Roy Grace Books in Order
Part ofPeter James Books in OrderFind every Roy Grace book by Peter James in order, with quick summaries, character notes, series background, adaptation notes, and reading tips.
Last updated: June 6, 2026
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Publication Order
22 books
The Hawk is Dead
by Peter James
2025
A royal train derailment and a sniper's bullet pull Roy Grace into a case touching Buckingham Palace. Grace doubts the obvious target, but a second murder raises the stakes and leaves little room for failure.
They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy's Story
by Peter James
2024
Sandy Grace finally gets her own story, revealing what happened after she vanished from Roy's life. Her disappearance becomes a tale of fear, reinvention and the secrets she could not bring home.
One of Us Is Dead
by Peter James
2024
At a funeral, James Taylor sees a man he believes died two years earlier. While Roy Grace investigates suspicious deaths across Brighton, the impossible sighting points toward a dead man who may still be dangerous.
Stop Them Dead
by Peter James
2023
A young farmer is murdered during a night-time break-in, and Roy Grace soon sees more than a robbery. The case exposes a ruthless dog-trafficking network where greed is worth killing for.
Picture You Dead
by Peter James
2022
Harry and Freya Kipling buy a cheap portrait and may have found a lost masterpiece beneath it. Roy Grace enters the fine-art world, where greed, fraud and violence hide behind polished manners.
Left You Dead
by Peter James
2021
Eden Paternoster vanishes after a routine stop at a supermarket, leaving her husband Niall waiting in the car park. With no body and no trace, Roy Grace must decide whether there is even a crime.
Find Them Dead
by Peter James
2020
Juror Meg Magellan is selected for the trial of a ruthless Brighton drug lord, then receives a threat involving her daughter abroad. Roy Grace must uncover the pressure before justice is bought by fear.
Dead at First Sight
by Peter James
2019
A Brighton woman's death leads Roy Grace into the world of online romance scams. When a motivational speaker discovers his identity has been stolen, the case points to a global fraud network willing to murder.
Dead If You Don't
by Peter James
2018
Businessman Kipp Brown takes his teenage son to a football match, then loses him in the crowd. A kidnap demand follows, and Roy Grace enters a criminal world where nothing is straightforward.
Need You Dead
by Peter James
2017
Lorna Belling wants out of a brutal marriage and thinks a new lover might save her. When a woman is found dead in a Brighton bath, Roy Grace faces a case full of plausible suspects.
Love You Dead
by Peter James
2016
Jodie Bentley wants beauty, wealth and freedom from inconvenient husbands. As Roy Grace hunts a possible Black Widow in Brighton, he realizes her charm may hide a far deadlier talent.
You Are Dead
by Peter James
2015
Logan Somerville vanishes from an underground car park during a terrified phone call. When older remains surface elsewhere in Brighton, Roy Grace suspects the city may be facing a serial killer.
Want You Dead
by Peter James
2014
Red Westwood thinks she has escaped manipulative Bryce Laurent, but his obsession is only beginning. Under police protection, she discovers that he plans to destroy everyone she loves before coming for her.
Dead Man's Time
by Peter James
2013
A brutal burglary leaves an elderly woman dying and a priceless watch missing. Roy Grace follows the trail from Brighton's antiques world to New York, where old promises and old crimes still matter.
Not Dead Yet
by Peter James
2012
A Hollywood film brings superstar Gaia to Brighton, along with a stalker who may already be waiting. Roy Grace must guard a celebrity target while the city's biggest publicity coup turns dangerous.
Dead Man's Grip
by Peter James
2011
A fatal traffic accident in Brighton connects ordinary driver Carly Chase to a powerful New York crime family. Roy Grace has to protect her before grief, money and revenge deliver a death sentence.
Dead Like You
by Peter James
2010
A New Year's Eve assault in Brighton echoes an unsolved series of crimes from years earlier. Roy Grace must decide whether a copycat is at work or a predator known as the Shoe Man has returned.
Dead Tomorrow
by Peter James
2009
Teenage bodies are found off the Sussex coast with vital organs missing. As Roy Grace follows a trafficking trail, a desperate mother searches for a black-market liver that could save her daughter.
Dead Man's Footsteps
by Peter James
2008
A body in a Brighton storm drain pulls Roy Grace into a case that reaches back to 9/11 and across the Atlantic. A woman is being hunted, and the past is closing in fast.
Not Dead Enough
by Peter James
2007
Katie Bishop is murdered, and all signs point to her husband Brian. The problem is that Brian appears to have been miles away at the time, leaving Roy Grace with a suspect, an alibi and no certainty.
Looking Good Dead
by Peter James
2006
Tom Bryce finds a disc on a train and tries to do the right thing. Instead, he witnesses a murder and drags his family into the path of killers, while Roy Grace races to protect them.
Dead Simple
by Peter James
2005
A stag-night prank leaves groom-to-be Michael Harrison trapped and his friends dead. Roy Grace investigates a disappearance that should have been simple, until money, silence and motive make it anything but.
Series background & context
The Roy Grace series follows Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a Brighton-based police officer whose cases are often brutal, strange and tied to the hidden life of Sussex. The books start with Dead Simple, where a stag-night prank turns into a nightmare, and Grace arrives already carrying a private wound: his wife Sandy disappeared years earlier and was never found.
That missing-wife story runs under the early books like a low electrical hum. Grace is not just solving murders. He is also living with the damage of not knowing whether Sandy left, died or is still somewhere beyond reach. It affects how he reads grief, false hope and obsession in the people he meets.
Brighton matters here.
James uses the city and surrounding county as a working landscape: seafront hotels, police offices, country roads, luxury homes, building sites, football crowds, marinas, old mansions and ordinary streets. The series is very aware that crime moves through all of them. A case might begin with a missing groom, a stolen CD, a road accident, a dating scam, a jury threat, a dog-theft racket or a possible attack involving the royal household.
Grace is supported by a recurring team, especially his close friend and colleague Glenn Branson. Pathologist Cleo Morey becomes central to his personal life, while Sandy's absence keeps tugging at the story. Other police figures, villains and family members build up over time, so reading in order gives you more than case-of-the-week plots. It gives you consequences.
The tone is fast and procedural. James likes research, and the books often lean into forensic detail, interview strategy, surveillance, traffic investigation, cybercrime and the politics inside a modern police force. He also likes a strong hook. Bodies in odd places, time pressure, secrets from the past and ordinary people making one bad decision all drive the series.
Most novels can be followed on their own, but the emotional arc works best from the beginning. Start with Dead Simple if you want the cleanest entry point. If you prefer a later case with modern online crime, Dead at First Sight is also accessible, though it carries more background.
The books have been adapted for television as Grace, with John Simm playing Roy Grace. The screen version gives a good sense of the series: dark cases, Brighton atmosphere and a detective who keeps functioning even when his own life refuses to stay solved.
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