ITV's Grace books: How many novels are in the Roy Grace series?
The crime drama is returning to ITV to adapt four more Roy Grace novels.
Detective drama Grace is returning to our screens this weekend for its fifth season starring John Simm and Richie Campbell.
The series has fast become a real staple of ITV's output and as is the case for its previous seasons, the new instalment will adapt more of Peter James's Brighton-based books.
His bestselling Roy Grace novels are each filled with shocking murders and intrigue, also exploring the personal life of the central detective.
This new run of episodes will pick up after the devastating season 4 finale, which brought the central mystery of Roy's wife Sandy's disappearance to a close, while opening up a whole new storyline regarding the son he never knew he had.
But how many more books are there left in the series to adapt, and will the show get through all of them?
Read on for everything you need to know about the Grace books.
Which book series is Grace based on?
Grace is based on the best-selling Roy Grace series of novels from author Peter James (who has filmed multiple cameo appearances across the seasons).
Like the ITV show, the series focuses on Roy and his colleagues as they investigate a series of murders in and around Brighton, all while Roy struggles to solve the mystery of his own wife's disappearance.
How many books are there in the Roy Grace series?
There are currently 21 novels in the Roy Grace series, with another one on the way later this year.
There is also one novella in the series which was released in 2021, titled Wish You Were Dead.
All the titles for both the novels and the novella feature the word dead and are a maximum of five words long.
Here's a full list of the books featured in the series:
- Dead Simple (2005)
- Looking Good Dead (2006)
- Not Dead Enough (2007)
- Dead Man's Footsteps (2008)
- Dead Tomorrow (2009)
- Dead Like You (2010)
- Dead Man's Grip (2011)
- Not Dead Yet (2012)
- Dead Man's Time (2013)
- Want You Dead (2014)
- You Are Dead (2015)
- Love You Dead (2016)
- Need You Dead (2017)
- Dead If You Don't (2018)
- Dead at First Sight (2019)
- Find Them Dead (2020)
- Left You Dead (2021)
- Wish You Were Dead (Novella, 2021)
- Picture You Dead (2022)
- Stop Them Dead (2023)
- They Thought I Was Dead (2024)
- One Of Us Is Dead (2024)
Which books are being adapted in season 5 of the ITV series?
This year's season is made up of four feature-length episodes, adapting the next four novels - Need You Dead, Dead If You Don't, Dead at First Sight and Find Them Dead.
Meanwhile, a sixth season has already been confirmed, although which books this will adapt has yet to be confirmed.
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Will the ITV series adapt more of the books?
Beyond the fifth and sixth seasons, nothing has been officially confirmed, but Peter James, John Simm and the rest of the show's cast and creatives have expressed an interest in returning for more.
The series is notably getting quite close to catching up with James, despite his prolific output. However, it doesn't seem this will be a problem.
Simm was recently asked whether he could see the show going beyond the books and telling completely new stories, to which he said: "Yeah, we've all talked about this. Peter's got a treasure trove of ideas, so I think we'll be all right.
"And also, we were speaking yesterday about how pleased we are that the show is kind of deviating from the books now, and it has been quietly over the last few years, really.
"For instance, Bella Moy dies quite early on in the books, and we kept Bella Moy alive, and various characters are different and storylines are different. So I think that's quite important.
"I quite like the fact that people that have read all the books, they get the rug pulled from under them when they think they know what's going to happen, but it's completely different. I quite like that. Because it's a different thing. A book is not a TV show and vice versa.
"So, yeah, I'm not really worried about that. I think we've got plenty of cases to solve."
James seemed more than happy with the suggestion that the show overtake his novels, saying that "we've got a hundred more cases lined up at the moment".
Grace season 5 arrives on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday 6th April, with seasons 1-4 available to stream on ITVX.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
