Book Reviews

The more time that readers spend with fictional British police detective Roy Grace, the more they appreciate his company.

Grace and his creator, crime novelist Peter James, collaborate again in a new novel, Dead Man's Footsteps (2008, Macmillan, London, 469 pages). It's a puzzler with a plot that thickens again and again.

Admittedly, Grace isn't a perfect companion, but he's fascinating and determined to solve big cases. Paradoxically, he's clueless about what happened to his own wife Sandy who disappeared years ago.

Enthralled, many readers will imagine themselves working with Grace. They'll think: “Hey, Roy, any results back yet from the crime lab?” or “Whew! Roy, I'm tuckered. Let's break for lunch.”

Sometimes the savvy Grace understands, even complies. “The interior of the café was a fug of frying grease. Taking his seat…, Grace reckoned that just breathing in here could raise anyone's cholesterol up to heart-attack levels. But he went ahead and ordered eggs, bacon, sausage and chips, fried bread and a Coke….” Ahh! Thanks, Roy. That hits the spot.

When the World Trade Centre towers in New York collapse minutes after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Ronnie Wilson, an ambitious schemer, narrowly escapes. Amid the rubble and soot, he senses a precious chance to dodge his financial troubles by staging death and vanishing.

The author's talent and diligent research make the 9/11 scenes intensely realistic. Some parts leap off the pages. Who wouldn't duck or dive and want to run like hell when reading this?

“Slabs of wood, glass, chairs, desks, phones, filing cabinets were bouncing, shattering, on the ground…. A mere hundred yards or so to his right, along Vesey Street, what at first looked like a burning flying saucer dropped with a massive clanging sound, smashing a deep crater, then bounced, shedding parts of its covering and innards, spraying out flames. When it finally lay still it continued to burn fiercely.
To his utter numb horror, Ronnie realized that it was a jet aircraft engine….
Seconds later he heard a dull thud, like a sack of potatoes falling. He felt a wet slap on his face. Then he saw something white and ragged roll across the ground towards him and stop inches from his feet. It was a human arm.”

Several times, James expresses “deepest respect to the victims and all who lost loved ones”. Along the way, he uses powerful symbolism.

“He walked past an upturned sports utility vehicle. A shredded fireman's jacket lay on the ground near it, yellow bands on the grey, dusty, empty uniform. One sleeve had been ripped off and lay some distance from it.”

Years later a decomposed body emerges from a British storm drain. Far away, Australian lovers going for a swim find a submerged car holding another corpse. The bodies belong to murdered women who had the same ex-husband, Ronnie Wilson.

Dead Man's Footsteps takes more harrowing turns than most mountain roads. The crafty author saves a last jolt for his final line.

James bases the Grace character on his friend Dave Gaylor, a retired lawman. In fact, Dead Man's Footsteps is dedicated to Gaylor.

Grace starred in three earlier books, Dead Simple, Looking Good Dead and Not Dead Enough. The author’s other titles include: Possession, Prophecy, Alchemist, The Truth, Denial and Faith.

Novels by James appear in 26 languages. He lives in London and Sussex, England.

Ultimately, Dead Man's Footsteps has one big flaw: its bulk. More than nine inches long, six inches wide and brick-thick, it refuses to fit into pockets or most handbags. Even in briefcases, it hogs space. Who can carry it to read on buses, trains or ferries?

So anyone cracking open Dead Man’s Footsteps needs to stay put, ideally yelling to a friend or an assistant: “Please cancel all my appointments” – except for those with Detective Superintendent Roy Grace.

Approval rating: 81 per cent.

For more information: www.panmacmillan.com or www.peterjames.com

Note: Dead Man’s Footsteps appears on June 12.

(May 29, 2008)

ARCHIVES