Left You Dead: A Realistically Creepy Crime Thriller (Roy Grace Book 17)

Product Information

At times there is some repetition and on occasions it’s a bit over burdened with facts and some unnecessary detail. There’s also a tragedy in the life of one of the investigators that brings an added heartbreaking dimension.

Thankyou to Macmillan Australia for providing me with a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. In a nutshell, it’s a did he/didn’t he set-up, but James, one of the best storytellers around, keeps the clever plot motoring. Meanwhile, there’s the usual sideshows that we associate with a James novel – his private life with wife Cleo and strange young son Bruno, problems for his loyal supporting cast of hard-working cops, and the malign presence of ACC Cassian Pewe looming over it all. There are plenty of twists and turns which will keep you on your toes as the story moves on, and you may also find yourselves reaching for the tissues at times.

The first seems more likely initially, but later as more information comes to light, it’s anyone’s guess. Niall is questioned again and again and is eventually arrested for suspicion of murder but later released.

There's quite a lot going on in the book and Roy and Cleo are going through some tuff personal stuff. The ending was spectacular with a desperate cliff top situation where several lives are at extreme risk.

Cassian Pewe continues to rub Grace up the wrong way, and I shall be interested to see where the storyline goes for my favourite character, Norman Potting. The pacing was really well done, and several of the plot twists genuinely made me put the book down as I couldn’t see some of them coming at all! Although a bit long, the short chapters and a riveting plot kept the story moving along at a brisk pace. 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.

This is one of the few ongoing sagas that still has me gripped, although the previous outing, Find Them Dead, left me feeling rather dissatisfied as the main character seemed to have been sidelined.This book follows the investigation into a missing woman, Eden Paternoster, where her husband is suspected of her murder. The characters within the case are great and provide plenty of secrets and lies to work through in trying to find out what happened. In this one their story is an emotional and moving one which is handled extremely well and also makes you feel something. For me Peter seems to waffle on and on about names, back history and police and hospital procedures, filling out a book with unecessary mundane writing that I find myself skim reading.

My only problem with this book is that there were often a lot of characters making appearances at various points, which was hard to keep track of, but I appreciate that they may have appeared in earlier instalments of this series - I would definitely love to read more from Peter James! Eden goes into Tesco's to pick up cat litter and never reappears, no sightings, no trace and no body. Niall Paternoster drops his wife Eden at Tesco in Brighton while he parks and waits in the car and that’s the last he sees of her. Overall, a highly enjoyable read that I couldn’t put down most of the time - perfect for fans of a good thriller book.

Overall, Left You Dead is addictive, crafty, slightly emotional, and unbelievably already the seventeenth novel in the Roy Grace series and even though this one is a little meatier at just over 500 pages, I still have yet to read a book by James that didn’t captivate, satisfy, and highly entertain me and I’m happy to say this latest one is also no exception. This was a real hum-dinger of a mystery and it’s fair to say the storyline had me hooked, trying to work out what happened to Eden, from the moment she got out of the car! Leaving the book open for the next instalment in Grace and his team’s stories, I honestly don’t know how I’m going to wait!