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12 Phonebox Magazine | April 2025Iconic literary detective Roy Grace returns this year in a new stage adaptation of Picture You Dead. The play is coming to Milton Keynes in May, as Phonebox%u2019s Tom Johnston discovered.The new stage production of Picture You Dead is adapted from the best-selling novel of leading crime writer Peter James and features a multi-star cast, including Television Award-winning Peter Ash, who returns to the stage after leaving ITV%u2019s Coronation Street last summer.Peter%u2019s other numerous credits include Footballers%u2019 Wives and the National Theatre%u2019s War Horse. Joining him on stage is Fiona Wade who, following 11 years in Emmerdale, took to the stage earlier this year in the hit 2:22 A Ghost Story. West End favourite Jodie Steele (Bonnie & Clyde, Wicked, Six) will star as Roberta Kilgore and one of the nation%u2019s favourite TV doctors, George Rainsford, (Casualty, Call the Midwife), will return to reprise the DSI Roy Grace role, which he played in the 2023 hit production of Wish You Were Dead. Picture You Dead is the seventh Peter James book to be adapted for the stage by award-winning writer Shaun McKenna and is directed by Jonathan O%u2019Boyle who has previously directed two James stage adaptations.%u201cIt is truly incredible for me to see the seventh stage adaptation of my books coming to theatres in 2025,%u201d says Peter James. %u201cI am so grateful to the hundreds of thousands of people around the country who have come to their local theatre and enjoyed the plays over the last 10 years, and I am thrilled to tell you all that personally, I think this brand new play, is the best one so far.%u201dThe story of Picture You Dead was inspired by James%u2019 meeting with reallife art forger and now acclaimed copyist, David Henty. Set in Brighton, DSI Grace investigates a cold case that leads him to the rarifi ed air of fi ne art, but beneath the respectable veneer lurks a dark underworld of greed, deception and murder. When an unsuspecting couple unwittingly buy a potentially long-lost masterpiece in a car boot sale, they discover that their dream fi nd is about to turn into their worst nightmare and only Grace can stop them from paying the ultimate price.So, what is it about whodunits, in Peter James%u2019 opinion, that appeals to the reading and theatre-going public? %u201cPeople love being scared, although in a safe way,%u201d he says. %u201cBad things happen in the world, so it%u2019s satisfying to see them resolved. And there%u2019s no harm in throwing in a little gallows humour along the way.%u201dRoy Grace books have sold over 23 million copies worldwide, been previously adapted for six stage productions, and transformed into TV%u2019s acclaimed drama %u2018Grace%u2019. Earlier this year, Grace was declared by Queen Camilla, as her favourite literary detective. Now the production team are hoping for a right royal welcome when they come to Milton Keynes next month.Picture You Dead is at Milton Keynes Theatre from Tuesday 6th to Saturday 10th May.Grace and Favourite%u201cPeople love being scared, although in a safe way,%u201d