#BlogTour - Truth or Dare by M.J. Arlidge

DO YOU WANT TO PLAY THE GAME?

THE BRAND NEW THRILLER FROM THE MIND OF MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER M. J. ARLIDGE

A crimewave sweeps through the city and no-one is safe. An arson at the docks. A carjacking gone wrong. A murder in a country park. What connects all these crimes without causes, which leave no clues?

Detective Inspector Helen Grace faces the rising tide of cases which threatens to drown the city. But each crime is just a piece of a puzzle which is falling into place.

And when it becomes clear just how twisted and ingenious this web of crime is, D.I. Grace will realise that it may be impossible to stop it . . .

THE BEST BOOK YET FROM THE MASTER OF THE KILLER THRILLER.

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TRUTH OR DARE is the tenth book in M.J. Arlidge’s Southampton-set police procedurals featuring D.I. Helen Grace, his dedicated, if unorthodox, series protagonist. This time D.I. Grace is faced with a spate of unsolved, and seemingly unconnected, murders and violent crimes. Under pressure from her superiors and from the local press, to whom her former lover, and ambitious deputy, D.S. Hudson, is feeding information aimed at bringing Grace down, Helen struggles to make sense of the crimewave and, perhaps, to save her career. 

The investigation into the crimes is engrossing as D.I. Grace becomes increasingly convinced that these are not random occurrences, that there is a link between them, if only she could find the connection. But it is the subplot involving Hudson’s machinations that really drives the novel along. Hudson is a deliciously drawn character and, for me, the real antagonist. Possessing investigative skills but no empathy, and driven by self-interest, Hudson wants to lead the department and will stop at nothing in his campaign to remove Helen Grace. There is more than a touch of Iago in Hudson as he foments suspicion and mistrust in the team and encourages his superiors, already wary of adverse publicity and irritated by their D.I.’s unconventional approach, to see the team’s apparent failings as Grace’s alone. I became more and more frustrated and angry, but no less entertained, by Hudson’s success in undermining his boss. 

As you might expect from an author so well-versed in TV crime dramas, the novel is very televisual and moves at an rapid pace. TRUTH OR DARE is an exciting and engaging book and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. 

Thanks to Orion @orionbooks and Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers @Tr4cyF3nt0n for the invitation to take part in the Blogtour.