Detective Superintendent Roy Grace must juggle the demands
of coordinating a security plan for mega-star Gaia
Lafayette and her son while she's in Brighton filming,
solving a murder in which only the mutilated torso has been
found, and preparing for impending fatherhood. When
seemingly unrelated cases begin to intersect in unusual
ways, Grace and his team must rush to find the answers in
order to protect Gaia and their jobs.
NOT DEAD YET by Peter James follows Roy Grace through the
twists and turns of a murder investigation alongside his
team of investigators in the Sussex Police. The majority of
the story is from Grace's point of view, but his
investigators, his fiancée, Gaia, her fans, the murderer,
crooks, and even a chicken farmer all have their own
scenes. The upshot of having so many characters tell the
story is that it increases the tension and it feels
realistic in the way that information is gathered. Everyone
has a little piece of the puzzle and they work together to
find how they fit. The story doles out information like a
good mystery should, revealing just enough to keep the
reader guessing, then exposing more so the reader is
connecting the dots alongside the investigators, and then
allowing the reader to put all the clues together before
the investigator and yet it still delivers the climactic
ending.
The downside to the multiple points of view is there are a
lot of characters to keep track of and sometimes they're
only in the story for one tiny section which isn't enough
time to connect with them emotionally. Some of these
characters were particularly interesting and I wanted to
know more about their lives but their purpose in building
the mystery was over and so they disappeared.
As the eighth book in the Roy Grace series, NOT DEAD YET
probably builds many of the investigators in the previous
books, but as this is the first one I've read, I missed
much of the deeper connection because of the shifting
viewpoints. Peter James deftly handles references to
previous events in his other works, giving enough to
explain the situation without slowing or distracting from
the mystery in this story. This world he's created is
complex and multi-faceted with engaging characters and a
good mystery and if you haven't read any of the previous
works, like me, don't worry about jumping right into the
middle of things.
NOT DEAD YET exposes the hidden obsessions
and fears of the heart, creating a complex mystery that
builds to an unexpected finale.
Roy Grace tracks a stalker obsessed with a Hollywood starlet
in the latest from #1 international bestselling author Peter
James Days before one of Hollywood’s hottest stars, Gaia
Lafayette, leaves home for a movie role on location in
Brighton, England, there is a bungled attempt on her life.
The whole city of Brighton awaits Gaia’s arrival, including
her dangerously obsessive Number One fan looking for revenge
and an anxious Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, charged
with protecting Gaia.When a mutilated torso is found on a
chicken farm miles away in the countryside, Roy Grace has no
reason at all to connect this to the star’s visit to the
county. But as events rapidly begin to unfold, Roy Grace and
his team find themselves in a desperate race against time to
save Gaia’s life from a clever maniac who will stop at
nothing to kill her.
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