Death by Internet? (Looking Good Dead - Peter James)

Member Name: sunmeilan

Product:	Looking Good Dead - Peter James
Date:	29/01/09 (187 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Highly readable, lots of cliffhangers

Disadvantages: Small technical factor that I had trouble accepting

When Tom Bryce picks up a CD left on the train, he little knows that it could be his biggest downfall. On playing the disc on his laptop, he finds himself watching a snuff movie. Then the 'owners' of the movie trace him and threaten him with dire revenge if he goes to the police. Tom decides otherwise, and soon finds himself and his wife under real threat - if he doesn't comply with his enemies, they will film the couple's death. DS Roy Grace is in charge of the investigation, which includes at least two murders. But Bryce's enemies always seem to be one step ahead of him. Can he get to the root of the problem before the Bryces die a painful, and public, death?

This is the second DS Roy Grace book that I have read; having read the first one, I was fairly confident that this would be a good read, and that it certainly was. I read a lot of crime fiction, and tend to get bored by fictional detectives, who all have their personal problems. Roy Grace, however, is a lot more palatable than many. He does have his problems - his wife disappeared nine years ago and he has no idea what happened to her, and his love life has since then involved a couple of visits to prostitutes when he needs to. In this book, however, he starts seeing Cleo, a beautiful mortuary technician, and although the relationship isn't entirely without its problems, his personal life is much more interesting than usual. I think, too, the fact that Roy and I are the same age really helped - I could identify with a lot of his fears and concerns, which made him that bit more human. As a policeman, he is hard-hitting and tough with his employees, so the glimpses into his personal life really help make him a much more rounded character. The fact that he is based in Brighton, at a site where I once spent a week observing the custody suite as part of a study, made him come even more to life for me - I could see him crossing the street to Asda because I've done it many times myself!

Although Tom Bryce is a one-off character, I thought he was very well developed. As many of the chapters are told from his point of view, we really get an insight into his life and why things aren't going all that smoothly as far as his work and his marriage are concerned. He is basically a well-meaning man, although one that chooses to keep things from his family, which makes it all the easier for the reader to get behind him - his only real mistake was picking up a CD on a train that he shouldn't have. I also liked the fact that his wife was a closet alcoholic - this is a problem that affects all too many people, and I thought the author dealt with it very sympathetically.

The story is told very well. In general, the chapters alternate between Roy Grace's perspective and that of Tom Bryce. However, there are odd chapters that deal with other characters, such as one of the murder victims, Grace's colleagues and the Bryces' enemies. This really kept me on my toes, and I often found myself reading a lot more than I had planned, simply because I needed to find out what happened after the cliffhangers at the end of each chapter. This was the case both for the story, and for Roy Grace's love life. And although the book initially seems very long at over 500 pages, it can be read very quickly because the chapters are kept relatively short - often no more than 4 or 5 pages.

This is crime fiction, and so a certain amount of bloody cadavers and police chases can be expected. However, it is a little more gritty than your average Agatha Christie, and there are a couple of scenes that some will find a little hard to read - one describes the death of a prostitute, the other portrays the death of a paedophile in a bath of acid. If you don't like this sort of detail, then obviously stay away from the book. There is also a fairly graphic sex scene between Roy and Cleo; although I expect that will encourage the majority of readers rather than frighten them off!! I quite enjoyed it anyway.

Like many writers of crime fiction, I wouldn't say that author Peter James is a literary genius. However, he does know how to tell a good story, and the prose and the speech patterns all flow very naturally. The language is fairly basic, but again, it suits this type of fiction, so I have no gripes there. To be honest, if you're expecting something of a higher literary calibre, then you should probably not be looking at crime fiction as a genre at all.

I have just one tiny criticism, althoug I have to admit that it may be a little unfair. It is just that there is a part of the story that involves a technical, Internet-related issue. Now, I am no expert in the area, but it didn't seem to ring quite true to me - so either it wasn't explained very well, or it wasn't researched properly - I suspect the former. Either way, I found it preyed on my mind a bit and did distract me from the story for a while.

Overall, I was very impressed with this book. It is generally quite a light read, apart from the odd disturbing description, and would be perfect for taking on holiday, or reading in short bursts while travelling on public transport. As it is the second Peter James/Roy Grace book that I have read and enjoyed, I will certainly look out for more in the series. I have dropped a star for the technical issue that bothered me, but apart from that, I definitely recommend this book to any fans of crime fiction.

The book is available from play.com for £5.49. Published by Pan Macmillan, it has 519 pages. ISBN: 9780330434201

Summary: Good crime fiction