Peter James’ popular DSI Grace novels might be set in the sunny south-coast location of Brighton, but they feature the dark and unsavory subjects of crime and murder. The books have not only been adapted into a number of ITV dramas, but also a series of hit stage plays. The seventh such adaptation, Picture You Dead, tours the UK this year. Bestselling author James here reveals why he thinks crime drama is so popular - and members of the cast offer some behind-the-scenes insights ahead of the show’s visit to Shrewsbury at the end of the month...

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 have been translated into 38 languages.

It’s afforded him an enviable lifestyle. At the end of his 60s (he’s now 76), he and second wife Lara moved to Jersey. “We’re Brexiles,” he says. “I wanted somewhere quiet; a bolt-hole in which to write.”

He briefly returned to home turf to launch the stage adaptation of one of his thrillers, Picture You Dead, which is set in the veiled world of high-end art forgery.

Writing novels and writing stage plays are two very different disciplines - and that’s quite apart from the fact it would be a torturous process, says Peter, to slim down 120,000 words or so into a 25,000-word script. With that in mind, step forward once again, Shaun McKenna - the writer who has adapted six of the thrillers for the stage. Picture You Dead - the last Grace book but three - adds to that number.

What made the novel such a pleasure to write in the first place, says Peter, was that he had the great good fortune to meet 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 & 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 - where he discovered that his skill stretched beyond passport fraud. He has the rare gift of being able to copy the work of any painter, from Fragonard to Caravaggio, from Van Gogh to Rembrandt, from Picasso to modern-day Banksy. And he can fool almost anyone that these paintings are genuine originals - leading to his current career as a copyist.

“It’s what gave me the idea of the plot for Picture You Dead,” says Peter.

The stage version stars Peter Ash as forger Dave Hegarty. Peter is fresh from his memorable and moving portrayal of Paul Foreman, wasting away from Motor Neurone Disease in Coronation Street, for which he won various awards, including the 2024 National Television Award for Best Serial Drama Performance. He’s bearded these days (“I had to be clean-shaven in Corrie”) but he still gets recognised when he’s out and about, “even if I’m wearing a baseball cap and glasses”. He’s not complaining, though: “It was a privilege to play that part, and to help educate the public about that cruel disease.”

He was in the soap for six years in total and is touring the UK until mid-May, when he’ll bow out to shepherd his 15-year-old son through his GCSEs. The tour continues until July.

The role of the (fictional) forger in Picture You Dead intrigues him: “He’s obviously very talented and passionate about his art. He’s got a history with Roy Grace, from when he used to forge passports.”

With big money changing hands, there’s certainly going to be skullduggery along the way. And fisticuffs, too, maybe? “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.”

For actor George Rainsford, who played Ethan Hardy in Casualty for nine years, this will be his second turn round the block - he played Roy Grace in the UK tour of Wish You Were Dead in 2023.

“It was great fun doing it the first time,” he says, “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.

“Funnily enough, Picture You Dead came out in novel form when I was on the last tour as Roy Grace. I downloaded the audio version and listened to it when I was running.”

So, could we be sitting here in two years’ time with George about to tackle Roy for a third time? “Never say never,” he says, with a broad smile.

Fiona Wade plays Freya Kipling, who’s married to Harry. They are an innocent couple who go to a car boot sale where they buy a painting that she’s not keen on, but Harry likes. In time, it’s discovered that there may be an original beneath the painting which, when exposed, could be worth a small fortune. Or is it a forgery?

Fiona’s particularly pleased to have been cast in this production because it reunites her with George Rainsford, who played her husband last year in the hit tour of 2:22 A Ghost Story. The show marked her return to the theatre (she’s appeared in Miss Saigon and The Far Pavilions) after more than a decade playing Priya Sharma in Emmerdale. She bowed out last year. “It was a long run, and it changed my life. But I wanted to take the gamble of seeing what else was out there, so I asked to be written out of the soap. I very much believe in the power of positive thinking, and my gamble has paid off.”

The tour of Picture You Dead means Fiona will be away from home for the better part of five months. “My husband’s an actor, currently on tour in Murder On The Orient Express.” She and Simon Cotton met on Emmerdale. “We understand each other’s crazy timetables.

“Touring in a production is a lovely way to see the UK,” says Fiona. And she’s a huge fan of crime novels. “So now, I’m going to start working my way through Peter James’ long list of thrillers - beginning, of course, with Picture You Dead.”

It seems appropriate that Peter himself, as the writer whose imagination has enthralled so many, gets the last word. So, what is it about whodunnits, in his opinion, that appeals to the reading - and theatre-going - public? “People love being scared,” he says, “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 shows at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn from Tuesday 29 April to Saturday 3 May