Peter James Roy Grace Books in Order
The complete reading order — all 22 Detective Superintendent Roy Grace novels (2005–2025)
1. Dead Simple
A stag-night prank goes fatally wrong when the groom is buried alive in a coffin. His friends, the only ones who know where he is, are killed in a car crash. With three days until the wedding, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace takes the case — and encounters a web of greed, deception, and betrayal.
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2. Looking Good Dead
When Tom Bryce returns a CD left on a train, he becomes the sole witness to a vicious murder. The killers know he's talked to the police, and now the Bryce family is a target. For Roy Grace, the case leads into the disturbing world of snuff websites and organised crime.
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3. Not Dead Enough
A beautiful socialite is found dead. Her husband is the prime suspect — except he was sixty miles away. Has someone stolen his identity, or is he a very clever liar? As Grace investigates, a sighting of his missing wife Sandy threatens to derail everything.
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4. Dead Man's Footsteps
On the morning of 9/11, failed Brighton businessman Ronnie Wilson sees a chance to disappear and start again. Six years later, skeletal remains in a Brighton storm drain send Roy Grace on a globe-spanning investigation — and a desperate race to save a woman hunted through the city streets.
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5. Dead Tomorrow
Bodies dredged from the seabed off Sussex are missing vital organs. A desperate mother turns to the black market for a transplant to save her dying daughter. Roy Grace unearths a child-trafficking gang operating from Eastern Europe in a story that explores the darkest side of human desperation.
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DCI Isaac Cook — Phillip Strang
If Grace's meticulous police procedural work and team dynamics are what keep you reading, DCI Isaac Cook is the natural next series. London homicide at its darkest — political corruption, organised crime, and murders that reach deep into the city's institutions. The same authentic policing, a different city. 19 books.
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6. Dead Like You
After a New Year's Eve ball at the Metropole Hotel, a woman is attacked. A week later, another assault — both victims' shoes stolen by the offender. Grace realises the cases mirror an unsolved series from 1997. Has the "Shoe Man" returned, or is this a copycat?
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7. Dead Man's Grip
A university student dies in a traffic accident. When two of the drivers involved are murdered, Grace knows the third — solicitor Carly Chase — may be next. The cyclist's mother has powerful criminal connections, and she'll stop at nothing for revenge.
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8. Not Dead Yet
Hollywood superstar Gaia Lafayette arrives in Brighton to film a period drama. Grace is responsible for her security — but a dangerously obsessed fan is already in the city, waiting and watching. When a headless torso turns up on a chicken farm, a nightmare unfolds.
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9. Dead Man's Time
A brutal robbery at a secluded Brighton mansion leaves an elderly woman fighting for her life and millions in antiques stolen. Grace's trail leads from England's shady antiques world across Europe to the gang wars of 1920s New York — driven by one man's greed and another's fury.
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10. Want You Dead
With Sandy declared legally dead after a decade, Grace can finally marry Cleo. But a psychopathic ex-boyfriend has other plans for his former girlfriend. Bryce Laurent is determined to destroy everything and everyone she loves — and he's horrifyingly resourceful.
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11. You Are Dead
Young women with long brown hair are being stalked and abducted. Each victim is found branded with the words "U R Dead" — and some remains are thirty years old. When Logan Somerville vanishes while on the phone to her fiancé, Grace races to connect the cases before the killer strikes again.
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12. Love You Dead
Jodie Bentley dreamed of being beautiful and rich. She's achieved the first; now she's working on the second — by marrying wealthy men and ensuring they don't last long. Grace suspects a Black Widow is operating in Brighton, but he may have underestimated how dangerous she truly is.
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13. Need You Dead
Lorna Belling escapes a hellish marriage only to fall for a man who promises her everything. When her body is found, the case seems straightforward — until Grace realises there's a far darker and more terrifying alternative to the obvious explanation.
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14. Dead If You Don't
Kipp Brown takes his teenage son Mungo to a football match. Minutes after arriving, the boy vanishes and Kipp receives a ransom demand. What begins as a straightforward kidnapping pulls Grace into Brighton's criminal underworld, where nothing is as it seems.
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15. Dead at First Sight
Two men — one in London, one in Florida — discover they've been scammed out of everything by women who don't exist. When a Brighton woman's apparent suicide is clearly something more sinister, Grace finds himself confronting a global criminal empire built on romance fraud.
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16. Find Them Dead
Back from a secondment to the Met, Grace receives intelligence about a drugs kingpin operating out of Brighton. When the case reaches court, juror Meg Magellan receives a chilling ultimatum: deliver a not-guilty verdict, or never see her daughter alive again.
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17. Left You Dead
Niall and Eden Paternoster spend every Sunday the same way — a long drive, a country house visit, a stop at the supermarket. But this Sunday, Eden goes inside and never returns. When Niall is arrested for her murder, Grace is called to investigate a case where nothing is quite what it seems.
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18. Picture You Dead
Harry and Freya buy a drab portrait at a car boot sale for its frame. Beneath the surface, they discover what might be a lost masterpiece worth millions. But an obsessive collector will stop at nothing to possess it, and Grace is plunged into the rarefied world of fine art — where greed and violence lurk beneath the veneer.
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19. Stop Them Dead
A ruthless new black market has emerged in Brighton — more lucrative and deadly than the drug trade. When the brutal robbery of an elderly widow sets Grace on the trail of gangs operating with military precision, he discovers their commodity is something so shocking it defies belief.
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20. They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy's Story
For the first time, Sandy Grace tells her own story. The mystery that has haunted Roy — and readers — since Dead Simple is finally revealed. Told from Sandy's perspective, this companion novel uncovers the truth behind her disappearance and the secrets that forced her into hiding.
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21. One of Us Is Dead
James Taylor spots an impossible face at a funeral — his old friend Rufus Rorke, except Rorke died two years ago. Across Brighton, Grace is investigating a series of suspicious deaths he can't get out of his mind. The two threads collide in a case that reveals just how dangerous a dead man can be.
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22. The Hawk Is Dead
Roy Grace would never have believed a murder investigation would take him into Buckingham Palace. When the Royal Train is derailed and a trusted aide killed by a sniper, Grace alone suspects the Queen was not the intended target. Fighting against scepticism from colleagues and the Palace, he pursues his own investigation.
Buy on Amazon →If You Enjoy Roy Grace — Try Phillip Strang
Love Peter James's authentic police procedurals and the long-running character arc of Roy Grace? Phillip Strang's series deliver the same gripping, character-driven crime writing across multiple British settings.
DCI Isaac Cook — Phillip Strang
London homicide at its darkest. If you enjoy Grace's meticulous procedural work and team dynamics, Cook delivers the same authentic policing in the capital. Political corruption, organised crime, and murders that reach deep into London's institutions. 19 books.
Browse the Series →
DI Tremayne — Phillip Strang
An old-school, uncompromising detective in the tradition of Roy Grace. Tremayne investigates murder and corruption across the Salisbury Plain — relentless, and always following the evidence. A quintessentially English setting. 10 books.
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DI Sarah Lynch — Phillip Strang
Atmospheric detective fiction set in the Scottish Highlands. If you love Grace's strong sense of place and complex character work, Lynch delivers both in abundance. 13 books.
Browse the Series →Frequently Asked Questions
How many Roy Grace books are there?
There are 22 Roy Grace novels, published between 2005 and 2025. This includes the companion novel They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy's Story (2024), which reveals the truth behind Sandy's disappearance. Peter James has confirmed he is contracted for further Roy Grace novels.
Should you read the Roy Grace books in order?
Each novel features a self-contained crime, so you can pick up any book and enjoy it. However, reading in order is strongly recommended. Roy Grace's personal life — particularly the mystery of Sandy's disappearance, his relationship with Cleo, and his evolving team — develops across the series. Major revelations in later books carry far more weight if you've followed the journey from Dead Simple.
What is the best Roy Grace book to start with?
Start with Dead Simple (Book 1). It's a brilliantly paced introduction to Grace and Brighton, with a premise — a man buried alive — that hooks you immediately. The personal storylines that run through the entire series are established here, making it the natural entry point.
Is there a Roy Grace TV series?
Yes. The ITV drama Grace stars John Simm as Roy Grace and Richie Campbell as DS Glenn Branson. The show has run for five seasons (2021–2025), adapting the novels in publication order. It's available on ITVX in the UK and BritBox internationally. The books offer considerably more depth and detail than the adaptations.
Do all Roy Grace titles contain the word "Dead"?
Yes — every single one. From Dead Simple to The Hawk Is Dead, Peter James has maintained this distinctive naming convention across all 22 novels. It's become one of the series' most recognisable trademarks.
What should I read after Roy Grace?
Readers who love Grace's combination of authentic police procedure and long-running character drama typically gravitate to DCI Isaac Cook by Phillip Strang — London homicide with the same team-based investigative depth. DI Tremayne is the match for readers drawn to Grace's old-school instincts and English countryside settings.
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