BOOK REVIEW: Looking Good Dead (DSI Roy Grace, #2) by Peter James

Looking Good Dead is the second book in author Peter James’ series of best-selling, long-running, British police procedural, suspense thrillers featuring Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, set in the environs of Brighton and Hove. I was quite impressed with the premise and the execution of the first book, Dead Simple, and have been looking forward to continuing the series.

The second book is clearly set in a time period after the first but I think one could enjoy them both reading them in either order. DSI Grace (or “Roy” as he prefers) is an intriguing character and a good leader of an interesting team of fellow officers. One of the things I constantly repeat in my reviews of books in the mystery/thriller/police procedural genre is a significant fraction of my enjoyment of these books is in the interactions between the main character/protagonist and the supporting characters. His best friend and colleague is Detective Sergeant Glenn Branson, a younger, hip, muscular Black guy and there are multiple women with personalities not rooted in their physical appearances in the book as well. These are significant strengths in my opinion.

Grace’s personal circumstances are somewhat tragic; his wife Sandy disappeared more than nine years ago on his 30th birthday and he really hasn’t moved on (he still has her slippers and personal items in his/their bedroom!). The Sandy situation doesn’t get resolved in this book (from inadvertent Google searches it seems like she does show up in a future book but it’s not good news). However, Roy does have positive developments in his romantic life which portends this will be a smaller element in the future.

The strongest aspect of both books by James that I have read so far are the premise/set up of the story and the pacing of the plot. In Looking Good Dead the premise is that a “regular bloke” named Tom Bryce has his life ruined by picking up a CD some idiot leaves on his commuter train and when Toom puts it into his computer he witnesses a live snuff film (a woman being murdered on camera for the sick pleasure of voyeurs). It takes awhile for Grace’s team to connect the headless dead body they have found in a local field with the murder Tom Bryce inadvertently saw on his computer. By the time they do we have learned more about the producers of the snuff film as well as the existence of other victims and Tom's life is starting to unravel as the criminals have discovered Tom's unauthorized access to their website.

The primary narrative tension in Looking Good Dead is whether Roy and the police will find the perpetrators before the evildoers punish Tim and his family for exposing their activities. Roy has a problematic penchant for the supernatural but here it plays an almost minimal role in the story, although one of the mediums he interacts with gives Roy some information which could be considered useful.

Overall, I’d say Looking Good Dead is a top-notch suspense thriller and satisfying British police procedural. For people who have appreciated following the cerebral crime-solving of Peter Robinson’s DCI Alan Banks or the psychological thrills of Val McDermid’s Carol Jordan/Tony Hill, Peter James’s Roy Grace is a name you should add to your “to-be-read” list!

Title: Looking Good Dead
Author: Peter James.
Length: 406 pages.
Publisher: MacMillan.
Date Published: 2006.
Date Read: September 21, 2020.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★★ (5.0/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: A/A- (3.83/4.0).

PLOT: A.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: A.