Award-winning crime author Peter James is due to release a tell-all standalone novel that is guaranteed to both shock and satisfy fans of the best-selling Roy Grace series.

Peter's 19-book thriller series follows Brighton-based detective Grace who haunted by the disappearance of his wife, Sandy.

Finally, his new release They Thought I Was Dead will bring readers their desperately sought-after answers.

Peter said: “Wife Sandy, who Detective Superintendent Roy Grace loved and adored, vanished on his 30th birthday. She literally vanished off the face of the earth.

"I’ve seeded little bits of Sandy throughout every book, and I started to get more and more emails speculating on what might have happened to her. So I thought it would be really fun to write a book about her. It’s all from her perspective and starts with the day she left.

“What detectives do is they solve puzzles, with hundreds if not thousands of pieces, and I thought it would be really interesting for a detective to have a personal puzzle that they couldn't solve. I was inundated with letters from readers speculating, and I thought we could have some fun, let's keep this going. I started filling in the gaps and it just started taking on a life of its own.”

The Argus: The cover of Peter James' new novel

Speaking about his writing process, Peter, who is from Brighton, said: “It was much harder than I imagined. I planned to write a novella but when I started writing it took over and I thought I have to write a full novel. I thought it was something my readers would really have fun with.”

Peter works closely with homicide teams, police and other experts to carefully construct his novels, carrying out intricate research to make them as close to life as possible.

He even based the lead fictional detective on Hove-based former detective inspector, David Gaylor.

This standalone novel was no different. He said: “I had help from police in Germany and from the missing persons helpline at one stage. I also spent a lot of time with the Jersey coastguard and had a lot of assistance from a heroin addict.

"Sandy suffers from drug addiction, and I wanted to know how drug addiction worked and how it can make the addicted person feel. I also spoke to a child psychologist and spent a lot of time with an adult psychologist because what's really important to me is to present characters that are really believable and credible. I wanted to understand what made them tick.”

A launch event is taking place at Brighton Girls school on Friday, May 10, hosted on behalf of Friends of Brighton and Hove Hospitals.

Peter said: “It’s going to really surprise readers because I think a lot of people reckon they know about what happens and this turns it on its head.”

The novel is due to be released on Thursday, May 9, with the 20th instalment of the Roy Grace series, One of us is Dead, due to be published on September 24.