Peter James - ProfilesArchive

About Me

I am a UK crime novelist and film maker. I have written 18 novels and produced/executively produced 26 films. My next novel, the third in my Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, Not Dead Enough , will be published in the UK on June 1st.
My previous novel Looking Good Dead spent 7 weeks in the UK Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller list, reaching No 2 (twice!), and No 1 for three weeks in Tesco and all the other major UK supermarket chains and was shortlisted for Crime Thriller of the year in the 2007 Galaxy British Book Awards.
My first Roy Grace novel, Dead Simple won the 2006 German Krimi Blitz award as Best Crime Novel, the 2006 Prix Polar International French Crime Novel award and the 2007 Le Prix Coeur Noir French crime writing prize and was a Top 10 bestseller in the UK, Germany, France and Holland.

My Interests

Cars and motor racing (I race a 2CV Citroen), skiing, tennis, food, wine, vodka martinis.

I'd like to meet:

People interested in reading thrillers, particularly crime novels with a forensic edge.

Music:

I have a wide taste. Love some Jazz, particularly Sidney Bechet and Bob Berg, Dido, I like Katie Melua, some opera, especially Mozart, and I'm a long-time Captain Hook fan. I was also once the 9th ever member of the Rolling Stones fan club!

Movies:

I love movies. Long-term favourites include: All the Peter Sellers Pink Panther movies, and anything else with him in, especially The Party.
Shawshank Redemption
Casablanca
Wages Of Fear (the original with Yves Montand)
The Vanishing (the original black and white version)
Cul de Sac (Polanski)
Usual Suspects
Reservoir Dogs
Pulp Fiction
Bowfinger
Enemy Of The State
Citizen Kane
Brighton Rock
The Third Man

Television:

Little Britain
Lost
Jonathan Ross chat show
Top Gear
Frasier
Friends

Books:

Conan Doyle "Hound Of The Baskervilles"
Kurt Vonnegut Jnr "Slaughterhouse Five"
Emile Zola "Therese Raquin"
Flaubert "Madame Bovary"
Dickens "Hard Times"
Thackeray "Vanity Fair"
Graham Greene "Brighton Rock"
Graham Greene "The Human Factor"
Ira Levin "Rosemary's Baby"
Willliam Peter Blatty "The Exorcist"
Steven King "The Shining"
Ian Rankin - all his books
Ed Mcbain all his 39th Precinct stories.
Mark Haddon "The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time"
Simon Winchester "The Surgeon of Crowthorne"
John D Macdonald All his Travis Mcgee detective stories.
Elmore Leonard - Get Shorty

Heroes:

Winston Churchill
Erik Carlsson (Swedish rally driver)
Stirling Moss
Richard Branson
Hunt and Hilary (who first conquered Everest)
Egon Ronay (for transforming food in Britain)

My Blog

Peter James Public Appearances 2007

I have the following public appearances scheduled so far for 2007:Jan 9 - 17: Melbourne and other tbc locations in Australia Jan 18/19: New Zealand, including an event at Pennys Bookstore Jan 20/26: ...
Posted by Peter James on Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:29:00 PST

Rip Off Avis

I used to be a big fan of Avis car rentals. Seven years ago in Los Angeles I was involved in a fairly major car accident, and fortunately in a substantial car, a large Cadillac. I was in Santa Monica...
Posted by Peter James on Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:57:00 PST

What Does A Writer Do When Hes Not Writing?

One of the questions I often get asked is 'what does a writer do all day when he is not actually writing?' So having effectively finished the second draft of my latest novel, (Dead Man's Footsteps) I ...
Posted by Peter James on Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:56:00 PST

Beware Of Doctors

I've just had real eye-opener into how little some medics know. Let me start by saying that I have met many doctors over the years and I have great respect for some, but certainly not for all of them....
Posted by Peter James on Sat, 03 Nov 2007 09:55:00 PST

Moscow Policing

Knowing my interest in meeting police in every country that I can, my publishers in Moscow arranged for me to meet the Chief of Police for central Moscow, Alexandr Havkin -- whose bailliwick includes ...
Posted by Peter James on Fri, 05 Oct 2007 08:14:00 PST

Mockba Rules!

I've just been in Moscow for my Russian publishers, Centrepolygraph, attending the Moscow Book Fair and doing a number of bookstore signings, as well as a press conference with over 25 journalists la...
Posted by Peter James on Fri, 05 Oct 2007 08:11:00 PST

Scariest News Story Ever!

Good news! In Moscow this past weekend (more of which to come), I finally finished the first draft of my new Roy Grace novel, "Dead Man's Footsteps", which will be published next June. It is always a ...
Posted by Peter James on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:02:00 PST

Dead Man’s Footsteps - Progress Report

My apologies to you all that my anticipated 12 days absence from blogging to finish my new Roy Grace novel (Dead Man's Footsteps) has now extended to a month - and I'm still not quite there yet... Ye...
Posted by Peter James on Wed, 29 Aug 2007 07:09:00 PST

Working Flat Out On The New Roy Grace Novel

Apologies for the absence of a new blog post. I am closeted away trying to finish my new Roy Grace novel, "Dead Man's Footsteps", by August 12th and having to put everything else aside in order to wri...
Posted by Peter James on Wed, 01 Aug 2007 10:56:00 PST

Dead Simple and Roy Grace Television Series

Thanks to all of you who have emailed me about the prospect of a TV series based on my Roy Grace books. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes about the possibility of a Roy Grace televis...
Posted by Peter James on Sun, 15 Jul 2007 08:01:00 PST