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  • Dead Like You

  • Roy Grace, Book 6
  • By: Peter James
  • Narrated by: David Bauckham
  • Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,700 ratings)

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Dead Like You cover art

Dead Like You

By: Peter James
Narrated by: David Bauckham
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Summary

When unsolved crimes resurface, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace faces a possible copycat killing in Dead Like You, by award winning crime author Peter James.

The Metropole Hotel, Brighton. After a heady New Year's Eve ball, a woman is attacked as she returns to her room. A week later, another woman is assaulted. Both victims' shoes are taken by the offender...

Roy Grace soon realizes that these new cases bear remarkable similarities to an unsolved series of crimes in the city back in 1997. Dubbed 'Shoe Man', the perpetrator was believed to have attacked five women before murdering his sixth victim and vanishing. Could this be a copycat, or has Shoe Man resurfaced?

When more women are assaulted, Grace and his team find themselves in a desperate race against the clock to identify and save the life of the new sixth victim...

Although the Roy Grace novels can be listened to in any order, Dead Like You is the sixth gripping title in the bestselling series. Enjoy more of the Brighton detective’s investigations with Dead Man's Grip and Not Dead Yet.

Now a major ITV series, Grace, starring John Simm.

©2010 Peter James (P)2016 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

What listeners say about Dead Like You

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

A cracking book....but a lousy listen.

I have no problems with the storyline or the way it is structured, which puts me at odds with another reviewer who didn't feel it read like a normal Roy Grace novel.
In fact I quite enjoyed the storyline and couldn't wait for my next commute so I could hear what would happen next.
Sadly, what completely naused this book up for me was the awful narration. It was clear to me that the narrator either had a stinker of a cold or adanoidal problems.
With audio books, the presentation is all. However this was like a beautiful display in a shop window with broken glass :-(

25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Disquietingly explicit

I've enjoyed some of the author's other Inspector Grace novels but I can recall none as being as explicit in describing the violence of the attacks on victims. Maybe it's because the crimes are rapes that are graphically related in horrific detail enough to give any woman nightmares. The criminals are also more psychologically damaged/twisted as an explanation for the torture they inflict. I nearly gave up listening as I found the crimes so disquieting, but carried on. I'm glad I did because once the author had got the crimes described the story moved on to the detection, which was easier and more interesting listening.
The reader is very good.

16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good book but didn't feel like a DS Grace story

Ok, so this is book 6 in the DS Roy Grace series and is a good listen. A bit confusing in places with the back and forth between present and past meaning a bit more concentration is required than some other titles, but once it gets into its stride it keeps you listening - or it did me anyway.

However, there is far too little Roy Grace in this book compared to the others. Much much more page time is given to the villain of the book, and various other non-Police charaters. So much in fact that if you're hoping for more development of the Roy Grace character in this book (and his friend Glen Branson for that matter) then you'll be disappointed. For example, after the conclusion of the case DS Grace is harldy mentioned at all in the last 45 minutes or so of the narration!

Yes there is some forward development of the character, but compared to the other books in the series it seems that DS Grace and the rest of his team are secondary characters this time around with what felt like much less than a quarter of the story given over to them and their detection of the case. Maybe Peter James was struggling this time with where to take Grace etc. Maybe his publisher edited it down to a more manageable length. Who knows. Either way it didn't feel like a DS Grace novel, more like a spin off in which he and his team had a cameo role. Think CSI: Miami with a character from one of the other franchises popping up.

I still gave it 4 stars because as a novel in its own right it was a good listen, and excellently read again again by David Bauckham which kept me listening. Had I been giving it stars purely as a DS Grace novel? Maybe 2 stars.

Hopefully we'll have a return to more police, less villain next time around. Would still like to see DS Grace brought to the TV screen though. Would make a good replacement for Frost - IF the character was able to stay as written and not 'altered for TV' like Jack was

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Dead Like You

I was incredibly dissappointed in this audio book. The narration was so grating that I couldn't listen to it for more than 20 mins, the actors voice was flat and course, without a hint of character. I wasted my money for the first time. Please listen to it on sample before you purchase to ensure that its something you can bear first.

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Dead Straight

Another very good thriller in the Roy Grace series. This time the plot centres on nasty and deviant murders revolving around a shoe fetish. The crimes are graphically described and may not be to everyone's taste. However, the plot is good and the suspense and guessing games continue to the end.

Weaknesses for me were the fact that the ongoing storyline of the central characters did not progress as much as I had hoped and I am not a big fan of Baulkham's rather nasal narration.

When all is said and done though this is a very worthy series with strong characters and clever plot devices. I'll certainly be continuing with it in the future.

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • C
  • 16-09-20

Same old from Peter James

I'm noticing that Peter James' books afe very samey. Same discripions of charachers wheeled out, same construct / memory eyeball thing, always a character with a learning difficulty, and always a criminal says "Know what I'm saying?". Everybody always addresses Grace as "Detective Superintendant" which is especially clunky in audiobook. Cringe. Female characters are usually moaning and high maintenance or plyable sex kittens. it's getting really tedious.

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

GREAT STORY

This was another amazing tale of crime and skullduggery which, as always, is solved by the wonderful Roy Grace. The plot is complex but entirely believable. Whilst the narrator was good I do not feel their voice was best suited to this sort of book.

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Droning reader

One of the worst voices that I have heard read books on Audible. his name is David Bauckham, Beckham more like it. I got through 4 chapters and finally gave up out of boredom, the story took far too long to get going and the voice was becoming an aggravating drone.

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Peter James deserves a better narrator than this

Peter James is a consummate storyteller and this book the sixth in the Roy Grace franchise lives up to expectations in terms of content.

An excellent book totally spoiled by flat narration, poor characterisation and totally wrong emphasis. A horrible listen which did not get better as it went along. The 'unknown' narrator David Bauckham is apparently a speech coach and one would expect at least to get inflexions of words and sentences right if not to have the ability to characterise that good actors reading audio books have. Perhaps too much time spent with non-english speakers but no excuse. A best selling author like James deserves better than this from his publishers.

For this one stick to the print version.

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Author wins over narrator

The Roy Grace series of books are all well written and intriguing. However, the narration on much of this one is just plain boring! At times I struggled to maintain attention on the book. It is a tribute to the author that I succeeded, and gradually 'screened out' the voice.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Jean
  • 15-03-11

Better read than listened to

I'm 5 hours in and giving up. Switching back and forth between 1998 and "now" with some of the same characters is way too confusing to listen to. Gonna get the book, because the story is a good one. Nice narration too.

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Adelheid
  • 01-07-11

Growth

I've listened to the previous books and am so pleased that the author has the main character experiencing positive growth. No 'darkness' in this soul.
I enjoyed the people and the plot. Unfortunately the narrator does not understand the tone of the story which leads to his pace & inflection being off.
Still worthwhile to listen to.

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Bob
  • 24-03-11

Awkward story, lousy narration

I'm not sure a better narrator could have salvaged this awkward and unconvincing mystery. But the poor quality of the narration made a mediocre story a chore to listen to. Not a winning combination. The plot never catches fire, the characters are unsympathetic and/or uninteresting, and the yo-yo of flashback between past and present keeps the story in a slow circle, with little advancement that engages interest.

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Dottie B.
  • 07-03-11

Great reader; fair to good book

I love a British mystery. And I for the most part liked this book.
However, it dragged on a bit too long, and at times I found it a bit dull. I also began to wonder if Mr. James has too much fascination with pee-soaked clothes and shaven areas.
But, with those negatives said, I will say I really like the reader's voice. He sounds like Neil Gaiman.

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Alto_Girl
  • 11-07-13

Not the best PJ book, but ok...

If you could sum up Dead Like You in three words, what would they be?

Mediocre, long, enlightening

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have been a bit more judicious in the editing... it seemed a bit long and tedious. Almost as if Peter James was trying to hit a 'word count' with this book and added things in order to achieve it, thus losing on the quality of the storyline.

What three words best describe David Bauckham’s performance?

monotonous, choppy, tedious

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I really like the parts where Detective Grace is with his life-partner. He genuinely loves her but struggles with the fact that his wife is still missing, presumed dead, but a part of him sees himself as being unfaithful at times. I think this carries over in his work because he is sometimes either too lenient or critical of his team... he tends to find a 'happy medium' in life, whether it be work-life or personal life.

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Kathryn
  • 27-02-12

Gritty

I enjoy the plots in this series but in this book, some of the descriptions were a little more gritty than I would have liked. Overall, still a good book.

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Linda
  • 26-04-14

Enjoyed the complexity

This is indeed a complex plot, but I thought it was well done. I enjoyed how it was woven together.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • ellen
  • 17-07-11

dead like you

a good mystery, flash backs sometimes confusing but still very suspenseful and as always with pd a surprising ending.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Sue Button
  • 31-08-22

Very enjoyable but for one thing

Great story and am thoroughly enjoying the Rob Grace series. But David (narrator), please please try not to murder the South African accent. As an English speaking South African, I cringe every time I hear it. It is so way off the mark it is literally painful to hear! Other than that, wonderfully gripping series

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Sloane
  • 12-08-22

Two many suspects…

Too many characters period. While this may be a great book to read, it was a little hard to listen to because there were so many characters. I finally started to enjoy it around Chapter 85. The series in Britbox got me hooked, so I’ll probably try the next book in the series. The narrator doesn’t “do” women all that well.