‘People love being scared…’

Peter James has sold 23 million copies of his crime thrillers worldwide with 21 consecutive UK Sunday Times number ones, as well as chart-toppers in Germany, France, Russia and Canada.

He’s also a New York Times best-seller, his murder mysteries translated into 38 languages.
Following on from the latest instalment of the hugely successful ITV series Grace, this month, the seventh adaptation of one of Peter’s thrillers, Picture You Dead, will visit Milton Keynes Theatre.

Back home in Brighton, DSI Grace investigates a cold case that leads him to the secretive world of fine art, but beneath the respectable veneer lurks a dark underworld of deception and murder.

Peter had the perfect person from which to learn about the veiled world of high-end art forgery – real-life forger David Henty.
“Back in 2015, I co-wrote a book, Death Comes Knocking: Policing Roy Grace’s Brighton, with former Commander of Brighton and Hove Police, Graham Bartlett. It was Graham who introduced me to Henty.”

Twenty years earlier, Henty had been a highly successful passport forger specialising in fake watermarks. When the police eventually kicked in the door of the forgery factory, Henty was arrested, along with his co-conspirators, and subsequently sentenced to five years in prison. It was to be the very making of him.

His relatively harmless white-collar crime meant he had a pretty easy time of it inside.
“I quickly found my way to the art room where I could paint to my heart’s content under the watchful eye of a couple of teachers.”
What he couldn’t have predicted was his innate talent.

He has the rare gift of being able to copy the work of any painter from Fragonard to Caravaggio (“He’s my favourite: I love the drama in his paintings”), from Van Gogh to Rembrandt, from Picasso to modern-day Banksy. And he can fool almost anyone that these paintings are genuine originals.

“It’s what gave me the idea of the plot for Picture Me Dead,” says Peter.
Actor Peter Ash – whose memorable portrayal of Paul Foreman wasting away from Motor Neurone Disease in Coronation Street won him various awards – is in the role of the forger.

“He’s obviously very talented and passionate about his art,” says Ash, “He’s got a history with Roy Grace from when he used to forge passports.”

With big money changing hands, there’s going to be skullduggery along the way, and things might get physical.
“I must be careful what I reveal but yes, I think we can say there’ll be thrills and spills. It’s going to be quite a ride,” he teases.
Other faces playing their part in this piece include George Rainsford, familiar for his on-screen work as Ethan Hardy in Casualty, a role he played for nine years.

George will also be known by fans of James’ work – he previously played Roy Grace in the 2023 UK tour of Wish You Were Dead.
“It was great fun doing it the first time but a bit different because you saw Roy and his wife on holiday with their toddler in France. He was out of his comfort zone.

“In Picture You Dead, he’s back in Brighton at work and doing what fans will recognise. He’s heavily involved in a live case with all its twists and turns.”

We should give the last word about the new show to the man behind its creation, What is it about whodunits, in Peter’s opinion, that appeals to the reading – or theatre-going – public?

“People love being scared,” he says, “although in a safe way. Bad things happen in the world so it’s satisfying to see them resolved. And there’s no harm in throwing in a little gallows humour along the way.”

Picture You Dead visits Milton Keynes Theatre from May 6-10.
To book tickets visit: atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes