Dead Man's Footsteps [Versión Kindle]

First Sentence: If Ronnie Wilson had known, as he woke up, that in just a couple of hours he would be dead,, he would have planned his day somewhat differently.

Perpetually failed businessman Ronnie Wilson happens to be in New York City on September 11, 2001. Rather than seeing the tragedy around him, he sees it as a way to disappear from his past.

In present day, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is called to a crime scene where the skeletal remains of a woman have been found. Grace first hopes/fears it could be the remains of his wife, Sandy, who disappeared nine years ago. Instead, the woman is identified as having been the wife of first wife of Ronnie Wilson.

About the same time, the body of a woman is found in a submerged vehicle's trunk in Australia. Turns out, she was Wilson's second wife.

Although this book has lost a few points with me for the continual series tease about Grace's missing wife, this was a very twisty and exciting read. I like the character of Roy Grace. He's a good cop with good relationships to both his superior and his team, or most of them. He also knows he does still have issues stemming from his wife's disappearance.

The story is very well plotted with very good dialogue, although one does have to pay attention to the timeframes. The relationship threads were suitably twisty and I didn't always see the connections coming. The events of September 11th were well handled, conveying the horror of the event while looking at it from the avaricious side of Wilson. The climatic scene was exciting, suspenseful and had just a small element of humor giving Grace a bit of his own back against a cop our to make him look bad.

This was a very good read and one I recommend.

"I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be.", Douglas Adams

One of DS Roy Grace's protagonists and hunted women, quoted Douglas Adams to a woman she met while taking in the sun. The woman she met is named 'Sandy'. Remember this name, it seems that DS Grace's long lost wife is always going to pop up during
that series. It gets dreary, and we are all waiting to see how long Peter James, the author, can string this on.

DS Grace is called away on a Friday afternoon to view a dead body. He had counted on spending the evening with Chole, his girlfriend. It will be awhile before he spends time with her. One body after another keeps popping up, and they all seem to be ex-wives or girlfriends of a man named Ronnie Wilson. Ronnie died in New York City during the 9/11 tragedy, or so it seemed. Off we go to the world of stamps and other sundry criminal occupations. We meet very interesting people, and one of them is the woman who quotes Douglas Adams.

Peter James has become a favorite author of police/procedural/mysteries. He is a superb writer, bringing us with him and DS Grace to unusual situations that have been well researched. I never would have known about the high end world of collecting and selling stamps, the criminal aspects of this world, and the riches involved. The English have their reserve, but not to be seen here. This is a new world of the younger and those growing older. Not much is left unsaid or undone. And, then, there is the mystery of the long lost Sandy, Roy Grace's wife. She disappeared one day, never to be heard of or seen again. Sandy, where are you and why won't you come home?

Highly Recommended. prisrob 07-17-12

Not Dead Yet (Detective Superintendent Roy Grace)

Dead Simple

The chapters switch between September 2001 and the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York, and October 2007 after human remains are discovered in Brighton, England. They also switch between various characters; Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and his colleagues, Abby who is in hiding in her flat, clearly running scared, Ronnie Wilson a failing businessman who takes a trip to New York for a meeting in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on the ill fated morning of 9/11 and his wife Lorraine at home watching the horror unfold.
The descriptions of events after the planes hit the WTC was really well done...it brought the surreal horror of the day back without being ghoulish or sensationalist.

The plot itself was cleverly researched and genuinely suspenseful...and I'm looking forward to 'Dead Tomorrow', the next in the series. I would definitely recommend the series is read in order as although the skeleton in DS Grace's cupboard is explained in each book it makes your connection with, and understanding of his character more real if read in order.