#BlogTour ‘Truth Or Dare’ by M.J Arlidge

About the book…

A crimewave sweeps through the city and no one is safe.

A murderous arson attack at the docks.
A brutal carjacking in a deserted car park.
A fatal hammer attack in a lonely country park.

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 . . .

Many thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers and publishers Orion for inviting me on the blogtour for the tenth in the Helen Grace investigations, ‘Truth Or Dare’, which is published in e-book on June 24th and hardcover in September.

Wow! It is the tenth on the series and yet, there is no sign of either Helen or her creator slowing down in tackling, headlong, all the challenges which come their way.

In ‘Truth Or Dare’, Helen, who has made her name as the lead on high profile, seemingly insurmountable cases, is faced with the consequences of Covid on her crime stats. The murder board is full of seemingly disparate cases that have no linking factor.

Economic straits and boiling over tensions have led to a spike in domestic violence, attacks and burglaries.

But the more that she stares at the wall, the more the seemingly inconsequential details point to a bigger, almost inconceivable plot.

This is where Helen is so good and where she comes into her own-with pressure on her from high to prove herself in the audit/statistic states and working in the wreckage of an ill advised work relationship, she is attacked from without, and within, the profession.

Somehow, local reporter Emilia who sees Helen as a nemesis, is there at crime scenes before her, able to access information which should not be in the public domain, and takes less than flattering pictures which hint that Helen is not in control. Driving public faith in the police to its knees, Helen needs a result, and not just one promoted by one of her team who is convinced he is on the right track.

Battling both internal politics, and trying to balance the scales of justice ? Restoring public trust in the police? Being a representative of a high ranking female police officer?

If anyone can do it, D.I Helen Grace can….

What I loved about this story is that it never lets up. The sense of plotting has been razor sharp in each of Helen’s cases, you say ‘just one more chapter’ to yourself but you know it’s a lie, you are going to read until your Kindle runs out of batteries or the book falls from your limp, sleep exhausted fingers.

She is not perfect, she is the first to admit that, but she instils fear into criminals and shoddy police officers alike. The plot twists and turns round some hairpin bends and it feels like you are riding pillion with Helen on her Kawasaki. The books all have a catchy title, playing on themes of fairy tales and nursery rhymes, and it feels to me like it is a race, both against time to catch a killer, but also a race to justice and retribution by the letter of the law. It’s a pursuit of the truth for in each tale there is a moral imperative, the fairy elements or rhymes were just the method of getting this to stick in your mind. In ‘Truth Or Dare’, some pretty big secrets are on the table and as, the case gets more and more complex, it takes someone of Helen’s step back and see the emerging pattern. She sees the truth inside the lie.

About the author…

M.J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last 15 years, specialising in high end drama production. Arlidge has produced a number of prime-time crime serials for ITV In the last five years.

He is the author of the bestselling DI Helen Grace mysteries, as well as standalone thriller, ‘A Gift For The Dying’

Twitter @mjarlidge @Tr4cyF3nt0n 

Links-https://www.compulsivereaders.com/