Peter James - Dead like you

review by show host
Another Roy Grace novel. DCI Roy Grace of the Brighton & Hove police force. A young woman is raped and the perp takes one of her very expensive designer shoes as a momento, the same designer shoe with the 5 inch heel, which he made his victim perform sexual acts with. When a second rape occurs days later with the same use of designer shoes, DCI Roy Grace is reminded of the similarities to a case he worked on in 1997 'the Shoeman' the Shoemans suspected last victim however was never found which was something which has haunted Roy grace for 12 years. Now 12 years after the last known attack it would appear the Shoeman is back.
DCI Roy grace assembles his long established team plus the criminal psychologist who worked on the case before, to try and profile this perp and discover who the Shoeman really is.
The story fluctuates from 1997 to present day. In 1997 it takes us back to Grace,s work on the Shoeman and his relationship wife his wife Sandy who suddenly disappeared one day, another thing which has haunted him.
Back to the present he is engaged to the beautiful police pathologist Cleo who is pregnant with their child. In the present we also have another sick perv, a taxi driver, who also collects women's designer shoes and toilet chains, he also likes to teach these women a lesson, just like he did to his abusive mother. Another possible suspect in the present, is a re-offender who has just been let out of prison who keeps crossing paths with Roy Graces’s enquiries.
I enjoyed this book. It was tense and absorbing. The fluctuation in time did not detract from the story, rather it built up the story. I like the way the author brings us into the life of Roy Grace, in and out of work, and those around him and into the disturbed mind of the pervs on the streets of Brighton.
Recommended.