What a horror for a small boy to see! Shots fired in the
dark, screams and his dead mother lying in a pool of
blood. Then, confusion and being hustled off to Ireland
with his sister "to be safe". All he wants to do is see
his father. Where is he?
That is Brooklyn, New York in 1922. Now, ninety years
later in Brighton, England, events circle back to that
horrible time. The small boy, Gavin Daly, is now 95;
still quite spry and a very wealthy man. He is close to
his sister, Aileen McWhirler, and stays in regular contact.
His sister, an elderly 98 year old widow, yet still elegant
woman, lives on her own on Withdean Road. She is not
responding to his calls. Would the Brighton Police please go
and check on her.
The arriving Sussex police officers are shocked by what
they discover and ask Detective Superintendent Roy Grace to
come to the crime scene of a vicious robbery. With the
recent arrival of his baby son Noah Jack, Roy Grace has
been experiencing sleep deprivation; yet he is still quick
enough to realize the implications of the flyer left on the
kitchen table in a house now stripped of its many valuable
antiques and paintings. He thinks that the person leaving
the flyer, looking for antiques, may be involved in the
robbery, but proving it could be a tricky matter!
With this gripping and captivating start, Peter James
quickly pulls the reader into the story and into the life
of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. DEAD MAN'S TIME is
James's ninth book featuring Grace and is set a few months
after events in NOT DEAD YET, the highly suspenseful eighth
book in Peter James's terrific crime series. It is a
fascinating read that focuses on the high-end international
world of art and antiques and particularly those involved
in in shady black market dealings. Skillfully intertwined
into this storyline is the back story of Irish gangs in New
York in the 1920s and, in particular, the death of Gavin
Daly's parents and the small mysterious legacy the small
boy is left holding. A number, a few names, an expensive
watch and a gun.
It is little wonder that James is an international best-
selling author and he certainly is in top form in DEAD
MAN'S TIME. James is brilliant at writing authentic and
compelling police procedural books as well as giving strong
insights into the back stories and personal lives of his
characters.
His style is very easy to read with short pithy chapters
with appropriate linkage back to events in previous novels,
so DEAD MAN'S TIME could also be read as a stand-alone
novel. Given that, I would recommend that readers consider
reading James' previous novel, Not Dead Yet, first for the
full impact and suspense that DEAD MAN'S TIME holds. In
particular, the situation with Sandy, Roy Grace's first
wife, may be a little confusing and understated in its
implications for Roy and frustrating for fans who would
like it resolved as much as Roy would like it to be. Sandy,
who went AWOL ten years previous, is now presumed dead. Is
he now really free to marry Chloe, the mother of his new
baby son?
Revenge is the name of the game in DEAD MAN'S TIME and
there is a number of vendettas going on involving a number
of sleazy secondary characters. Meanwhile, despite his
sleep loss and wanting to spend more time with his new
family, Roy Grace is very determined to do the work he loves
and vows to "never stop fighting for his murder victims". He
is a terrific protagonist and I fully enjoy how James
develops him in this new role as a dad. In fact, events
around this new development in Grace's life makes DEAD MAN'S
TIME even more riveting and suspenseful.
Readers will definitely find this story an absolute page
turner as it moves from New York to England to Spain and
back to complete a complex circle of vengeance! So, don't
waste any more time! Get out and grab a copy of DEAD MAN'S
TIME and then settle back for a real reading adventure!
Enjoy!
In Dead Man's Time, the latest from international
bestselling author Peter James, Roy Grace finds himself up
against that most dangerous of all adversaries—a man with
fury in his heart who has nothing to lose.
New York, 1922. Five-year-old Gavin Daly and his
seven-year-old sister, Aileen, are boarding the SS
Mauretania to Dublin—and safety. Their mother has been shot
and their Irish mobster father abducted. Suddenly, a
messenger hands Gavin a piece of paper on which are written
four names and eleven numbers, a cryptic message that
will haunt him all his life, and his father's pocket
watch. As the ship sails, Gavin watches Manhattan fade
into the dusk and makes a promise, that one day he will
return and find his father.
Brighton, 2012. Detective Superintendent Roy Grace
investigates a savage burglary in Brighton, in which an old
lady is murdered and £10m of antiques have been taken,
including a rare vintage watch. To Grace’s surprise,
the antiques are unimportant to her family—it is the watch
they want back. As his investigation probes deeper, he
realizes he has kicked over a hornets nest of new and
ancient hatreds. At its heart is one man, Gavin Daly,
the dead woman’s ninety-five-year-old brother. He
has a score to settle and a promise to keep—both of which
lead to a murderous trail linking the antiques world of
Brighton, the crime fraternity of Spain’s Marbella, and New
York.
Roy Grace, in a race against the clock to stop another
killing, has met his most dangerous adversary yet.
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