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Dead Simple
- Roy Grace, Book 1
- Narrated by: Tim Bruce
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
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Dead Simple
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Summary
Meet Detective Superintendent Roy Grace on his unforgettable first major case in Dead Simple, by award winning crime author Peter James.
It was meant to be a harmless stag-night prank. But a few hours later, the groom has disappeared and his friends are dead.
With only three days to the wedding, Roy Grace is contacted by the man’s distraught fiancée to unearth what happened on that fateful night.
The one man who ought to know of the groom’s whereabouts is saying nothing. But then he has a lot more to gain than anyone realizes, for one man’s disaster is another man’s fortune . . .
Although the Roy Grace novels can be listened to in any order, Dead Simple is the first thrilling title in the bestselling series. Enjoy more of the Brighton detective’s investigations with Looking Good Dead and Not Dead Enough.
Now a major ITV series, Grace, starring John Simm.
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What listeners love about Dead Simple
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Keetz
- 31-03-16
LOVED it!
Having just finished the Frieda Klein stories by Nicci French, I was looking for a worthy replacement... Scared that I couldn't find one, I bought this. WOW! Fantastic, I enjoyed it thoroughly (couldn't stop listening to it!) and am thrilled that this is a long, long series of books! I'm going to start the second in the series straight away. If in doubt, BUY IT!
49 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- avidreader
- 13-04-16
first time audiobook - success
narrated really well. my first audio book and thought it might be a bit slow but stuck with it. as the story progressed, it became better and better. will be listening to more Peter James and more Tim Bruce. i also managed a pile of ironing painlessly as well as listening and relaxing, too. much less restrictive than reading myself . it won't replace reading completely but will be a great way of covering more novels.
27 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- C. Harrison
- 02-03-17
Accidental Partridge
Roy Grace is a really unpleasant character. Every woman he meets is judged on her looks and he is perpetually aggravated by minutiae. He'd be the worst colleague in the world but I think he's meant to be the hero. Here's a typical description of one of his co-workers: 'Either she has rocks in her bra or seriously large breasts'. The word 'horny' crops up more than once which is frankly unforgivable. I could hear Alan Partridge all the way through. The author seems to be trying to up his word count by describing every single thing that happens. The scene where Grace is in a pub and it describes every single detail of the drinks is excruciating. The narrator was a little over enthusiastic and sounded like an outraged Daily Mail reader in parts. I stuck it out until the end to find out what happened to the missing guy - the plot wasn't terrible. Using a medium to solve bits of the case is a lazy device though and led me feeling like I'd wasted a lot of time for nothing.
25 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Richard Rayner
- 20-09-16
Calm down, dear!
What disappointed you about Dead Simple?
The narrator, for me, completely wrecks the book. The emphasis is all wrong. When characters are sad, desperate, pensive, thoughtful, tense or just mildly irritated, the narrator sends them into a kind of deranged fury that is simply inappropriate. He makes the characters seem unhinged and neurotic throughout. He overacts in the most extraordinary manner. It's bizarre and completely unlistenable. As for the accents... let's not even go there. Sorry...
What was one of the most memorable moments of Dead Simple?
Not really an applicable question.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
See above... I am baffled that plenty of reviewers seem to have enjoyed the narration. Wierd.
You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?
Yeah, the book's fine - it's the peculiar and over-excited narration.
17 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Phil A.
- 15-05-18
Tedious, tedious, tedious...
An unsophisticated, predictable plot full of clichés. Weak characters with few endearing traits plus a formulaic story line which lacks grit and intrigue. Regrettably poor narration too - he'd be great reading Pippi Longstocking or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but not this. No idea how the author has sold 17 million books.
15 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mark O
- 29-03-16
Brilliant
I have read before but wanted to listen/read again this time in order. The plot is fantastic and I really enjoy the way it uses real locations - and often real people. Highly recommended.
12 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- FuzzyLea
- 29-02-20
old-fashioned in the worst sense
The writing of and about women in this book felt very 1970s and made me feel very uncomfortable. Given the overall rating of 4.4. stars, I was very disappointed with the story, the narrator and the writing. Glad that audible allows returns!
11 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs W P Smith
- 20-04-16
Great story as always by Peter James
it was brilliant. now for book number two in the Roy Grace series. Finished this book very quickly it was so exciting
10 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Lesleycurrie
- 03-05-18
Couldn’t get to 3rd chapter!
The performance was so poor I just couldn’t listen to it any longer so no idea if the book was good or not. Very immature reading! Annoying tone it’s a thriller read like a Disney book!
8 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sasso
- 07-08-16
Narrator acts like he's reading to a 3 year old!
Thought the story was quite intriguing and exciting. Couldn't get past chapter 6 though as the narrator acted like he was reading to a three-year-old child. At one point he was so high pitched it nearly deafened me through my earphones. Shame because I think the story was quite good, I'll just never know the ending now.
8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lia
- 19-05-19
Claustrophobic's Watch Out
What starts out as a revenge prank suddenly turns into a thriller. That is the basis of Peter James’ first book in the series of Roy Grace, Dead Simple.
Roy Grace is the detective who has to find Michael but what he doesn’t know is that the prank has led to more questions from Michael’s friends, leaving the listener to wonder if any of Michael’s friends are trustworthy. All this seems to make it even harder for Grace to figure out what happened to Michael.
There are several things that make this book even more dynamic. Peter James writes from different points of view in the book, that being the criminals, the victim, and the police. By doing this, James fills the book with even more suspense since the characters drive the story, making me wonder what was going to happen next.
Another great point of creating multiple points of view made the characters even more memorable because the characters
are more developed. People might argue that the point of view switches too much but in this book, it’s still easy to follow since Dead Simple is more of a thriller than along with being a mystery. I have read books in multiple viewpoints. Some were done well. Others weren’t. In Dead Simple, it was a great part of the story.
I have to say that this was one of the best books I have listened to this year based on the unique type of plot and the multiple viewpoints, which in this case gave the story a tremendous amount of suspense. I wish I can give this book more than five stars.
Tim Bruce was excellent with the delivery of the story
7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- RachelB
- 10-11-19
One of the best
Brilliant and the narrator really brought it to life, there were so many twists and turns it was enthralling. one of the best Roy Grace books and I have listened to them all
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Simon
- 31-07-18
First of series is a classic
I listened to this after listening to most of the series but this is definitely one of the best. Loved it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Yvonne
- 14-07-18
Very good book
What a good book! I loved listening to this book and I could not put it down. Really enjoyed it!!!