5 Stars from me!
The fact this is the 14th book in the series certainly hasn’t diminished it’s shine. For me, one of the signs of a great author is whether or not they can make you care if someone lives or dies and I found myself racing through the pages desperately hoping that Mungo would survive his ordeal.
Peter James seemingly captures everything in this novel, his references are all current, his knowledge and detail are incredible and – while Roy Grace is like a comfy pair of slippers – the story is fast paced, interesting and exciting. I can’t recommend these books enough. If you are new to this series, I envy you enormously as you’ve got 14 fabulous books to read through!
Synopsis: Roy Grace, creation of the CWA Diamond Dagger award winning author Peter James, faces his most complex case yet in Dead If You Don’t.
Kipp Brown, successful businessman and compulsive gambler, is having the worst run of luck of his life. He’s beginning to lose, big style. However, taking his teenage son, Mungo, to their club’s Saturday afternoon football match should have given him a welcome respite, if only for a few hours. But it’s at the stadium where his nightmare begins.
Within minutes of arriving at the game, Kipp bumps into a client. He takes his eye off Mungo for a few moments, and in that time, the boy disappears. Then he gets the terrifying message that someone has his child, and to get him back alive, Kipp will have to pay.
Defying instruction not to contact the police, Kipp reluctantly does just that, and Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is brought in to investigate. At first it seems a straightforward case of kidnap. But rapidly Grace finds himself entering a dark, criminal underbelly of the city, where the rules are different and nothing is what it seems . . .
Read and Rated 