I first picked up Peter James in a hotel in Crete a few years ago; and he has since become an entertaining and absorbing companion on a variety of Mediterranean sunbeds and helped keep my patience together during the inevitable airport gate delays on holidays ever since with his brutal and inventive killings, smart plot twists, and interesting mainstay characters. His best-selling novels are consistently characterised by a pacy and absorbing style, accentuated by short chapters and voice shifts.

Google him, and you will see the extent of his popularity and reach. Check out the Peter James TV UK YouTube channel, that not only points you in the direction of his best-selling Detective Superintendent Roy Grace ‘Dead’ series, but his other interests as well, including his ventures into TV and stage. This world premiere stage production of Looking Good Dead, currently playing in Woking, stars Adam Woodyatt – Ian Beale of Eastenders fame, and Gaynor Faye, a familiar face from Emmerdale, Coronation Street and The Syndicate.

Adapted for stage by writer Shaun McKenna, Looking Good Dead follows previous stage adaptations of The Perfect Murder and Dead Simple by James, although it is a stand-alone piece and requires no back knowledge.  Having read this book a few years ago, the opening scenes slowly eased me back into the plot and prodded my memory, making me wonder how the sometimes violent and fast-moving action scenes would be delivered.

The plot is not necessarily a likely stage scenario; Tom Bryce (Adam Woodyatt), picks up a USB memory stick left behind by another passenger on a train seat and takes it home to look at; rather unconvincingly planning to return it to the owner as a good turn. What he and his computer techy son see on the stick leads to dangerous and shocking consequences that puts their entire family in peril. Luckily, Inspector Roy Grace and his team are at hand to make sense of the mess the Bryce family find themselves in. 

The three-stage set switches easily between scenes, with no pauses in continuity, although ‘the slide in’ detectives’ office takes a bit of getting used to. The action centres around the Bryce family house, which is where the stage production slips away from the novel. The family are very much the focus of events, and Grace and his two fellow detectives play more of a side role in the action. There is good banter between them however and Leon Stuart, playing Glenn Branson, Grace’s work partner/friend, provides some humour and gets a few laughs from the audience. McKenna adds an interesting twist to the story at the end making it more appropriate to the stage than the explosive action that ends the novel. There is a rather lacklustre fight scene, which is mercifully over quite quickly, and the expose is verbally revealed.

This was my first visit to the theatre in 18 months, so it was nice to settle back into the familiar stall seats in the New Vic and see some ‘live’ action, although I can’t say this production was the most animated I’ve seen.  James’ novels are real page-turners, so this change of pace was difficult to get used to. There has also been a screen adaptation of Dead Simple and Looking Good Dead featuring John Simm, from Life on Mars, as Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, which better captured the action and excitement of the original text. For me though, I’ll save the next Peter James for that long-awaited sunbed in the near future.

Looking Good Dead, Monday 13 September – Saturday 20 September, 7:30pm, New Victoria Theatre, Woking

Amanda Briggs September 2021