Truth or Dare

I am just floored that M.J. Arlidge continues to write consistently outstanding novels, ten books into this series. There is no sign of weakening, and I am thankful for it!

In 'Truth or Dare" DI Helen Grace (truly the most awesome, badass law enforcement officer ever) finds herself dealing with a sudden rash of seemingly random murders, while continuing to battle her media nemesis Emilia Garanita and deal with the unpleasant situation with DS Joseph Hudson. I was wondering how all of this stuff was going to resolve, and I was not disappointed. I loved the ending and cannot WAIT for #11!

(Note to readers new to this series: Read the books in order so you can get the full picture.)

I just finished this 10th installment of the DI Helen Grace series. Once again, I had to keep reading until I finished! I only have one more waiting for me on my shelf so will definitely have to ration myself! This book finds the city of Southampton in a crimewave like never before. "An arson at the docks. A carjacking gone wrong. A murder in a country park." How are they all connected? DI Grace has her hands full, not only with this uptick in crimes, but also with insubordination inside her formerly close team. Another hone run from M.J. Arlidge!

MIT is incredibly busy, there has been a spate of major crimes in the area and it's not stopping. For DI Helen Grace this means trouble. Her close confidante Charlie is on maternity leave and her team is being riven by internal politics driven by her ex-lover Hudson plus the local press is wasting no opportunity to criticise. Each crime is violent but they all seem unrelated, a disparate group of people murdered with no clues. However something seems to indicate that this is not random but Grace may not have the time to investigate.
I love the DI Grace series and this is no exception. For a police procedural it is nicely balanced between crime, psychological motives and personal issues which works well. Here I'd worked out the motives show more and modus operandi fairly quickly but the pace really picks up towards the end and the final section is satisfying in the fact that there is no clear conclusion. show less

Was disappointed in the latest Helen Grace story. The story dragged and I didn’t care at all about the office politics or really about Detective Hudson. I really missed Charlie.

It seems that this character is no longer edgy and interesting, but is just another overworked police officer. Hopefully the next installment will be better.

Niet zijn beste boek uit de serie. Nogal voorspelbaar en een vervelend open einde

Dit boek is absoluut 5 sterren waard want het zit zo ingenieus in elkaar en alle eindjes komen zo mooi samen op het einde. Daar aangekomen kun je alleen maar zeggen: 'Meneer Arlidge schrijf alstublieft snel door.' .

Helen en haar team staan voor een raadsel als er meerdere doden vallen waar geen verklaring voor kan worden gevonden. Er zijn geen verdachten en Helen kan er totaal geen samenhang in vinden. Bovendien is het team verdeeld door haar onenigheid met Joseph Hudson waardoor het team ook intern wordt verscheurd. Zo ergens op 2 derde van het boek dacht ik wel dat ik in de gaten had hoe het zat, maar het einde was helemaal onverwacht.

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