Roy Grace tackles rabies in latest Peter James thriller

It comes out just as filming completes on series four of the TV series spin-off Grace, with four new episodes now being prepared for screening on ITV perhaps in January or February next year. For his latest print appearance, though, Peter plunges Grace deep into the shocking world of dog crime – theft, breeding and smuggling – which exploded during the pandemic.

“The book began when I read an article about a woman in Hove Park who had been mugged and her springer spaniel had been taken early in the pandemic. I thought ‘Wow! What is this about!’ And I read on that she had paid £5,000 for this dog, the same value as a pretty high-end watch.

“I have a chat from time to time with the Chief Constable of Sussex. And I met with Jo Shiner about two and a half years ago now. I asked her what the currents in crime were that were particularly worrying her. She's a massive dog lover like I am and she said that there had been an explosion of dog crime since the lockdown when everybody was wanting a lockdown dog which pushed the prices up by ten to 15 times. She said organised criminals were making more money from illegally breeding and stealing and importing dogs than they were from drugs. And if you catch someone dealing drugs then they're looking at a long prison sentence but if you catch someone who is illegally importing dogs, it's not likely to get much attention, maybe a fine, perhaps six months in prison.”

Peter also spoke to rural crime coordinator Sergeant Tom Carter who is based in Midhurst: “He told me that getting a dog chipped does not necessarily protect them because the criminals would simply put another chip over the top. And he was saying that anyway to get a proper sentence you would have to get the criminals on conspiracy charges which are very hard to nail.

“He also started telling me some of the tricks of the trade. One of the common things that I've used in the book is to get dogs off the street in Romania and then the criminals will advertise them on all the regular sites saying they've got maybe a nice labradoodle with a pretty little picture and they will say ‘Come to our house and have a look.’ You rock up at this lovely house and there is a litter of puppies and you're so focused on the dog that you don't realise that there are no family photos anywhere in the house and what has actually happened is that they have rented an Airbnb to sell the dogs from.” The fact is that you should always go back to have a look at the dog several weeks later but the criminals will say no, you've got to make your decision now. You will ask to see the mother, but the criminals will say that the mother is just not there: “And the problem is that the moment you see the dog you're going to want it and you will buy it and then you'll get it back home and within days it could be sick.”

Peter is proud to have worked closely with the RSPCA on this book: “They have been phenomenally helpful and they are hoping that the book will be a way for them to help stop the problem by educating people.”

The big fear behind it all is that the illegal dogs will bring rabies into the country: “And if the trade is not stopped then that will happen. And once it gets in, it is impossible to eradicate. The particular concern is dogs that are being smuggled in from Romania which has the highest incidence of rabies in Europe. My wife Lara and I am massive animal lovers, not just dogs. We've got more than 100 animals ourselves at home but I really absolutely hate to see any cruelty to dogs. The conditions that they are kept in are awful. I've seen some of the footage from the raids that the RSPCA have done with these poor dogs living in absolutely squalid concrete bunkers.” Peter stresses that his book does not depict any dogs coming to harm though he is happy to confirm that it does depict criminals suffering pretty grisly fates.