Roy Grace Mystery Series: Book 2 - Looking Good Dead

Amazon Customer: Roy Grace seems to have found an jnterest in personal life. But continues to worry about his status in the department while working a difficult case in which the victim keeps doing things that make you want to shout, "Don't do it! Put it down!"

United States on Apr 22, 2023

Lindzi: Mr James, I’m tired! And yet, I can’t sleep until I’ve finished this chapter…or book!

Just when you think you’re done, you take a breath, process the ending (which is always neat and tidy) then the next instalment pops up and you’re off again…another late night!

Thank you for your writing….but I really need to sleep!

United Kingdom on Mar 30, 2023

BobH: Let’s start with what I didn’t like with my second exploration of the ‘Grace’ Crime novels by Peter James. I must admit to a tendency to cling to the ORIGINS of words: so for me a Detective discloses a crime by use of LOGICAL fixing A to B and not to C – see Christie’s Marple tales for good examples. Consequently, one approach used here twice in neither case with advancing Detection. Add to that the focus on ‘COPRIS LUNARIS’(DUNG BEETLE) as a ‘Signature’ for the killer ( when, later on, Grace discovers other items had been used – NEVER the true symbol to the Ancient Egyptians of KHEPRER was Eternity / Self-Creating.
Not for me the images to frighten children when the activities of those who aspire to be masters of life or death would be enough. Let me add the TV version dealt well with that though it spoiled the progress of the plot for me when I came to read the book.

The author is a master of ‘screen-switching’ I which first encountered ’in my face’ with Jeffery Deaver which tightens tension (but undercuts the impacts of ’blood & guts’ horrors in some ways. Occasionally, intrusion makes the practice as ‘ragged’ – though in...

United Kingdom on Jun 21, 2022

Amazon Customer: I almost stopped reading the story because started out slow, but I'm glad I kept at it. Loved the two lead characters. An outstanding crime plot.

United States on Feb 16, 2022

Cymba2003: A good read beginning to end fast paced and gritty. This is the second book I have read and will read the next one Great seeing main characters develop

United States on Sep 28, 2021

Hadder: Slow too warm up book, Grace is an interesting & likeable character. Some suspense, some action and violence & sex. An easy read, and predictable story line.

United States on Apr 27, 2021

Wendy Unsworth: Having enjoyed the first in the Roy Grace series (apart from the ending -which is a pretty big part!) I wanted to give this series a second try. I did warm to Roy Grace in the first book and very much enjoyed the story.

In Looking Good Dead the story again gets off to a very good start. Tom Bryce, struggling with his business and his wife's spending habits, has enough to worry about without having to put up with a loudmouth yapping into his mobile on his commuter train ride home. When the guy leaves a CD on his seat, Tom, too disinterested to give chase, picks it up and and shoves it in his bag. Only later when he idly decides to check out the CD does he find he is viewing what appears to be a snuff movie. Then the threats start.

Roy Grace is called in. His background story (wife disappeared some years ago and has never been found) moves along nicely with a date in the offing and the age-old problem of what to wear.

The story proceeds at a good pace as Tom Bryce gets more desperate to protect himself and his family.

There is some mention of Grace's faith in pyschics to help with the investigation but this time not to the point of it being a cop out -...

United Kingdom on Nov 16, 2016

Ginger Book Geek: Tom Bryce, company owner, picks up a CD on a train that somebody has left behind. Tom fully intends to hand the CD back to its rightful owner but before he does, he looks at the disc to see what is on there, which proves to be a huge mistake. He witnesses a murder on the CD but he is unsure what to do especially after the perpetrators realise he has the disc and they trace Tom. Tom has the support of his wife and he goes to the police, which has massive consequences for both him and his family.
Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and his team have to establish the identity of the victim, establish the identities of the perpetrators and establish their motives as well as ensure the safety of the Bryce family. The book follows the investigation of this disturbing crime.
This is the second book in the hugely popular Roy Grace series and picks up a matter of months following the events of ‘Dead Simple’. ‘Looking Good Dead’ seamlessly picks up where ‘Dead Simple’ left off.
I really enjoyed this book. The book itself is really well written and structured. The chapters are written in such a way that you just have to read on & on. Peter James is a brilliant author,...

United Kingdom on Feb 20, 2016

Just saying: I can understand some of the criticisms. I found the book repetitious, sometimes word perfect - about tiredness, about caffeine, about once upper class buildings now filled with dingy student flats and so on. The almost cliche'd use of alcohol, hangovers, nausea. Also, while on the subject, the now almost obligatory nausea/vomiting at crime scenes. The book needs a good editor. I don't mind the reiterations from Dead Simple for the sake of first time readers but these are internal and should have been picked up earlier.

The typeface of my mass market version was interspersed with a MS Notebook looking font with inappropriate spacing that became very annoying as it continued throughout the book. Not the authors fault but still a blight on the edition in my hands.

Nevertheless - despite being a novel with cliched bad guys and a Hollywood type climax (hardly an endoument), it was so hard to put down!

Peter James remains a master of his art - albeit a flawed with this particular offering - he kept me in the palm of his hand throughout, just like with Dead simple. I can't wait to read Not Dead Enough in my chronological journey through the Roy Grace stories.

United Kingdom on Jan 27, 2010

L. J. Roberts: First Sentence: The front door of the one-proud terraced house opened, and a long-legged young woman, in a short silk dress that seemed to both cling and float at the same time, stepped out into the fine June sunshine on the last morning of her life.

On his way home from work, Tom Bryce finds a CD left behind by a passenger on the train. In an effort to identify the CD's owner, Tom opens it in his computer and witnesses the brutal murder of a young woman. When he tries to open it again, he receives a threat against himself and his family. Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to the scene where the dismembered body of a young woman, sans her head, has been found. Grace's team must first identify the body and catch the killer before more die.

This book is good; really good. I was captivated on page one and held until the very last page way too late that same night. The story is exciting, human, grisly, sexy, profane and I enjoyed every bit of it. All of the characters are very well developed; Tom's struggle to keep his business going, his wife's feeling of desperation, Roy's still coping with his wife's disappearance yet trying to move forward while trying to...

United States on Jul 09, 2007