Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Short Shockers: Collection One | 2013 | Peter James | N/A |
| 2 | Short Shockers: Collection Two | 2013 | Peter James | N/A |
| 3 | A Twist of the Knife | 2014 | Peter James | Buy |
Peter James’ short story collections gather his shorter fiction into book-length volumes. The Short Shockers collections, published in 2013 as two separate volumes, combine crime fiction with elements of horror and psychological suspense. A Twist of the Knife (2014) is a more comprehensive collection that pulls together many of his best short works.
James has a background in horror and supernatural fiction that predates his crime writing career. The short story format lets him revisit those genres more easily than his longer Roy Grace novels, and the “Shockers” title signals that these stories lean toward darker territory.
These three collections are a good way for readers to experience the full range of James’ writing. While the Roy Grace novels stick firmly to police procedural crime fiction, the short stories show a writer comfortable with horror, suspense, and the occasional twist ending.