Peter James Books In Order – Complete List

Reading the New York Times bestselling author Peter James books in order means picking up his main big series – Roy Grace – a crime thriller series that currently includes 19 released books, with the latest one, Stop Them Dead, published in 2023, and his two shorter series, Cold Hill and Max Flynn.

I have put together the list of Peter James books in order of publication for all his detective novels, standalone novels, short strories, novellas, collections, and anthologies released so far. I hope this list will help you too. If you do like thriller mysteries and want to pick up a new one for your reading pleasures, I can highly recommend the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series by Peter James.

Latest Peter James Books

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Roy Grace Books in Publication Order

1. Dead Simple (#1), 2005
2. Looking Good Dead (#2), 2006
3. Not Dead Enough (#3), 2007
4. Dead Man’s Footsteps (#4), 2008
5. Dead Tomorrow (#5), 2009
6. Dead Like You (#6), 2010
7. Dead Man’s Grip (#7), 2011
8. Not Dead Yet (#8), 2012
9. Dead Man’s Time (#9), 2013
10. Want You Dead (#10), 2014
11. In the Nick of Time (#10.5), 2014
12. You Are Dead (#11), 2015
13. Love You Dead #12), 2016
14. Need You Dead ( #13), 2017
15. Dead If You Don’t (#14), 2019
16. Dead at First Sight (#15), 2019
17. Find Them Dead (#16), 2020
18. Left You Dead (#17), 2021
19. Wish You Were Dead (#17.5), 2021
20. Picture You Dead (#18), 2022
21. Stop Them Dead (#19), 2023
22. One of Us Is Dead (#20), 2024

Roy Grace Short Stories in Order of Publication

• Wish You Were Dead, 2021
• In the Nick of Time, 2014 (with Ian Rankin in the FaceOff series)
• Footloose, 2018 (with Val McDermid, in the MatchUp Collection series)

Roy Grace Companion Novels

• They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy’s Story, 2024

Cold Hill Series in Order of Publication

1. The House on Cold Hill, 2015
2. The Secret of Cold Hill, 2019

Max Flynn Series in Order of Publication

• Dead Letter Drop, 1981
• Atom Bomb Angel, 1982

Standalone Books in Publication Order

• Billionaire, 1983
• Possession, 1988
• Dreamer, 1989
• Sweet Heart, 1991
• Twilight, 1991
• Prophecy, 1993
• Host, 1994
• Alchemist,  1996
• The Truth, 1997
• Denial, 2000
• Faith, 2000
• The Perfect Murder, 2010
• Perfect People, 2011
• Absolute Proof, 2018
• I Follow You, 2020

Short Stories in Order of Publication

• Propellor, 1992
• Virtually Alive, 1995
• One Extra for Dinner, 1997
• Christmas Is For the Kids, 2011

Novellas and Short Story Collections in Order of Publication

• The Perfect Murder, 2010
• A Twist of the Knife, 2014
• Footloose, 2018 (with Val McDermid, in the MatchUp Collection series)
• Wish You Were Dead (Roy Grace story), 2021

Anthologies and Short Story Collections in Order of Publication

• Dark Voices 4, 1992
• Narrow Houses, 1992
• Cyber-Killers, 1997
• Dancing with the Dark, 1997
• Criminal Tendencies, 2009
• The Sounds of Crime, 2010
• The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 7, 2010
• Guilty Consciences, 2011
• The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 9, 2012
• Venice Noir, 2012
• The Killer Cookbook, 2012
• Suspense Magazine October 2012, 2012
• Deadly Pleasures, 2013 (Crime Writer’s Association Anthology)
• OxCrimes: 27 Killer Stories from the Cream of Crime writers, 2014
• Terror Tales of the Ocean, 2015
• FaceOff, 2017
• MatchUp, 2017 (edited by Lee Child)
• Ten Year Stretch: Celebrating a Decade of Crime Fiction at CrimeFest, 2018
• Afraid of the Shadows, 2021 (in the Afraid of the Light series)
• Writers and Artists Yearbook 2022, 2022

Non-Fiction Books in Publication Order

• Death Comes Knocking, 2016 (with Graham Bartlett)
• Babes in the Wood, 2020 (with Graham Bartlett)

Peter James Biography – About the Author

Peter James is a British award-winning author born in Brighton in 1948, who has written to date more than 30 books, produced (or helped produce) 26 movies, including The Blockhouse with Peter Sellers, Spanish Fly and The Bridge of San Louis Rey with Robert de Niro.

His mother was working as a glovemaker for the Queen, and his father helped run the family business, so they were never lacking financially. They also had a cook, a nanny, and a maid, so the early years of Peter James were quite privileged. In an interview, he mentioned that if he didn’t write to write books, he didn’t need to as he was never lacking money. Money definitely brought independence and financial freedom, although he loves writing books, so he will not stop any time soon.

He first started writing at the age of seven as he wanted to become a writer or a scriptwriter. When he was 17, he won a national short-story competition that was hosted by the BBC. He realized he wanted to seriously become a writer at the age of 14 when he read Brighton Rock by Graeme Greene. This book was also one of the reasons why the Roy Grace series is set in Brighton.

He first attended Charterhouse School, followed by  Ravensbourne Film School, a London University with Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses in fashion, design, and broadcasting. While in school, to be able to have some money, for some time he was the house cleaner of the famous Orson Welles, the famous American actor. During that time he also worked as a tour guide driving American tourists around London.

Later on, he moved to Canada in 1970 where he worked as a gopher and then a writer for the Polka Dot Door TV show. He also worked as a screenwriter and film producer for 26 films over the years, prior to him returning home to the UK.

In his twenties, he wrote and published two spy thrillers, but they didn’t really sell. He began writing earnestly in the early 1980s, but he had his first major breakthrough with Possession in 1988, followed by Dreamer in 1989.

At one time, some burglars broke into his home, and when the policeman arrived to investigate and take fingerprints, he noticed Peter’s books lying around. This is when he told him that if he needed help with research, he could always contact him. Peter James started to realize that there must be a lot of stories in the long life of a cop, and since then, crime mysteries began to interest him. This is when he turned to write crime fiction.

Absolute Proof, his standalone novel from 2018 actually began many years ago, in 1989, when an older man, Harry Nixon, called in on the phone and told him that he has been given proof of God’s existence, and Peter James was the person to bring this to light. For his 30-years of research for the story, Peter James not only spoke with religious leaders about proof of God’s existence but he even went as far as living for five days as a monk at the Mount Athos monastery in Greece, where women are banned from entering the place.

Over the years, besides the usual mysteries, he has also written books in several other genres, including techno-thrillers, spy fiction, supernatural thrillers, children’s novels, and even works with romances.

His books have been translated into over 30 languages and have been sold 17 million copies all over the world.

Peter James is also the founding father of electronic books. In 1994 his book Host was published not only the traditional way but also on two floppy disks. You can read more about what happened next in this Peter James interview.

The author still lives in the UK dividing his time between his house in Brighton and his apartment in London (Notting Hill).

Peter James Books Adaptations

The Roy Grace books by Peter James have been adapted into an ITV series simply titled Grace, which currently includes four seasons. It stars John Simm as Roy Grace and Richie Campbell as DS Glenn Branson

The first season, which premiered in 2021, was made based on the author’s first book in the series, Dead Simple.

The second season, which aired in 2022 with four episodes, includes four Roy Grace books: Looking Good Dead, Not Dead Enough, Dead Man’s Footsteps, and Dead Tomorrow.

The third season, airing in 2023, has three episodes, and are based on the following books: Dead Like You, Dead Man’s Grip, and Not Dead Yet.

A fourth season is set to air in 2024, and it will include four episodes. It is based on the novels Dead Man’s Time, Want You Dead, You Are Dead, and Love You Dead.

In addition, Peter James is also the executive producer of several movies including The Merchant of Venice, A Different Loyalty, and producer for movies such as The House on Cold Hill and Spanish Fly.

Peter James Awards

Peter James received several awards for his books, including being the first-ever recipient of the Rheinbach Glass Dagger Award in acknowledgment of merits for crime fiction in 2017. He also received numerous other international awards, including:

• Book of the Year award, Horror Category for The House on Cold Hill in Poland in 2017
• Dead Good Readers Tess Gerritsen Award for Best Series in 2016 for his Roy Grace series
• CWA Diamond Dagger Award in 2016
• Dead Good Readers Dr Lecter Award for Scariest Villain for You Are Dead in 2015
• WHSmith, The Best Crime Author of All Time in 2015
• Sainsbury’s eBook of the Year for Want You Dead in 2014
• Outstanding Public Service Award by Sussex Police in 2012
• US Barry Award in Best British crime novel for Dead Man’s Grip in 2011
• ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards and People’s Bestseller Dagger for Crime Novel Of The Year  in 2011
• Sounds of Crime Award for best abridged novel for Dead Like You in 2011
• Quick Reads Readers’ Favourite Award for The Perfect Murder in 2010
• Honorary Doctorate by the University of Brighton for his ongoing contribution to the arts and to the status, infrastructure and culture of Brighton and Hove in 2009
• Le Prix Coeur Noir French award for Dead Simple in 2007
• German Krimi-Blitz for best crime writer of the year in Germany in 2005