The House on Cold Hill

I’m fortunate to have a terrific support group, whom we jokingly call Team James, who all provide vital feedback at various stages of the writing process. A massive thank you to Susan Ansell, Graham Bartlett, Martin and Jane Diplock, A

I need to single out three people above all others – former Detective Chief Superintendent David Gaylor, my model for Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, who has become my good friend and sometime-slave driver(!);my assistant, Linda Buckley, who has an endless capacity for hard work and helping free up my time for writing, as well as a brilliant eye for detail; and lastly, but also first – my beloved Lara, who is such a wise head and brilliant sounding board, and a constant pillar of support in every possible way. And of course no acknowledgements would be complete without a mention of our wonderful canine friends, Oscar, our Lab/Bull Mastiff/Parson Russell cross rescue dog and our recent arrival – our labradoodle puppy, very appropriately named, for this book, Spook!

As ever, thank you, my wonderful readers! I always love to hear from you, either on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, and your comments give me such constant encouragement.

Peter James

Sussex, England

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By Peter James

The Roy Grace Series

DEAD SIMPLE

LOOKING GOOD DEAD

NOT DEAD ENOUGH

DEAD MAN’S FOOTSTEPS

DEAD TOMORROW

DEAD LIKE YOU

DEAD MAN’S GRIP

NOT DEAD YET

DEAD MAN’S TIME

WANT YOU DEAD

YOU ARE DEAD

Other Novels

DEAD LETTER DROP

ATOM BOMB ANGEL

BILLIONAIRE

POSSESSION

DREAMER

SWEET HEART

TWILIGHT

PROPHECY

ALCHEMIST

HOST

THE TRUTH

DENIAL

FAITH

PERFECT PEOPLE

THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL

Short Story Collection

A TWIST OF THE KNIFE

Children’s Novel

GETTING WIRED!

Novella

THE PERFECT MURDER

First published 2015 by Macmillan

This electronic edition published 2015 by Macmillan

an imprint of Pan Macmillan

20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

Associated companies throughout the world

www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-1-4472-5592-5

Copyright © Really Scary Books / Peter James 2015

Jacket photograph © Shutterstock

Design and art direction by Neil Lang

Roy Grace®, Grace®, DS Grace® and DI Grace® are registered trademarks of Really Scary Books Limited.

The right of Peter James to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Lyric excerpt from ‘Su

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You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Floor plan artwork by Hemesh Alles

Gravestone artwork by Atomic Squib

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