Always a pleasure to meet you Roy Grace!

I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway...Thanks!

The Shoe Man was able to escape detection over a decade ago by having an awareness of police and forensic techniques. Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, who worked the original case, is almost certain that he has returned and is repeating his crimes. We are given more than one viable suspect, each with a skill or occupation that allows them access to a steady stream of potential victims. DS Grace and his team sift through the new evidence, bring in technology that wasn't available 12 years ago and try to stop the perpetrator before another woman is victimized.

This was a tight, well written story that offered a textbook on police procedure and a disturbing look at a rare but devastating crime. There are some things that you will have read in other books in this genre-psychological profiling, nature v.s. nurture, a criminal who is sure that he is much more intelligent than the police, and certainly more so than his victims, and the need for some plain luck in solving the crime.

The author found a clever way for the Shoe Man to dispose of evidence of a victim in 1998. He also demonstrates some of the inherent dangers of excessive use of social media and the pervasiveness of official surveillance in our every day lives.

"Ijzersterk boek van Peter James buiten de toevalstreffer die zorgt dat de zaak écht opengebroken wordt."
https://elinevandm.wordpress.com/2021/06/04/doodskus-van-peter-james-4/

Apart from one blip, I am enjoying my read through of the Roy Grace series. I liked this book as it focused a lot more on the offenders, so while all the team were still suffering from the personal problems they have had from the beginning, it wasn't as much of a plot point as previous books. I also liked that through flashbacks, we had an insight into Roy & Sandy's marriage without the normal storyline of Roy searching for her. I have rated this 4* because at times I got confused about which offender I was reading about because I felt, to make them all seem like viable suspects, they all became very similar and I found it hard to keep up. However I did still enjoy the book and I thought the change from murder cases was carried off well.

Usual, gripping page-turner from Peter James

Another excellent read from Peter James, short snappy chapters and a riveting plot.

Another good read by Peter James. so far I haven't not liked a novel of his so really enjoying this series of thriller crime novels.

The trouble with reading these Roy Grace books out of order is that the baby keeps popping back into the womb, and in this case it is made more complicated by flashbacks to 12 years before, so keeping track of the action gets a bit complicated.

It's nevertheless a readable crime novel, though more of a police procedural than a whodunit -- the reader knows more than the police, and so it is easier to work out who the perpetrator is.

Roy Grace also seems to make some serious mistakes this time. Saying what they are would be giving too much of the plot away, but even though the reader has more clues than the police, Grace seems to miss some of the clues that he does have.

There are also some oddities of language. Is Peter James American, like Elizabeth George? I thought cars in the UK had number plates rather than licence plates.

Always a reliable page turner... Enjoyed this one & the jumps back & forward in time, as well as multiple suspects!