Having enjoyed the entire Peter James’ Roy Grace series, both in book form and on television, there always been the outstanding question of ‘whatever happened to Sandy?’ She disappeared early on with minor mentions from time to time until the appearance at the end of the story before this one. I admit, that I am unsure if this book works for me or not. It is Sandy’s story and it’s not for the faint hearted. She went through a lot that we didn’t know anything about, and her husband was clearly in the dark over 99% of it. I suppose I expected some Roy Grace story to finally show out, but no, it’s Sandy’s story. I suppose I should have read the blurb more. I found Sandy’s story well written but she made so many mistakes I wondered how she even survived. She appears to make wrong decision after wrong choices. What unsettles me is how Roy couldn’t have known what was wrong. He must have been living with blinkers on through their years together. This is a well written answer to the question that titles this book, but if you’re expecting Roy Grace, you won’t get it. I hope there’s more Roy Grace in the future, but wonder how Sandy will fit into that. I’m not convinced that the loose ends were tied up. It left me with more Roy Grace questions than answers.

"They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy's Story" by Peter James is a gripping and revealing tale that dives deep into the mysterious disappearance of Sandy Grace, wife of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace.
As a long-time fan of the Roy Grace series, I wanted answers to the questions surrounding Sandy's vanishing act. James delivers in spectacular fashion, unraveling Sandy's story with twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end.
While Sandy's decisions may be questionable at times, her resilience in the face of danger is commendable. James expertly weaves together elements of addiction, danger, and suspense, creating a compelling narrative that captivated me from start to finish.
Whether you're a devoted follower of the Roy Grace series or new to Peter James' work, "They Thought I Was Dead" is a must-read that offers insight into the complexities of human nature and the power of resilience. I loved it!

Very grateful to the publisher for this copy, opinions are my own

I really enjoyed this one - it was really interesting to read Sandy's story since we'd only ever gotten Roy's POV. It was such Ann eye-opener since her story turned out to be very complex and full of drama!

Highly recommend for Roy Grace fans!

Detective Roy Grace was desperately in love with his beautiful young wife, Sandy. Then one day, on his thirtieth birthday, she simply vanished, never to be heard from again. That was eleven years ago. This is the book in which we finally get to know what happened to her. So many readers have been waiting for so long…. as author Peter James says, he really owed his loyal readers this book! I am not going to tell you what happened to her, apart from saying it’s a lot. You’ll just have to read the book to find out. They Thought I was Dead: Sandy’s story is packed full of action, suspense, drama and horror. It answers all the questions that have remained unanswered over the years. I, for one, had never imagined this….

I love the Roy Grace series and when I saw this book, I just had to read it.
Sandy disappeared from Roy’s life suddenly and with no explanation. For years throughout the crime series she has been in the back of his mind and it’s great to finally find out what happened.
I won’t say too much here as you need to discover for yourselves what happened and the issues she faced, but it’s definitely an eye opener.
This is a great insight into Sandy’s life.
Thanks to Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

There is no one like Peter James for telling a story that is a compelling read. This is for everyone who wondered what had happened to Roy Grace’s first wife. Sandy is not a likeable character, but she has great inner strength and that is what the reader admires. I wonder if the author had this back story in his head while he was writing the Grace series.

Ever since I began this series, many moons ago, I, like everyone else, I have been curious about what really happened to Sandy. That's not to say when I realised that we were about to find out, that I didn't have some reservations about whether it would match up to this much loved series. The outcome is that I'm glad I read it but I have mixed feelings not least because some of the action is set on the little island where I live and this brings about unexpected feelings.

On the whole though, Peter James can't really go wrong, even with the most demanding of readers and he has formulated a story that fits the known facts but despite this, it isn't the story I wanted to read, That's not the author's fault it is just that I had wanted something different, but now we know!

The first book in this series, Dead Simple, was the book that got me hooked on police procedurals, thrillers and more gritty reads back in 2005. After losing my reading my mojo due to having my children (not enough hours in the day where I still had more than one active brain cell left) I had finally put a toe back in the water with some chick-lit, light reads but was finding them lacking somehow. With this very different genre Peter James changed all that, and the rest, as they say, is history.
As the followers of the series will know, Sandy Grace's character has been a presence from the start - or should I say an absence? Nobody has known what happened to her, least of all her detective husband Roy. She just vanished as if into thin air. If anyone had the resources available to find her it would be a leading detective, but sadly for Roy this just didn't happen - there were several potential sightings over the years, but no evidence to back these up. But now, in this latest novel, we all get to find out what happened, together with all the whys and hows that go with the facts from Sandy's point of view. I think this is a very well-timed novel, having spoken to several people who have invested in the series they are ready to have their questions answered.
I think it's safe to say that having now read Sandy's story she really wasn't the person Roy thought she was. There are some pretty unsavoury characters involved here, so it was just a matter of time before Sandy got her fingers burned. It's very much a tale of the grass being greener on the other side however some of the decisions Sandy made had me shouting at the pages at her naivety. As the wife of a detective whose job it was to catch these people, she really should have known better. I love that Peter James has blended some of the characters from Roy's investigations into Sandy's story, which helped with the strands of story in previous books where there were possible sightings of her.
By the end of the story, I was torn between my loyalty to Roy but wanting a decent outcome for Sandy after all she'd gone through. I don't think she really knew what she was looking for, but the people she encountered on her search for a happy life certainly made it an eventful journey.
Overall I found this book tied up a lot of loose ends, but it didn't (except for a couple of sections) get my heart racing as much as I expected. I'll be interested to see how the Dead series either continues or concludes now we have a lot of the answers.

Those who are familiar with Peter James' Roy Grace series will know that there's an ongoing background story related to Detective Grace's own life drama—the mysterious and unexpected disappearance of his wife, Sandy, prior to the events of the first book—and that he tries everything and follows every lead to find out what happened to her.
I've been immersed in Roy Grace's universe for 16 years, and although some of the latest novels gave us glimpses of Sandy's new life after mysteriously vanishing from Roy's life, nothing could have foreseen the big mess her life had turned into. Bad decision after bad decision, addiction after addiction, and a shocking penchant for relating to dangerous people—having access to her messed-up mind and thoughts made me ponder how this could be the woman Roy was so in love with. Through the glimpses we got in the past, I already had a strong feeling she was not going to be as nice a character as Cleo, Roy's new wife, but I was not expecting such a dark character. That being said, I've found this book a very good read. Yes, I felt shocked and frustrated with most decisions made by this very unrelatable character but it was a rather engaging story that always kept me wondering how in hell she would get away from each mess she got herself into. 4 solid stars from me!

I actually enjoyed this spin off - It was good to read of Sandy's story and the writing style reminded me of Peter's earlier work. Sandy as a very complicated character and her story went some way to explaining why she left Roy and how Bruno's earlier life and his personality became formed. Thank you for an advance copy.

It doesn’t really need saying as this is a Peter James book, but obviously excellently written.

This books filled in the gaps in Sandy’s story from the Roy Grace novels

Highly enjoyable

If you are an afficionado of Roy Grace you will devour this because it answers questions built up over the whole series from the very first book when we learn that his wife is missing. It is so good - all the details we know from the books cleverly slotted in. It is a fast well paced story covering addiction and coersive behavior, but with plenty of action too.
While Sandy’s actions evoke sympathy to an extent, I didn’t find her very likeable as a person but no one should have to go through what happened to her and she showed remarkable resilience.
For those who haven’t read Peter James, this is a story in its own right, to read as a stand- alone with a very human woman as it’s focus. It might tempt you to read the excellent series!

I have enjoyed all the Roy Grace books and was looking forward very much to this one. My expectations were definitely not met. Sandy’s character was so unlikeable and at times very unrealistic.. This book was not my cup of tea at all. Would definitely read the next one as all his previous books have been great. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it

Oh yes Peter James has done it again. I’ve read all the Roy Grace novels and love them - it’s been fascinating to find out the reason that Sandy, Roy’s wife, disappeared eleven years before in a novel dedicated to her story
Some of her background we’ve had brief glimpses of in one or other of the Roy Grace novels but this book has allowed all the dots to be joined up
Her story is extreme as she finds herself trapped in one bad situation after another.
I was hooked - you will be too especially if you are already familiar with Roy Grace

First a confession. Much as I love a series arc story, I have to admit that I got so annoyed with the lack of resolution of "what happened to Sandy" that I actually quit reading the Roy Grace series of books. Each book filled me with hope that I would finally learn the truth, only to have it teased out for just a bit longer... And it annoyed me. That said, I did go back recently and revisit the books I have missed out on. I guess knowing there is no resolution before you start is a great healer... So... why am I boring you with this guff. Well, to set the scene of how much I wanted to know. With this book, which got me so excited, I would finally find out... Hear Sandy's story.
Maybe I was too excited. Maybe I wanted too much. Or maybe the book was indeed too incredible that I gave up counting the number of times I rolled my eyes at something that happened. Skirt credibility...? No the author went far far beyond skirting it. Sorry. I just couldn't buy some of the things that either Sandy did, or that happened to her.
That said, it was a quick, easy read which I read start to finish in a day so there's that on the positive side. And it's (hopefully) all done now... Also it was quite clever insofar as the main story and chronology matched the teasers in the series books....
And, also sadly, it's a reminder of the moral of wanting something so much that when you finally get it, it disappoints.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Having read several of Peter James' twenty or so crime and thriller novels based on Detective Roy Grace, I was looking forward to "They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy's Story" where we were to find out what happened to Roy's wife, Sandy, who disappeared on his 30th birthday.

Maybe I was expecting too much as this book disappointed me in various ways. I found the story repetitive and Sandy completely unlikeable. She kept meeting unsuitable men, falling for them immediately and putting all her trust in them despite them being criminals and often violent. Sandy just got into more and more trouble with various addictions including gambling, alcohol and drugs. It was all very depressing and some of the violence and torture scenes turned my stomach. I wish I hadn’t read them.

My least favourite Peter James book. With thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable addition to the Peter James oeuvre and a pleasant enough read. The Roy Grace series is consistently excellent but the story of his wife Sandy was dragged out ad nauseam and I'm not sure the world needs this account from Sandy herself about where she went!

Having read the Roy Grace books this has tied up loose ends. Although has it?
Sandy was married to Roy.
She left him and disappeared.
She died.

What happened in between?

Her name is Sandy. You might know her as the loving wife of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. But there's more to her than meets the eye. A woman with a dubious past, a complicated present and an uncertain future. Then she was gone. Some will think they know how it ends....

From reading all the books in the Roy Grace series, I knew Sandy's story from Roy's perspective. Now, we are getting the chance to hear Sandy's.

It did take me a little while to get into the story, but once I was in, I was hooked. Sandy has made a lot of bad choices in her life. She always wanted what other people had. She's not a likeable character either, but this story tells us where she's been for the years she's been missing. Her story is quite complex, But I'm not going to tell you any more, I'll let Sandy tell you herself when you read her story.

Published 9th May

I would like to thank #NetGalley #PanMacmillan and the author #PeterJames for my ARC of #TheyThoughtIWasDeadSandysStory in exchange for an honest review.

Peter James' Roy Grace series is one of - if not the - bestselling set of crime novels of recent years. Through the course of the series, Grace's life has been chronicled in some detail. Part of that life was his first marriage, to Sandy. This book tells Sandy's side of the story. For James completists, there is a lot here that has not previously been revealed and the book will answer a lot of questions. However, it is really an unnecessary addition to the series, was there any real reason why there couldn't have remained a mystery in Roy's background?

The tale is told in the first person, and as Sandy turns out to not be a particularly likeable character, it is difficult to empathise with her situation - particularly as the majority of readers will already be aware of how her disappearance affected Roy's life over the years. The book also suffers from two glaring errors...and I mean errors of fact, not canon. I won't point them out here but readers will soon find them. There is also an issue of tense.,,some parts of the story are told in the present tense as seems to be the current, temporary, trend, whilst other parts revert to the standard past tense. There does not appear to be any reason as to why tenses switch, sometimes within the same paragraph> This makes total immersion in the story difficult as the reader is abruptly pulled from past to present without warning.

The quality of James' books took a dip in recent years before the author seemingly found his feet again around the time of the pandemic, but this is a disappointing effort from a puzzling writer.