new Roy Grace dramas set to be filmed are NOT DEAD ENOUGH, DEAD MAN’S FOOTSTEPS and DEAD TOMORROW. The three 120-minute films are produced by Second Act Productions and Tall Story Pictures, both part of ITV Studios, and Vaudeville Productions.

ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill commented: ‘We are delighted to be adapting more of Peter James’ wonderful novels. John Simm has brilliantly brought the much-loved Detective Superintendent Roy Grace to screen and there are many more cases for the audiences to enjoy.’

Writer Russell Lewis commented: ‘After the overwhelmingly positive audience response to the seaside noir of DEAD SIMPLE, (tabloid trauma tales notwithstanding!) and LOOKING GOOD DEAD cued up ready to go, all at Team Roy Grace are delighted to have been given the opportunity by ITV to return to Brighton (& Hove, actually!) to continue Roy's story with a new series of films based on Peter James’ best-selling novels.

We’ll be shooting out of our Brighton HQ and all along and around the South Coast from late summer through to very late autumn, so it’s quite possible that like some macabre Radio Fab Roadshow, our caravanserai of coroner’s van, SOCO unit, Mobile Incident Room may well be coming to a street near you!  As the late, great Shaw Taylor used to ask viewers on Police 5... “Keep ‘em peeled!”’

Executive producers are Andrew O’Connor and Paul Sandler for Second Act Productions, Patrick Schweitzer for Tall Story Pictures, Michael Vine for Vaudeville Productions, Russell Lewis and Peter James.

ITV Studios are responsible for the international distribution of Grace and recently streamed DEAD SIMPLE and LOOKING GOOD DEAD via Britbox North America, where the new series will also be exclusively available in North America. Further international streaming plans will be announced soon.

North American praise for GRACE
GRACE was included in many One to Watch lists, including Gatehouse Media/USA Today Network , Yahoo!, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, Celebrity Page, The Seattle Times, TV Week, Reality Yeo, Tribute and Entertainment Weekly.

‘Excellent, with engaging, complex mysteries and a main character that gets us on their side. Simm, who has played both good and bad guys just in the last few years, hooks us immediately as Roy Grace... It certainly made us look forward to the second episode in the limited run of the first season.’ — Decider

‘A smart and involving tale.’ — Mike Hughes, TV’s Best Bits, Mansfield News Journal

'What the Brits do so well is to create real, human, flawed but likable detectives... I could not stop watching. I think I held my breath for an hour. Brilliant acting from John Simm and the sort of jigsaw puzzle cinematography that is the hallmark of British TV... Everybody go and watch.' — Rhys Bowen, Jungle Red

The seventeenth instalment in the Roy Grace book series, LEFT YOU DEAD, is published in the UK by Pan Macmillan on 13 May 2021. Peter James has also written a Roy Grace novella, WISH YOU WERE DEAD, for The Reading Agency’s QuickReads scheme, to be published on 27 May 2021. The paperback of the standalone thriller I FOLLOW YOU will be out on 24 June 2021.

The LEFT YOU DEAD launch event, hosted by Laura Whitmore, will take place on Wednesday 12th May. You can register for free here. On Thursday 13th May, Peter James will be in conversation with GRACE star John Simm. Details on how to view this event online can be found here.

About Peter James
Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels, translated into thirty-seven languages with worldwide sales of over twenty million copies. His Brighton-set Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series has given him seventeen 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.

In addition to his career as a novelist, he has produced several films, including THE MERCHANT OF VENICE starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes. He also co-created the hit Channel 4 series Bedsitcom, which was nominated for a Rose d'Or.

Successful nationwide tours of the stage plays of THE PERFECT MURDER (2014) and DEAD SIMPLE (2015) have packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews and NOT DEAD ENOUGH opened to full houses and acclaim in 2017. January 2019 saw the opening of the stage tour of THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL, with the sequel THE SECRET OF COLD HILL published in October 2019. The stage play of LOOKING GOOD DEAD will tour the UK later in 2021, starring award-winning actor and EastEnders icon, Adam Woodyatt.

More praise for GRACE
‘A very effective appetite-whetter… The unpretentious storytelling makes this an easy watch, helmed by the always watchable Simm.’ – The Mail on Sunday, Pick of the Day

‘It’s a good’un... John Simm was pleasingly understated as Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and the adaptation was well done by Russell Lewis, creator of ENDEAVOUR. Richie Campbell was great as Roy’s colleague, DS Branson, bringing just the right amount of energy to proceedings... If ITV can find room in the schedules, another Grace instalment would go down nicely.’ – Anita Singh, The Telegraph

‘Roy Grace doesn’t have any obvious gimmick to mark him out, but he swiftly establishes himself as a solid addition to the Sunday-night pack… Chilling.’ – James Jackson, The Times, Critic’s Choice

‘Grace and Branson’s race to find Michael made for truly nail-biting TV and there were great performances, with Simm as watchable as ever as the shrewd, yet vulnerable Grace… With more to come later this year… I’ll certainly be tuning in.’ – Gwendolyn Smith, The i

‘The intricate, twist-laden plot, atmospheric south-coast location and impressive performances mean that GRACE is likely to be a hit with fans of the books and newcomers alike.’ – The Sun, Pick of the Day

DAVID GILMAN’S THE ENGLISHMAN LONGLISTED FOR THE BEST PUBLISHED NOVEL AWARD AS PART OF THE WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE PRIZE 2021

We are delighted that David Gilman’s THE ENGLISHMAN has been longlisted for the Best Published Novel award as part of the Wilbur Smith Adventure Prize for 2021. Selected by a panel of librarians and library staff, the prize seeks to celebrate the best adventure fiction that both honours the tradition of adventure writing and at the same time tries something new. The shortlist will be announced on 20th May, and the winner of the £10,000 award will be announced on 8th September.

David Gilman’s historical novel THE LAST HORSEMAN was also shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize’s Best Published Novel Award in 2017.

THE ENGLISHMAN was first published in July 2020 by Head of Zeus, and has been described as a high-octane international thriller. It was also named a Financial Times Thriller of the Year 2020, and a Love Reading Book of the Year 2020. THE ENGLISHMAN has been optioned for development as a feature film by AGC Studios, comparable to the Jason Bourne franchise. Scriptwriter Kurt Johnstad is set to adapt the adventure-thriller script.

A fast paced and exciting story, THE ENGLISHMAN is a thrilling adventure novel brought to life by Gilman’s prose.

A clandestine war on the desert border of Mali and Algeria. Murder and kidnap on the suburban streets of West London. A Moscow CID police inspector investigating the assassination of four of her fellow officers by the Russian Mafia. A young MI6 officer facing the possibility that a long-running operation has been fatally compromised.

Connecting them all is the Englishman: Dan Raglan, outsider, exile, one-time member of the French Foreign Legion, fully trained killer.

Raglan's quest for answers will become a quest for vengeance. It will lead him to the winter-ravaged wasteland of the Sverdlovskaya Oblast and Penal Colony #74, a place that holds Russia's most brutal murderers. A place of death and retribution.

How will he get in? More importantly, how will he get out?

Translation rights in THE ENGLISHMAN have been sold in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia. David Gilman is currently writing the second book in the Englishman series, THE ENGLISHMAN: BETRAYAL for publication by Head of Zeus in 2022.

David Gilman is also the author of the acclaimed and bestselling MASTER OF WAR series, with the 7th title in the series SHADOW OF THE HAWK published in hardback earlier this year by Head of Zeus. These historical adventures, starring soldier knight Sir Thomas Blackstone and set during the 100 Years’ War, are also sold in many translation markets and often reach the Der Spiegel bestseller lists in Germany.

Praise for THE ENGLISHMAN:

‘Raglan is nicely complex: an action man with inner depths … THE ENGLISHMAN is a cracking, finely crafted thriller. I’m looking forward to Raglan’s next outing.’ – Adam LeBor, Financial Times

‘Verve, pace, shocks and intrigue, this is spy thriller writing by an author at the zenith of his powers.’ – Peter James

‘THE ENGLISHMAN is electrifying proof that high-tension international thrillers are back – and with an absolute vengeance.’ – William Shaw

‘David Gilman, who was once a paratrooper, writes convincingly about military and intelligence methods and mind-sets … The last third of THE ENGLISHMAN which Raglan infiltrates a penal colony in the Urals is a sweat-inducing tour de force.’ – Jeremy Duns, Thrillers of the Month, The Times

'A tightly plotted, very well told tale of clandestine campaigns, violent revenge and murky dealings at all levels' – Sci-Fi Bulletin

About the Author:

David Gilman has had an array of jobs: he has been a firefighter, soldier and photographer before he moved into writing, first as an award-winning screenwriter for A TOUCH OF FROST, and writer of an acclaimed adventure series for young readers. He is the author of the acclaimed historical MASTER OF WAR series, as well as historical standalones and contemporary thrillers. Head of Zeus have sold more than half a million copies of his novels in English, and his work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He currently lives in Devon, and is working on the sequel to THE ENGLISHMAN, THE ENGLISHMAN: BETRAYAL, which is set to be released in February 2022.

Visit David Gilman’s website.

Follow David Gilman on Twitter.