Left You Dead by Peter James

A couple have a bit of bicker about cat litter. This is the how the book opens and already I think...cat litter. That's got my attention, bizarrely enough. Something so strangely mundane and yet enticing too. Peter James can do that.

This is the seventeenth book in the series about Detective Inspector Grace, so popular he has his own television series. The popularity is easy to see: a realistic detective working in a well-researched police station with unexpected plotlines. I like that James has his books set in the Brighton area capturing the exact, distinct salt-air identity of the town. Plus, there are plenty of cats. I love this type of English identity.

This case follows the trail of a missing woman, presumed murdered by her spouse. Not unusual for this author's work, there is new and (I'm guessing) up to date police procedures and insights and some intricate medical knowledge I had no idea about. The story includes police work and dramatic aspects of the detective's personal life. Characters realistically expressed and most of them like famous actors, which is useful and does away with forgettable physical descriptions. Dominic West and Helena Bonham-Carter are quite memorable in the looks department.

The book is easy to follow and made familiar with the inclusion of the actors vivid in our minds and the Tesco Superstore, but in case anything slips the reader's mind there are frequent recaps. Probably how it's done at police stations so everything stays fresh, but it also felt a bit repetitive and made the book overly long. However, it was a great ride. A fairly typical D.I. Grace book to keep the popularity of this series going. And rightly so.

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Published by Macmillan on 13 May 2021.
​Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.

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