Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is forever haunted by the unexplained disappearance of his wife, Sandy, nearly ten years ago. Ever since she went missing, he's been consumed with finding out what happened to her. Finally, he may be moving on. He has fallen in love and is going to marry his girlfriend, Cleo, who is pregnant with their child.  But his life is put on hold when, after a wild New Year's Eve ball, a woman is brutally raped as she returns to her hotel room. A week later, another woman is attacked. Both victims' shoes are taken by their attacker. Grace soon realizes that these new cases bear remarkable similarities to an unsolved series of crimes in the city back in 1997. The perpetrator had been dubbed "Shoe Man" and was believed to have raped four women before murdering his fifth victim and vanishing. Could this be a copycat, or has Shoe Man resurfaced? When more women are assaulted, Grace becomes increasingly certain that they are dealing with the same man. By delving back into the past—a time when Sandy was still in his life—he may find the key to unlocking the current mystery. Soon Grace and his team find themselves in a desperate race against the clock to identify and save the life of the new sixth victim, as he struggles with a chapter in his life he thought he had put behind him at last.  Dead Like You is Peter James at his best—"Possibly the most engrossing thriller since The Silence of the Lambs " ( Washington Post Book World). “The most engrossing thriller since Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs .” ---- The Washington Post   “Sinister and riveting. Peter James is one of the best in the world.” –Lee Child "U.S. readers deserve to know what the rest of the world has known for years--Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business." --Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of BROKEN and UNDONE PETER JAMES is the #1 international bestselling author of the Roy Grace series with over 13 million copies sold all over the world. His novels have been translated into thirty-three languages and three have been filmed. All his novels reflect his deep interest in the world of the police, with whom he does in-depth research. He has produced numerous films, including The Merchant Of Venice , starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, and Joseph Fiennes. He lives in England. Chapter 1 Thursday 25 December We all make mistakes, all of the time. Mostly trivial stuff, like forgetting to return a phone call, or to put money in a parking meter, or to pick up milk at the supermarket. But sometimes – luckily very rarely – we make the big one. The kind of mistake that could cost us our life. The kind of mistake Rachael Ryan made. And she had a long time to reflect on it. If…she had been less drunk. If…it hadn’t been so sodding freezing cold. If…it hadn’t begun to rain. If…there hadn’t been a queue of a hundred equally drunk revellers at the taxi rank in Brighton’s East Street at 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve, or, rather, Christmas morning. If…her flat had not been within walking distance, unlike her equally drunk companions, Tracey and Jade, who lived far away, on the other side of the city. If…she had listened to Tracey and Jade telling her not to be so bloody stupid. That there were plenty of taxis. That it would only be a short wait. His whole body stiffened with excitement. After two hours of watching, finally the woman he had been waiting for was turning into the street. She was on foot and alone. Perfect! She was wearing a miniskirt with a shawl around her shoulders and looked a little unsteady on her legs, from drink and probably from the height of the heels. She had nice legs. But what he was really looking at was her shoes. His kind of shoes. High-heeled with ankle straps. He liked ankle straps. As she came closer, approaching beneath the sodium glare of the street lights, he could see, through his binoculars, through the rear window, that they were shiny, as he had hoped. Very sexy shoes! She was his kind of woman! God, was she glad she had decided to walk! What a queue! And every taxi that had gone past since was occupied. With a fresh, windy drizzle on her face, Rachael tottered along past the shops on St James’s Street, past the Royal Sussex County Hospital, then turned right into Paston Place, where the wind became stronger, batting her long brown hair around her face. She headed down towards the seafront, then turned left into her street of Victorian terraced houses, where the wind and the rain played even more havoc with her hairdo. Not that she cared any more, not tonight. In the distance she heard the wail of a siren, an ambulance or a police car, she thought. She walked past a small car with misted windows. Through them she saw the silhouette of a couple snogging, and she felt a twinge of sadness and a sudden yearning for Liam, whom she had dumped almost six months ago now. The bastard had been unfaithful. OK, he had pleaded with her to forgive him, but she just k