Absolutely brilliant.
I love this series of books. This is the first time I’ve listened to one on audio and it was fantastic.
The usual brilliantly written story from the talented writer made even better with listening to it.

For me there is nothing better than curling up with a cup of tea and the latest book from one of my favourite authors. This instalment in the Roy Grace series hit the spot as Roy and his team come to terms with the murky underworld of counterfeit fine art. Most enjoyable.

Loved it! Darkly disturbing in a suburban manner creating the right balance of suspense and understanding to leave you wanting more. The finale was excellent and got a smile from me!

This is the 18th outing for DS Roy Grace and a good one it is too, and I do particularly like a thriller set in the art world. The author turns his hand to the world of Watteau and Fragonard, both artists who exemplified the "fête galant" genre, a category of painting specially created by the French Academy in 1717 to describe the former's variations on the theme of the fête champêtre - featuring figures in ball dress or masquerade costumes disporting themselves amorously in parkland settings.

It is the work of the illustrious Jean-Honoré Fragonard that holds centre stage in this novel, and specifically his depiction of 'Summer', a painting in the series of Four Seasons.

Harry and Freya trawl Car Boot Sales in the hope of finding something exceptional, and Harry does find a picture, in a rather beautiful frame that catches his eye, only to be told on the Antiques Road Show that the painting beneath may well be an original Fragonard. What elation for them! With the knowledge, however, comes danger in the shape of an unscrupulous collector and his henchman, and as a reader, one knows much more about their stealthy ways than the hapless couple in the story.

The novel opens with the death of an art connoisseur, who has a certain painting in his possession (as yet unidentified)  and it is clear that some people are prepared to kill to augment their art collections. Provenance is a very important aspect in the world and any valuable works of art need excellent credentials (who owned them, sale details etc), as many paintings down the ages have been 'lost' and/or stolen to order. Now there is a very strong move to reunite 'missing' artwork with the correct owner.

What if, though, you just want to own a specific painting, which you know to be genuine? To hang it in your personal gallery where you can admire it in private? Some people go to any length to acquire specific pieces and provenance in that instance is unimportant.

Throw in someone who is a gifted art forger and the plot is an art buff's dream storyline, with some violence and plenty of intrigue along the way. The scene is set for DS Roy Grace and his investigative team to piece together all the pieces. He is a very likeable character, with a backstory, as always, expecting a child having lost a child and he can often be seen running off the cares of his job in the company of his dog.

There is delightful information on the world of art and painting that will keep readers enthralled, there is even a mention of  L Cornelissen and Son - "the little shop of colours" - a store in London for hard-to-source artists' equipment (where you can discover a myriad of beautiful ground pigments, spectacularly arranged in jars, colours galore, which makes for a magnificent sight and worth a visit!).

This is a good story that bowls along at a good paced, in the gifted hands of this author. It also leaves the reader pondering why one particular artwork might be worth more than another, given superficially they can each evoke the same wonder - just one is not created by an artist of merit!

This Is the first Peter James book I have not been able to finish - I have tried the audio and written version. I love the interaction with Roy and his family and colleagues but the art background story I just found boring and couldn't relate to. Such a shame but I look forward to the next one

Absolutely love this series & this book was no exception. Fast paced, well thought out and an amazing read. Would highly recommend this.

Opens quite unexpectedly but I realise as I have not been reading 'Grace' in the correct order, it might not be quite such a shocker to those that have. These books are so much better than the tv adaptations and this one is no exception. Set in the murky world of high-value art crime, forgery and violence. Made me look up featured artworks to check if they were real. Was hoping Fiona Bruce might pop up! I always prefer the main criminal plots to Grace's actual family issues. Had hoped for a slightly different ending as regards Freya & Harry. Enjoyed the audiobook very much narrated by Daniel Weyman. Thanks to Netgalley.

I've never read or listened to a Peter James book before and can categorically say that this will be definitely he first of many. I have however attended an online library book session where he was the speaker and read a chapter of a previous book and I thought it sounded pretty good, but had not yet got round to reading one, so when I spotted this on Netgalley, I was very keen to read and leave a review. I loved it - and the narrator of the audio book -Daniel Weyman was absolutely brilliant and really did it a justice. If I was to compare the similarity of the writing to another author, it would be to Jeffrey Archer another favourite of mine, as he always writes a very thorough and totally engrossing book.

Although Picture you Dead is book 18 in the series, the characters are so well written and described that it really doesn't matter if you start here. In fact, it's a great introduction. The great thing is now, I know I enjoyed it so much, I have another 17 in the series and many others to catch up on, and although it might not be soon that I get round to them, I've already purchased the first book Dead Simple to my library and can't wait to listen to it.

A big thanks to Macmillan UK Audio for approving me to read and review this book.

What a treat: an amazing author, Peter James who does not need introducing being narrated skilfully by Daniel Weyman.

This is my first book from Peter James. I still can't quite believe it took so long to get round to reading his material. I was not disappointed, I knew I would not be but I feared my expectations would be too high in view of the long standing reputation Peter James has gained over the years.
For me, the combination is a winner: really good mystery plot, interesting content about the fine art world dealings and really good character development of the main protagonist Detective Superintendent Roy Grace.

This is book 18 but I did not feel as I missed out by starting with that book. I only felt encouraged to read more books from this series.

Peter James does not disappoint on this latest Roy Grace novel. This time the team is investigating a murder linked to a rare painting that seems to be connected to a number of criminals and after a painting found in a car boot sale is seen on tv things take a dark and dangerous turn. Can Roy and his team find the culprits before anyone else gets hurt and if the painting is not an original where has it gone? The audio is exciting and this is a thrill ride of a book.

Although I have not read any of the previous books in the series, it hasn't diminished my enjoyment of this particular detective novel; but I acknowledge that several sub-plots have been carried over from previous books. Peter James is clearly a great story teller, although his writing style (like many male Authors) feels a little clinical. The story itself includes a great insight into the art world and forgery, which I found particularly interesting. I'm not sure I completely approved of the ending, but I guess it felt authentic and credible. Many thanks to NetGallery and Macmillan UK Audio for introducing me to this talented Author.

I’m a big fan of the Roy Grace series and was delighted to receive a copy of the latest instalment, Picture You Dead. Thanks to MacMillan UK Audio and NetGalley for my copy. I have always read the Roy Grace books so I wasn’t sure if I would like the audiobook. However, I thought the narration was very good. It’s clear and easy to listen to with no silly attempts at exaggerated accents or voices.

I really enjoyed the plot of this story, it’s something different. I’m interested to find out how Peter James came up with the idea for it.

Freya and Harry are happily married and have a teenage son. They love going to car boot sales and Harry picks up a painting for £20 because he likes the frame. It transpires that there’s another painting underneath, which could be worth millions if genuine. Harry and Freya go on Antiques Roadshow, expecting to be told the painting is fake. After the programme has aired, Freya thinks she’s being followed and the family discover that someone is prepared to kill for the painting. Meanwhile, Roy Grace is investigating the murder of an art dealer some years before. The two stories link up and the murky underworld of art is revealed.

This book can be read as a standalone but I recommend reading the other books in the series if you can. Roy Grace is a great character and as always, the characters are well done. Harry and Freya are easy to like.

I found I wanted to keep listening to the book as the story is well paced. It does alternate between characters which can be a little confusing when listening to the audiobook, but I didn’t find it too bad once I got into the story.

I found the ending a little abrupt and would have liked a bit more continuation of the story. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it, especially if you’re a fan of the series. I’m already looking forward to the next Roy Grace book!

Another smash hit from Peter James.

The characters now feel like family, developing in each instalment. The story was an interesting one, with background information weaving its way through.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Who knew Art could be so dangerous. Another excellent Roy Grace book plenty of twists, also shows a human side not just a detective.
The narrator keeps the story flowing and his accents are good.
I received this audiobook from Macmillan UK audio and Netgalley for a review.

A great addition to the Roy Grace series. Great storyline, lots of twists and turns and kept you gripped to the very end. As usual a cliffhanger at the end that makes you want to read the next one straight away!

The narrator was excellent! Able to differentiate between characters and brought them to life !

Despite having a number of books in this series in my audible library I was yet to listen to any, so Roy Grace and his colleagues were new to me. Although there were quite obviously, and understandably given the number of books in the series to date, a number of storylines and backstories to the characters that readers/listeners to the entire series would be aware of, that I was not, this did not stop my enjoyment of the audiobook. Although I got the impression there were some very interesting and pertinent subjects I had missed, but all this did was ensure I wanted to listen to the rest of the series. Definitely can be listened to, and enjoyed, as a stand-alone book, but I can imagine it would be even better when listened to in order.
Well narrated, the voices, intonations and pace of the reading by the narrator added to the enjoyment of the book.
Paced well with an intriguing storyline that held attention from start to finish, although I did feel somewhat frustrated by the ending because of the outcome for the couple who discovered the picture, but perhaps that is because I like more ‘happily ever after’ endings.
All in all a great read, I am now definitely going to start a journey with Roy Grace from his first outing.

Another excellent book from Peter James. Set in suburbia and the underworld of art fraud, this is a gripping crime thriller and a police procedural in one.

An everyday couple come upon a priceless piece of art by chance in a bootsale and are stalked by a wealthy art enthusiast who wants it for his collection … at any cost. I know this is part of the Roy Grace series, but I think they work perfectly well as standalone books. I did find the end a little underwhelming and telegraphed.

The narrator is great, makes it easy to tell each character and builds suspense.

I have once or twice before read a book by Peter James in the Roy grace series but never picked up on them, perhaps because I have such a wide taste in literature and there is so much good stuff to read. However, I will certainly be looking out for more of the audio books in this series after listening to this one. I chose it to introduce my husband to audio novels whilst we took a number of somewhat tedious and necessary road trips. Well, we listened for hours at a time and both enjoyed the experience.
Peter James is what I would call a good 'old fashioned' crime writer. Yes, there is violence and death, after all it is talking about the criminal world, but somehow it never gets so nasty that you want to turn off. This one based on the art world fitted so well with our recent watching of the BBC 'Fake or Fortune' series, making it easy to actually picture the scenes. Great stuff all in all .... Oh and we loved the narrator; just right!

Very much enjoyed the narration. The plot was engaging and an easy listen while driving. The cover art matched the book well. Characters interesting with a good depth conveyed. 4 stars

Another class Roy Grace novel written by Peter James. Investigating the art crime underworld and the forgery’s. Roy grace did a great job in his investigation and great writing by James