Publishers Weekly
06/17/2019
In British author James’s enjoyable 15th novel featuring Det. Supt. Roy Grace (after 2018’s Dead if You Don’t), international criminal Mr. Barrey uses his team of merciless internet scammers, children trained in Ghana, to trick elderly singles on dating sites into falling in love and giving up their life savings. When Mr. Barrey’s business partner, Jules de Copeland, who has a penchant for wearing red shoes, goes rogue and sets up his own dating service, Mr. Barrey hires Grace’s nemesis, the assassin Tooth, to find and kill de Copeland. Meanwhile, a man wearing red shoes is implicated in the death of a scam victim, initially believed to be a suicide, in Grace’s territory of Brighton. This straightforward police procedural offers no plot twists or surprises, but James does a good job of detailing how the same modern technology that can wreak havoc can also help bring crooks to justice. Grace’s accepting a new position in London at the end promises a fresh direction for this long-running series. James’s many fans will look forward to seeing what’s next for Grace.(Aug.)
From the Publisher
Peter James has penetrated the inner workings of police procedures, and the inner thoughts and attitudes of real detectives, as no English crime writer before him. His hero, Roy Grace, may not be the most lively cop, nor the most damaged by drink, weight or misery, but he’s one of the most believable” —The Times
“Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business” —Karin Slaughter
“James just gets better and better and deserves the success he has achieved with this first-class series” —Independent on Sunday
“Meticulous research gives his prose great authenticity . . . James manages to add enough surprises and drama that by the end you’re rooting for the police and really don’t know if they will finally get their men” —Sunday Express
“No one can deny James’s success as a crime novelist . . . The Grace stories almost always go to the top of the bestseller lists, not least because they are supremely well-told. James writes meticulously researched police procedurals, so informed that you can smell the canteen coffee . . . enthralling” —Daily Mail
“In my thirty four years of policing, never have I come across a writer who so accurately depicts “The Job”” —Detective Investigator Pat Lanigan, Office of the District Attorney, NYPD
“A full-throated exposé” —Kirkus
“The action is fast and furious, but, as in all novels in this series, it’s held together by the unflappable character of Superintendent Grace . . . Not to be missed” —Booklist
