4 stars out of 5
This is the third book I've read in the author's series featuring Detective Inspector Helen Grace. Like the others, it's fast-paced and almost riveting - I'd have been quite content if I could have read the whole thing in one sitting. But truth is, I didn't actually "like" it much. Here's why: The only setting I hate more in books and motion pictures than an Afghanistan war zone is in a prison. And guess where most of the action takes place?
But that's a personal preference that shouldn't hamper other readers' enjoyment - especially long-time fans of the series - and when it's otherwise a very good book. The real focus is a question: How is it that the fiesty Helen is locked away? Well, it appears she's been disGraced - I'm assuming the details of her situation were laid out in a book I didn't read. She's now in jail awaiting trial for a murder she didn't commit; she was framed by her nephew Robert Stonehill (or so she claims). Her old department continues to run with someone else at the helm; some of her former colleagues think she's guilty and others - like her fiercely loyal friend Charlie - are working hard to gather evidence that proves Helen's innocence.
None of them, though, can protect her from what she's dealing with now. Leah, a woman who occupied the cell next to Helen's, has been murdered in the night. The word on the block is that she was a snitch - clearly grounds for reprisal in the eyes of other innates. And a gruesome murder it was: Her eyes, mouth and other body parts were sewn shut and her ears stuffed with an unidentified substance - yet there were few signs of a struggle. The prison security chief is convinced that Helen somehow did the deed, so Helen tries to put her investigative skills to work on finding the real killer. In the process, she takes a real beating that lands her in the infirmary. Another murder happens in similar fashion, leading Helen to believe it may be the work of a prison employee rather than an inmate.
On the outside, still another force is working against Helen - Emilia, the reporter who broke Helen's pre-jail story. The woman left her old newspaper job, hoping to cash in on her scoop - and when she learned of the first murder, she became more determined than ever to keep dogging Helen and turn up more dirt to boost her own career.
While all this is happening, Charlie keeps trying to nail Stonehill, much to the dismay of her superiors, meaning she's jeopardizing her own career. Inside the prison, though, all hell is breaking loose, with Helen squarely in the middle of the action. Will Charlie be able to find Stonehill and prove Helen's innocence in time to save her friend? It's a race to the finish, taking readers on a wild ride.
As a final note, I'll say that this book certainly can be read as a standalone, although knowing what happened previously would have helped me get more out of the experience (I skipped one or two more recent books in the series including the one immediately preceding this one). That said, it's another excellent addition to the series and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Hide and Seek by M.J. Arlidge (Berkley, October 2017); 409 pp.
4 stars out of 5
Forewarned is forearmed: Major cliffhanger here. Put another way, if you want to find out how (or whether) lead character detective inspector Helen Grace gets out of the tangled mess she's in at the end of this one, you'll have to wait till the next installment is published.
I must say that ending, or the lack thereof, rather annoyed the heck out of me. But other than that, this is a doggone kick-butt book. In fact, I had a hard time putting it down. Thankfully, the chapters are short so it's easy to get in one or two while the coffeepot finishes up or even during commercials as I watched a favorite TV show. It's a fast-paced plot with enough murders to make the Boston Strangler wish he'd lived in merry old Southhampton.
The plot also smacks of kinky; in fact, it begins with a murder in a popular S&M club called the Torture Rooms. How bad? Well, I know I'm not fully cognizant of the words and phrases common to this fetish, but I admit to having to look up the definition of one or two. Understandably, secrecy is the order of business here; and when Helen sees the victim and realizes they knew each other, she nearly panics. That's a part of her life she really doesn't want revealed, but she knows keeping her proclivities to herself will become more difficult as the investigation progresses. Then, the unthinkable happens: Another murder, and once again, the victim is connected to Helen.
Clearly, Helen has issues - some of them whoppers - but then so does just about every person she works with in the department. And that doesn't count a bulldog-like journalist, once Helen's friend, who's sniffing in all the corners and under the beds in hopes of making Helen suffer and landing the scoop that will boost her career to the stratosphere.
This is, for the record, No. 5 in the series; I've read (and enjoyed) one other, so I was delighted to be approved by the publisher to read it in exchange for an honest review. For the most part it stands alone, although it was clear here and there that I'd have had a better understanding of some things had I read earlier editions. For that reason, I'll give the same advice I always do to readers of books in any series: For best results, start from the beginning.
Little Boy Blue by M.J. Arlidge (Berkley, October 2016); 393 pp.
4 stars out of 5
This was not, I must say, the easiest of books to read. That's not because it isn't good - it is (and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it). Rather, it's just tough when there's no one to "root" for. Every single character here is flawed in some way - some more than others; and much of the story centers on how those flaws impact their personal and professional lives (some in more ways than others). So while I was chomping at the bit to see how things turned out all around, I can't say it mattered much who was left standing.
The star of this show, Detective Helen Grace, certainly has her share of secrets (heck, let's just call a spade a spade; she's got some real doozies). Some of her baggage apparently is carried over from the first book in the series, Eeny Meeny, and it threatens to weigh her down here. She's also got a witch of a female boss who'll use anybody to get ahead, a co-worker who's hesitantly returning to active duty after suffering slings and arrows in the previous book, a spiteful reporter who'll sell her soul for a "big story" and kinky relationships with a couple of other strange dudes. What could possibly go wrong?
Not much, at first; a man's eviscerated body is found, and then his family gets a gruesome "gift" in memoriam. But when a second murder is committed in a similar manner, it begins to look as if a serial killer is off and running. The trail leads to some exceptionally sleazy neighborhoods and dead ends (pun intended), and there's no shortage of gory details. I won't speak to those, of course, lest I reveal too much; but suffice it to say that in the end, no one comes away unscathed.
Twists and turns? Too many to count, with almost none of them expected. Needless to say, though, since this is the second book in the series featuring Detective Grace and a third is on the way (The Doll's House), it shouldn't come as a surprise that she survives. As to how the rest of the lot fares, well, you'll just have to read it for yourself.
Pop Goes the Weasel by M.J. Arlidge (NAL, October 2015); 416 pp.
4 stars out of 5
