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NOT DEAD YET
by Peter James
Minotaur Books, December 2012
441 pages
$25.99
ISBN: 0312642849


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is busy enough in Brighton. His team is looking for a contract killer who disappeared and investigating a torso – no head, no arms or legs – found on a chicken farm. In his personal life, he and pregnant fiancée Cleo are ready to marry, but Grace's wife, Sandy, who disappeared ten years ago, must first be declared dead.

Into this mix comes news that superstar Gaia Lafayette (think Madonna or Lady Gaga) is coming to Brighton to film "The King's Lover," a story of King George IV and his mistress, Maria Fitzherbert. Someone has already tried to kill Gaia in Los Angeles, so Grace's team is called to provide additional security. For Grace, who has ambitions of climbing the career ladder, any slipup in the Gaia security would not only be costly for the city of Brighton, but could derail his career.

The problem is that there's more than one bad guy in this novel. There's the former screenwriter who believes the producers have stolen his film script and who flies to England to thwart movie production. There's the unhinged fan who feels spurned by Gaia. And there's the small-time mobster whom Grace once put away and who has now been released, intent on hurting Grace's career. And someone has threatened Cleo's life.

This makes for a novel that is sometimes choppy, as we bounce from the viewpoint of one character to another. The book's best passages read like a fine police procedural, when we follow Grace and his team. James portrays the squad as a close-knit group, fueled by morbid humor ("If we could find his skull – that would give us a head start," one detective jokes about the torso investigation). However, the book is also part thriller and it is these chapters that are a bit choppy, especially toward the beginning.

There are also other nitpicks about the book. At one point, police are told that forensics have estimated the height of the dead man from his femur and tibia measurements. However, at this point of the story only the torso has been found – no legs! Also, Grace, who is very much in love with Cleo and happy in his new life, acts like a smitten fourth-grade boy whenever he is around Gaia.

Despite these quibbles, fans of the Roy Grace books should like this one. Not everything is tied up nicely at the end, boding more troubles ahead for Grace.

§ Lourdes Venard is a newspaper editor in Long Island, N.Y.

Reviewed by Lourdes Venard, January 2013

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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