At its 2018 Annual General Meeting the President, Mark Hodgson, announced to the membership the appointment of the Patron following the recent death of Colin Dexter OBE who held the position of Patron since 2007.
Peter James is an international best-selling British writer of crime fiction. He was born in Brighton in 1948, the son of Cornelia James, the former Glove-maker to Queen Elizabeth II. His Detective Superintendent Roy Grace crime novels have sold 18 million copies worldwide and is published in 37 territories. Prior to becoming a full-time author, he was responsible for 25 movies. In 1994 Penguin published his novel, Host, on two floppy discs as the world's first electronic novel.
He is the recipient of numerous awards including the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence and in 2015 was publicly voted by the readers of WHS as the “Best Crime Author of All Time.
Peter James wrote the following message on being notified about his appointment as the Patron to The Association of British Investigators:
