Thanks to Compulsive Readers for inviting me on the blog tour for this – the latest in the brilliant DI Helen Grace series. Thanks also to Orion Books for my copy of the book – as always, opinions are entirely my own.
A new M. J. Arlidge book is always a treat – fans of the series will know exactly what I mean and what to expect. There’s always the fabulous but maverick DI Helen Grace at the book’s heart, usually immersed in a tense, dangerous and high-stakes investigation as part of Southampton Police’s Major Incident Team.
This book starts on Day One with the abduction of a young girl, a case that DI Grace wants the team to prioritise. However, she is put under strict instructions to put her team to work instead on the gang crime that is taking over Southampton’s streets. As DI Grace is never one to follow orders, she begins work on the case of the missing girl – and uncovers some disturbing and dark secrets that are a little too close to home…
I really liked that this book is broken down into the days of the investigation – it felt like the stakes were being raised with every chapter and every day that passed since Naomi went missing. The structure also allows readers to drop in on various characters as the time passes – one minute, we see Naomi and the danger she is in, the next we are with DI Grace or members of her team on the investigation. It’s a clever way of keeping the victim at the front of our minds as we also start to see the police team close in.
As always, DI Grace is a great character – she is a decisive leader who mostly has the respect of her team (there are always some tensions), but very much does things her way. It’s good to see DS Charlie Brooks – Helen’s friend as well as colleague – take a role here too, plus their new boss, Chief Superintendent Rebecca Holmes. I like that there are a host of strong female characters at the centre of this book – I was just rooting for them to all get in line and work together!
The mystery itself is a bit of a departure from the often-high-body-count and gruesome murder mysteries we’ve come to expect from M. J. Arlidge. It still delivers tension and a solid crime story, just with a bit more focus on the characters of the victims than we’ve seen much before.
If you’ve already started the DI Grace series, you’ll like this latest addition. If you haven’t, it’s well worth a read – but maybe start earlier in the series to understand the backstories of the various members of the police team. Either way, highly recommended!
M. J. Arlidge is one of those authors that I’ve always wanted to read but haven’t gotten around to.