I got to the end of the book and actually cried out ‘oh no you can’t leave it there’!!
But then it was a blooming fantastic place to end it. I want more. My goodness what a book. It’s lovely to catch up with Helen again and nice to see she hasn’t changed one little bit. Without her mate Charlie there she seemed a bit vulnerable but not that she lets it show. What a fantastic weaving of a story, How on earth can some one dream up these scenarios. But I’m glad they do. They just keep getting better and better. More please and soon I need to know where he’s gone and what he’s going to do next (don’t want to give any spoilers away!) Thank you

Southampton is being plagued by random deaths - a former police officer is the victim of an arson attack, a schoolgirl is beaten to death, an attempted carjacking turns fatal. As the deaths start mounting up, so does the pressure on DI Helen Grace. But forces from within are jeopardising her position, and what they want is her livelihood...

This is a fantastic book - brilliantly-written and paced with breakneck speed. Even though it is 460 pages, I was easily able to rattle through it and thoroughly enjoyed it. You're really left guessing as to whether certain plans will succeed and I was just allowing myself to read one chapter more!

Truth or Dare is the latest book by M.J. Arlidge in his massively popular Helen Grace series. Not to be confused with Peter James' Roy Grace series set in Brighton, which I find very similar in style, Helen is based in Southampton where a series of seemingly random,violent crimes sees her under pressure from her bosses. To add to her problems it's obvious that one of her colleagues is undermining her with leaks to the local newspaper and she is facing mutinous behaviour from within her crew.
As the body count mounts Grace and her team find themselves baffled as they unearth strong suspects who appear to have no motives for the crimes they're suspected of.

As ever this is a clever and involving plot with twists and turns with Grace's personal life and career playing a big part in the tale. For avid thriller readers there are clues as to what is going on and I was slightly ahead of the narrative before a couple of big "reveals" as a result but finding those clues and feeling smug is all part of the fun. I didn't however predict the final scenes which make where the series will go from there quite intriguing.

Another great read from M.J. Arlidge and I don't doubt another great success.

The Grace novels are always a good read and this book is no exception but Charlie is missed. Grace and the team face a particularly bizarre series of crimes made more difficult by Joseph and his ego, when will people learn not to mess with Helen?!

First we have an arson attack where a man was the clear target, then a brutal carjacking, and then a hammer attack in a local park... the crimes go on, with no suspects and no leads. Detective Inspector Helen Grace must try to piece together all the puzzle pieces and find out who is behind the string of crimes. All while dealing with problems within the workplace. Can she solve the case?

Another great entry to the DI Helen Grace series. At first it seems like there are a lot of names and crimes with no connection, but everything eventually comes together in the thrilling and tense story. Recommend this series a lot.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

I do enjoy good crime novel by M J Arlidge. It's a gruesome one but a very well written one with added gore and bite. Set in Southampton, you actually get to see the city by where the bodies or crime scenes are. There's some grim scenes and motives and graphic descriptions of what is going on. Ooh chilling. Chilling.

At the beginning there were so many characters being brought in I found it hard to keep track or who was who, until you read more.
Other than the lack of Charlie (who I love) and the cliff hanger ending because now I need more there is nothing really to dislike about this book.
It’s fast paced and compelling. I started this and fell asleep and picked it up again after the school run and literally didn’t move. I devoured this so fast I’m fairly certain I have a book hangover.
MJ doesn’t disappoint.
The covid mentions seem to be everywhere (in terms of tv and books) and while he clearly wrote this in lockdown 1 (while I painted my whole house) the mention of covid whilst still living in a pandemic and using books as a escape from reality is slightly frustrating, Covid is everywhere, you can’t escape it but the one place you want to, you can’t.

The last outing for Helen Grace left me disappointed and I was worried Arlidge had lost his touch, but this installment has me under no illusions that he is back with a vengeance. Truth or Dare is so fast paced that it took me a grand totally of seven hours to read it. I can't remember the last time I was so hooked on a book.
Reminiscent of C J Tudor's 'The Other People', this gruesome, sprawling web of seemingly random crimes comes together in a way that had me literally open-mouthed. And boy, does Arlidge know how to write a villain. He is a master craftsman when it comes to creating a character you have no choice but to despise and there's at least three in this book so my blood pressure must have been dangerously high throughout!
And leaving it like that... Well, he's definitely secured one reader of his next book and sadly, as this was a gratefully received ARC from netgalley, I presumably have a long time to wait as this isn't even released until June. Spectacular!

#TruthOrDare #NetGalley
A twisty and clever read from the author of All Fall Down. Highly recommended.
Crimes without motive, without suspects, without leads.Each crime is a piece of a puzzle - with many more pieces still to come. And as they gradually fall into place, Detective Inspector Helen Grace comes to realise just how twisted and devious this web of crime is - and how impossible it will be to stop it . . .
I loved it's characters. They're so gripping. I adored it's narration. It's a treat.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me an advanced copy of this book.