Book Review – Find Them Dead by Peter James – Enthralling Sequel
Table of Contents
My Rating – 3.5 out of 5
Plot Summary – Find Them Dead
Long into the Roy Grace series, which has earned Peter James an Worldwide renown, I read the first book of the series – Find Them Dead. Though, mostly all books of the series ends with the word ‘Dead’, I didn’t find too much gore and blood as one would expect from the name. Roy Grace here is on loan to the Met, though he yearns to be back to his beat in Sussex and Hove, and even though he does solve a couple of Knife wounding crimes, he turns down a promotion offer at the Met and comes back to his family and home.
Meanwhile, Mickey Starr, a sort of Drug mule, come through the ferry at Hove with a classic Ferrari in tow, apparently for a Company which deals in Classic Luxury Cars. But the Customs agents smell a rat and want to inspect Mickey’s car! As the agents notice many out of whack things in the Ferrari, Mickey panics and tries to escape and leading the Border Police on a high speed car chase. But he is captured and brought back and by that time, the Border Police have unearthed a hoard of Cocaine from the Ferrari, to the tune of Six Million Pounds!! But Mickey is not the big fish, his employer Charles Gready is.
Charles Gready is a pro-bono defense Attorney who takes up cases for criminals and does his bit for society. On the surface he leads a life which is not only respectable but from some angles, also looks noble. The evidence against him in this case is compelling, and keeps piling up but he has been smart enough to keep his name directly away from the drugs operation. But he has two tricks up his sleeve to negate the chances of a guilty verdict. Make sure that Mickey doesn’t testify against him and the jury is somehow rigged in his favor.
Meanwhile, the return of Roy Grace to Sussex is not looked upon kindly by all in the force and his old nemesis, Pewe, ensures that a well deserved promotion remains out of Grace’s grasp and his two current cases don’t seem to get solved despite Grace’s best efforts. The murder of a young man who has Down’s Syndrome and the trial of a serial killer has him on his toes, particularly as his immediate boss is keen for him to fail!
Conclusion – Book Summary of Find Them Dead
Well, the book is decently paced, with a lot of story threads running around. But sometimes, it gets a little too confusing not to mix up one with the other. There is a lengthy trial piece at the center of the main story and to be very honest, John Grisham would have him for breakfast, lunch and dinner for writing about a trial which kind of turns into a ordinary tale. There are some holes in the arguments presented by both sides, through which a hawkish Advocate could drive a tank through!
Overall, it’s a nice book, for a lazy and fun read. Though I would have personally liked Roy Grace to occupy the titular role this series has devised for him. More investigations, more handling Police politics and some more of his personal life would really make my day. He’s an accomplished writer and I remain convinced that he will do better than this!
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