Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is such a great series! #3 and they just keep getting better. Helen Grace is on the hunt again for a potential serial killer. With many twists and turns we find out who the killer is.
New characters are joining the force as well as some resigning (yay!). This group is becoming so familiar to me, I look forward to #4, as I have 10 books in total in this series , with a new one expected this year.
If you enjoy crime thrillers , this is the series for you!

I have become such a HUGE Helen Grace fan. This is the third book in this series and each book can be read as a standalone story. Although reading them in order just enhances the stories.

The Doll’s House is a little tamer (if you can call being kidnapped and held in a small cell tame) than the other books in this series. There wasn’t as much frightening text with the pages. Not to say that the kidnapper wasn’t scary, I would not have wanted to live or deal with him, but it was not frightening to me. I had a hard time relating to the woman, Ruby, that he had kidnapped. I felt for her, wanted her to be found alive, but I just couldn’t feel her fear. What I loved about Ruby was her strength. She never gave up; even when she thought she was giving up she was plotting her escape. She knew not to believe what her captor told her, but knew enough to go along with his story.

Helen Grace is my hero. With a tough case she was still able to hold her own against those who were trying to knock her down. She held tight to her beliefs. When she got a lead she followed it until she knew it would not lead her in the right direction and then quickly found another lead to chase. The secondary characters, Emilia, Jake, and Charlie are all strong characters and as the series continues the reader gets to learn more and more about them.

I love the short chapter format as the reading moves along quickly. I recommend checking out The Doll’s House and the rest of this series.

Ruby Sprackling has gone missing. Had this been a few months ago, her family probably wouldn't have thought twice about it. But, they had just reconciled and Ruby was supposed to move back home. At the same time, DI Helen Grace and her team are investigating the death of a body found on the beach. Are these two incidents connected? When more bodies turn up on the beach, all of which look very similar to Ruby Sprackling, the search intensifies. Will they be able to find Ruby before it's too late?

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book.

When starting this book, I was hooked from the start. MJ Arlidge does a good job of grabbing you right from the beginning. Fasten your safety belts because its going to be a wild ride. Hunting serial killers is DI Grace's forte, band this case is just as complicated at the others. Just when they think they've made a break in the case, something comes along to push them back to the starting line. And finding Ruby is very important. The girls on the beach showed signs of starvation and a complete lack of Vitamin D. Ruby's life in on the brink and the longer it takes to find her, the farther the chances that she will be found alive. Finding the killer's motivation will will help DI Grace and her team to find Ruby and her captor and prevent this from happening to anyone again.

M. J. Arlidge is an amazing writer. I say that from a horror lover perspective that shrieks and squirms while reading Arlidge's stuff. This guy can make you squeal, sadly not with delight but with disgust! As a horror fan, I must say, this is extraordinary, and deserves a place in my heart.

Also, I just recently opened up to Psychological Thrillers. They are scary in a way that some horror, especially the kind that is filled with zombies, does not and cannot reach. Which is also why they are abnormally scarier than many other stories. I open up one of his thrillers and I know I'm going to be taken for a ride.

I also have to admit for putting this fantastic series aside for a bit. It is that intense. I love it but you have to hate it in a way. I was so thrilled when The Doll's House was announced on Netgalley, then I balked and squirmed some more, and put it off, until now two years late, I'm trying to catch up!

Fortunately, the story of Helen Grace is so entranced in my memory, I will never forget those first two books. If you haven't read them, I highly suggest reading them prior to this one. It is not needed per say, but to understand Helen, where she's been, where she came from, her trials, and what she deals with, mentally, every day, then you'll need to read them.

That said, this starts right from where the last stopped. I am happy to see a few of the characters that I loved in the first two books as well. And then we have the faces that I didn't like. There seem to be so many people against Helen. Massively against her. Not just the type of people that don't want to talk to her on their evenings off, but people that want to destroy her. I don't quite remember some of the politics of what happened in the first two books, but I do remember enough to be wary of these people.

Fortunately, Helen is intelligent and is almost always one step ahead of her rivalries. That said, she's starting to be pulled into too many different directions. She's getting a bit lax, and it may bite her in the end.

This story, like Arlidge's first two, was amazingly horrific. The psychology behind this villain was amazingly well done. The suspense was so high that I found myself constantly on edge. From beginning to end this was a roller coaster ride. But instead of hills and valleys it was nearly non-stop between Helen trying to find the killer, to her dealing with her own ordeals in life. I didn't have time to digest the information that was being thrown from every which way, and I didn't care! I wanted to, and I was, swept away by an incredible story of a girl trying to save her own life, and Helen trying desperately to find her.

As usual, top notch. One good thing about waiting two years to read this series, the next books are out. I cannot wait to start book three now!

I have read all 3 of the DI Helen Grace stories and I loved every one of them. She is a strong woman who has so many issues, it is hard to get to know her. She is an angry person, who uses that anger to drive her investigations and catch the criminal. In every story we learn a bit more about her past and what molded her into the person she has become.

In this story, a body is found buried on the beach. When the body is identified, Helen finds out that even though the victim has been dead for several years, she has still been sending social media posts. As her team investigates, they come across some other missing person reports that fit the pattern and after digging, they find two more bodies buried at the beach. Now they are after a serial killer that they believe has another victim that is still alive. Using good old fashioned police work, the help of the press and a tip from the public, DI Grace discovers a link between the missing women and now must find the killer before he has a chance to kill again. While dealing with the crime, she is also dealing with her own problems involving her search for her nephew as well as trying to deal with a vendetta against her from her superior, Ceri Hardwood.

As with all the books in this series, this one is well written with a plot and subplots to keep you engaged and turning pages just as fast as you can. The short chapters seem to make the story go even faster. As with all the books in this series, it sucks you right into the story and can be read in one sitting. All the major characters are fleshed out and it is interesting to follow them from the previous book. If you enjoy a suspenseful police procedural with characters that you will feel for, then pick up this book, another great entry into the DI Grace series.

Another great Helen Grace book! I have so enjoyed this series, and this book was a great addition! I love Helen and her team, and I have enjoyed reading of their trials and tribulations during the investigations. This was another mesmerizing one. I wanted Helen to catch the killer and for things to go well for her professionally and personally. I also wanted the best for her team. I can't wait for more!

Summary from Goodreads:

"Detective Helen Grace is on the trail of a twisted serial killer in this gripping thriller in the “taut, fast-paced”* international bestselling series.

Ruby wakes up in a strange room. Her captor calmly explains that no one is looking for her. No one wants her. Except him.

When the body of a woman is found buried on a secluded beach, Detective Helen Grace is called to the scene. She knows right away that the killer is no amateur. The woman has been dead for years, and no one has even reported her missing. But why would they? She’s still sending text messages to her family.

Helen is convinced that a criminal mastermind is at work: someone very smart, very careful, and worst of all, very patient. But as she struggles to piece together the killer’s motive, time is running out for a victim who is still alive..."

My Thoughts:

Wow! Three books into this series and each book has been a five star read for me so far. That is crazy but so wonderful at the same time! I cannot get over how fast paced and intense these books are for me as the reader. I picked this book up specifically because that was what I needed. My husband was having surgery and I knew that I needed a book that would suck me in basically so that I wouldn't just sit there and stress for two hours straight. The short chapters and constant feeling of tension worked wonderfully and had me turning the pages as fast as I could. I was able to finish this book in less than two days because I just didn't want to set the book down. It was the perfect stress reliever as I found myself racing to see how it would all turn out. It was funny because at first the premise of this book almost felt a bit familiar to me. I still don't know what book it reminded me of though so I'm not sure why. But what the author is so skilled at is even though I had that feeling in the beginning, it soon went away because of everything else that was going on throughout this book. I don't even know how to explain it really. Each book in this series could be read as a stand-alone if the reader wanted to read them out of order. There are these details though from the first book to now this one, that just make this series stand out for me as the reader. The different things that Helen has to deal with both in her work and personal life. The people that care for her and those that don't. It all adds up to make such a unique reading experience that I just can't get enough of.

This book wasn't my favorite of the series (that still remains as Eeny Meeny the 1st book) but it was also still a five star read for me which should say it all. It was a chilling read that kept me wondering how it would all come together until the very end. This author isn't afraid to make difficult choices with the characters at points which makes it a very nerve-wracking reading experience. I just never know what is going to happen next! This is an author and a series that I just cannot recommend enough. I'm trying to take my time with this series and not rush through it but when the books are all this good....well, it is definitely hard! I've already got the next book on my TBR list and I have a feeling that I won't be waiting too much longer to read it. Highly recommended! Heck, I recommend the entire series!

Bottom Line: This book will most likely be on my top reads list for 2017! It was that good!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.