QUEEN Camilla has named a Jersey author’s fictional detective as her favourite – beating the likes of Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes.
Peter James, author of the Roy Grace detective series, said he was “blown away” and “in tears” when listening to Her Majesty’s announcement on the latest episode of the Queen’s Reading Room Podcast.
Answering a question about her favourite fictional detective, she said: “Chief Superintendent Grace from the Peter James books.
“I think because there are so many of his books and I started at the very beginning. So the nice thing about his books is that, although there is a pretty terrifying story that goes on, you’ve always got the thread of Grace and his life and what’s happening in his life and there are lots of twists and turns and it just keeps you on your toes.”
Mr James, speaking to the JEP shortly after the episode aired, said: “I was just blown away, in tears when I listened to it for the first time.”
“When I started out on my career, never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that the Queen of England would pick my detective as her favourite, over characters like Poirot or Miss Marple or Sherlock Holmes.
“I felt incredibly humbled, and I’m still reeling with shock, in a nice kind of way.”
He added that the reaction had been “amazing” and he had been “inundated with calls and messages”.
Mr James said he had recorded their conversation back in October, but he had no idea about her statement until Monday.
He has met the Queen several times when she was Duchess of Cornwall and had even received a Christmas card from the monarch last December.
Last year, he spoke at her inaugural literary festival and attended a drinks reception.
He said he was hoping to meet up with the royals once again, after their announcement about visiting the Island next month (Story on pages 8 and 9).
His latest book, a standalone novel in the Roy Grace series entitled They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy’s Story, came out last month.
