by Kelly Burton

Created on: July 10, 2009

This is another book in the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series. In this book, two bodies are found that have been dead for a very long time - one woman is found in a storm drain in Brighton and another is discovered in the boot of a car in a lake in Australia. How are these women linked and how have their bodies remained undiscovered for so long without anyone missing them? Roy Grace and his team intend to find out.

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There are several threads to this story other than the one highlighted above. At the beginning of this book, the chapters are kept quite short and create instant intrigue as we flit between the past (September 11th, 2001) and the present (October 2007). Ronnie Wilson, a man with serious debt issues and no business sense, finds that the 9/11 attacks are a blessing in disguise as it is the day as he decides to shed his old life and begin a new one under the pretence that he died at the twin towers. Meanwhile, Abby is hiding from someone dangerous and is constantly trying to cover her tracks. Both of these story lines were instant attention grabbers; and it is immediately apparent that eventually these plots would tie in to the two dead bodies - I just wanted to find out in which way they were linked! All three plot lines are equally interesting and easy to follow and the characters enjoyable to read about.

This is the second Peter James book I have read, although it is the first in the "Detective Superintendent Grace" series that I have actually read, and from reading this book, it is clear that I have missed the preceding books. This doesn't, however, make it difficult to read, the main character, Roy Grace, is explained fully and I only wish I'd read the others as I found him interesting and wanted to know more.

The main character, the aforementioned Grace, is a likeable one and whose character is developed nicely. His own wife went missing nine years before and although he has a girlfriend in this book, he is clearly still searching for answers - so much so that at the discovery of the body, he is afraid it might be that of his wife. I enjoyed reading about Grace as it leant a good sense of mystery to his background as well as making him feel a bit more human rather than a character created to keep the plot moving along.

The other members of Grace's team were also well developed and interesting and I could see how this group of people would be appealing to read about - their characters were developed well enough that it would be pleasurable

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