Title: Need You Dead
Author: Peter James
Publisher: MacMillan
Series: Detective Superintendent Roy Grace (#13)
Genre: Crime Thriller, Murder Mystery
Pages: 410
Format: Paperback
Review also posted on: Goodreads
Book Synopsis:
Lorna Belling, desperate to escape the marriage from hell, falls for the charms of another man who promises her the earth. But, as Lorna finds, life seldom follows the plans you’ve made. A chance photograph on a client’s mobile phone changes everything for her.
When the body of a woman is found in a bath in Brighton, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to the scene. At first it looks an open and shut case with a clear prime suspect. Then other scenarios begin to present themselves, each of them tantalisingly plausible, until, in a sudden turn of events, and to his utter disbelief, the case turns more sinister than Grace could ever have imagined.
This Book is about:
The unintentional murder of the beautiful Lorna Belling and how DS Roy Grace and his team slowly rule out whether her death was by suicide or murder They eventually start finding possible suspects: her abusive husband, a dissatisfied buyer, and a famous person. And they also found out a little later about a possible lover. And things start to escalate pretty quickly each time they find a new suspect, a pursuit that ended terribly, another murder materializing, and a reveal that will leave you in shock (well, it left me in shock).
My Review:
Note: The advance reader copy (ARC) was sent to me by Mr. Peter and Dani in exchange for an honest review.
The book cover doesn’t give away much of the plot; it just shows the suspect, and I always love how Mr. Peter’s book covers have this mysterious and somewhat ominous vibe to them.
The book, though, was bloody brilliant! DS Roy Grace is back with another thrilling case that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat. I was so excited when I found out that Mr. Peter had already been writing Need You Dead since last year, and when he said that he’d send me an ARC, I just couldn’t contain my happiness. This was also one of my most anticipated releases this year. I’ve been reviewing contemporary romance and fantasy books lately, and I was in dire need of a murder mystery book, and Mr. Peter did not disappoint me. The story basically revolves around Lorna Belling’s death. In the beginning of the book, you already find out how Lorna was murdered, but we don’t know much about the murderer besides the fake identity he gave to Lorna. There are many other things happening in the book, like Roy finding someone he hadn’t seen for a decade and going through their past cases, specifically the one with Jodie Bentley (Love You Dead), but even though they had many things going on in the book, it wasn’t cluttered at all; it was written very smoothly, and the transition from one scene to another was really good. And following DS Roy Grace’s team in trying to solve the case is always one heck of a ride. There was also this particular scene that immensely impressed me. It literally gave me chills while reading each detail of that certain event (if you’ve read the book). I’m referring to SD’s scene; it was just so well written, and I’ve never read a book that gave me chills before, but this one just gave me one, and I’m still not over it.
✅Dialogues: I can’t really give my opinion on the typos since the ARC was still an uncorrected copy. But even if it was still an uncorrected copy, It was a very well-written book that I really enjoyed.
✅Characters: Every character in the book has their own charm, and I still have my favorite one, which is DS Roy Grace. We finally see his soft side since he’s with someone he hasn’t seen for a decade, and you’ll follow how they slowly open up to each other. I also like this other character, but I can’t really tell you anything about him because it’ll spoil the story. So if you find yourself gasping in the end chapters, yeah! That’s the other character I liked, and I felt bad for liking that character.
✅Plot: It was brilliant! I gasped way too much after finding out who Lorna’s lover was. The book totally misled me into thinking it was the other character who committed the crime, and I just loved the surprising turn of events.
✅Detailing: Was very good, precise, and chilling at times.
Overall, another amazing read for 2017. A gripping, shocking, and spine-tingling thriller That murder mystery is probably something fans would enjoy, and it makes me look forward to the 14th Detective Superintendent Roy Grace novel.
As to the question that’s been written on the cover of the book, which is “What makes a killer?” I’d probably say “circumstances.
Buy it on Amazon:
Rating : 5/5
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