00:00 I have two criteria when I start, when I'm embarking on a new book,
00:03 because a Roy Grace novel is going to take me a year of my life.
00:05 So it's got to be something, I never think what's going to sell,
00:09 I think what am I going to really enjoy writing?
00:12 British crime writer and New York Times bestseller Peter James is well known for his series of books
00:18 centred around detective superintendent protagonist Roy Grace.
00:22 Following last year's Picture You Dead novel, crime and thriller fans are in for a treat as
00:27 the 19th instalment in the Roy Grace series is set to drop this September.
00:31 The book will also see its ITV ongoing smash hit adaptation Grace come to screens once again
00:37 as the series has been renewed for a fourth season which will air in 2024.
00:41 Detective Superintendent Grace, you are a dabbler in the dark arts?
00:47 Pentulum never lies, Roy.
00:49 Peter's new book Stop Them Dead will address a wave of illegal and dangerous dog breeding
00:57 fronted by a host of unsavoury characters,
00:59 including a petty criminal known as Gekko and the notorious Jim crime family.
01:04 And I then met with the chief constable of Sussex who was also a massive dog lover and she said that
01:10 throughout the UK the price of dogs has gone up over 10 times during lockdown and it's still high
01:17 now and organised crime gangs are making more money out of dogs and puppies than out of drugs
01:25 and with almost negligible sentences if they get caught.
01:28 You don't have to like animals to enjoy Stop Them Dead, it's at its heart, it's just a flat
01:33 out thriller but I think if you do love animals you'll get something I think very valuable out of
01:39 it too. I think starting with the cast of Grace, if you'd asked me to do an identikit back in 2003
01:49 when I was writing Dead Simple, the first Roy Grace novel, I would have said, I would have
01:53 come up with John Sim. When the ITV said what do you think about John Sim playing Grace, I just
02:00 bit their hands off and I prayed that he would do it.
02:02 With appearances and book signings arranged nationally for autumn,
02:07 Peter and I discussed his prospects for the Roy Grace series going forward. Here's what he had to say.
02:13 I've also got next year coming out a special treat for my readers.
02:16 First few chapters are in the back of Stop Them Dead and it's a standalone
02:22 kind of spin-off. Roy Grace has a missing wife called Sandy who's been missing all the time that
02:28 we know the books. This is called They Thought I Was Dead, Sandy's story and it tells the story from
02:36 the day she left Roy. It literally starts, my name is Sandy, I've just lost my husband,
02:41 he doesn't know it yet and that's coming out in May.
02:44 Ironically enough when I told, I was telling my mum that I was interviewing you a day and she went
02:49 ask him what's happened to that wife. I was like okay.
02:51 Oh my god you can tell her!
02:53 78th of September across the UK and that's coming out hardback, kindle, audible.
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