Hide and Seek M.J. Arlidge

Helen Grace is now sitting in jail waiting for her trial.  She didn't commit the crime but she was framed for it.  The worst part is that it's her dead sister's son who framed her.  She can't do anything while incarcerated except try to stay alive...

First to Read allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can grab a copy now.

I've been reading this whole series and knew I had to read this one to see if she was able to prove her innocence.  She has a real problem with that because she had lied to the cops in the past.  Now no one wants to believe her except one person.  What can one person do?  Not only that:  there's a killer in the prison.

There's a sadist prison guard, gang members, and more to deal with while you live in a cell.  The food is bad and might have a cockroach in it (or worse).  There's a disabled person in a wheelchair who sells drugs.  And now, there's someone in the cells who is a killer.  Of course, Grace is the first one they think might have done it.

Her cop friend is searching for the nephew and skirting a line between losing only her job but her husband.  She's spending too much time on it and it has now been declared a closed case.  She's not willing to give up.

When the first dead body turns up pregnant, that adds another flavor to the murder.  Who is sleeping with the prisoners and why?

As is usual, there's plenty going on and the action doesn't slow down until the end.  There are unpleasant subjects covered but it's reality.  One thing about it, you can't second guess this author.

Little Boy Blue by M.J. Arlidge

To Helen Grace, it was just another dead body.  It was in the Torture Rooms of a local S&M club and that was of note.  It wasn't until she removed the tape from his face that she saw it was Jake.  It shook her up so bad she went outside and vomited.  She'd been his customer for about three years.  Would the investigation expose her?  She hadn't been back for two years but any records kept wouldn't keep her secret.

Berkley Publishing Group and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will published October 4th.

This author makes me uncomfortable.  Things like Torture Rooms don't exist in my life.  But the stories are written well enough I keep reading them.  This one has an awful ending but I know there will be more in this series.  It's not over yet.

Helen works the case and then there's another victim.  It's another man she used to take away her pain and they had a bad ending to their meeting.  When one more dead body is found and she knows them, she tells her boss about her connection.  He lets her continue with the case.

Helen has other problems.  She has two deputies that are trying to get ahead of each other.  They make some foolish decisions, arrest the wrong people and then get off track totally.  When they connect Helen with the case, one of them goes off on a tangent, investigating Helen.

The worst thing is that she doesn't realize what is going on.  It gets messier than ever and when Helen finally figures out who is doing the crime, she finds herself on the hook.  The killer set her up.  Is there any way out?

Liar Liar: A Detective Helen Grace Thriller by M.J. Arlidge

Helen Grace has some personal issues but she's a good cop.  She has the brain to put pieces together and make tiny hints something bigger.  Some cases haunt her but she never gives up.  This will be another of those cases; there's nothing to like about it.

NAL sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published today.

Three fires are set in one night, taking down two businesses and one residential home.  The home had residents in it and not all survived.  It doesn't take long to determine it was arson.

The family had no known enemies.  The father was in debt but the loanshark wouldn't burn his house.  Who would have wanted to kill them?

There are more fires and more bodies and there doesn't seem to be any connection between them other than the fact they lived in the same community.  The mind that is controlling the fires isn't normal...

Mr. Arlidge writes very short chapters and adds a lot of players in his stories.  There are side stories, personal crisis moments, and lots of trauma before you are through with his books.  He stays a few steps ahead of you, shocks you where he can, and always leaves a seed behind to make you read the next in the series.  I'm almost afraid to keep reading his work because he haunts me, but that's also what makes this series a good read.

Helen arrests one fireman that a witness saw and confiscated all his fire paraphernalia he has collected.  He does have a fetish for fire but he's not the one setting the fires.  Who is?

When Helen begins to get an idea on who the killer is, she has to act fast.  It's about time for another fire.  She's almost too late.  Who it is and why it happened is mesmerizing.  You might be a bit more cautious about how you treat people and what you say after reading this one.
 

Pop Goes the Weasel (Helen Grace #2) by M.J. Arlidge

This is an odd little series.  After I read the first book, the author scared me so badly I stayed awake at night for a few nights.  So I vowed, never again.  Despite that, here's a review of her second book.  And, yes, this one is as macabre as the first one...

New American Library sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has just been published so you should be able to find a copy at your bookstore now.

He's a deacon of the church but he's not a nice man.  When he goes out to find a prostitute for the evening, he never expected to end up dead.  His family had no idea of his outside activities but when his heart is delivered by special courier, they find out he's not coming back.

He's not the only victim, just the first one.  Helen Grace is assigned to the case but it's not an easy one to investigate.  Her boss is against her, her staff is having personal problems, and she's got a journalist that always seems to be in her back pocket.  The journalist has found out her secrets and is trying to blackmail her.  The family of the dead deacon refuse to believe that he was a regular john and had several sexually transmitted diseases; they are  just speaking ill of the dead.

There's lots of trauma, karma caught up with the deacon, two cops have resigned, and Helen doesn't know what's going to happen to her.  You don't read this series for clean easy-to-figure-out mysteries or happy endings.  The stories are mean and Helen always ends up on the short end of the stick.  I'm hoping maybe by the next one there might be some hope in Helen's life.  But I won't hold my breath.  Having said that, I'll probably end up reading the next one, too.  Mr. Arlidge's stories are well written, just hard to take.  Are you brave enough to read this one?