8. Dead Simple by Peter James

Michael Harrison is a successful real estate developer who is planning to marry his secretary, Ashley Harper, in a few days. Four of his friends celebrate the impending marriage by going on a pub crawl in small Sussex villages – and then burying Michael alive. Michael has always been a prankster, and caused two of his friends to almost miss their weddings. Therefore, the group decides to pay Michael back and bury him in a coffin for a few hours with only a breathing tube, a two-way radio, a flashlight, a porn magazine, and a bottle of Scotch. The only problem is that after leaving him in the deserted countryside, the group gets in a horrible car crash, with three of the friends killed and the fourth in a coma. While the good news is that Michael’s two-way radio works, and he makes contact with someone named Davey, the bad news is that Davey is an encephalitis victim with the mentality of a six-year old. When Michael’s fiancé, Ashley, calls the police for help, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace gets the case and discovers all is not as it should be between Michael and Ashley. Grace also has difficulties with the case, as it brings up memories of his missing wife, Sandy, who vanished without a trace nine years ago.

I was unfamiliar with the author until I read a review of his newest book, Looking Good Dead, which comes out at the end of February. His newest book also has an intriguing catch to it – this time about a found CD featuring a snuff film and the race to find the girl starring in the film. If I read a series, I like to start at the beginning, so I decided to read Dead Simple first. Grace is a sympathetic detective and the premise is a good one. While the ending becomes a little too far fetched, I thought the majority of the book was suspenseful and a great, mindless fast read. For fans of Harlan Coben.