Book Review: The Doll's House by M.J. Arlidge

The Doll's House

by

M.J. Arlidge

The Doll's house is book three of the DI Helen Grace series written by M.J. Arlidge. The previous two books Eeny Meeny & Pop Goes the Weasel I have read and really enjoyed so it was only a case of when rather than if I was going to read this. You can read my reviews of these other two books in "My Book Reviews" above..

"Each book gets darker and darker. It's another hit for me"

Précis (taken from the cover):

A young woman wakes up in a cold, dark cellar, with no idea how she got there or who her kidnapper is. So begins her terrible nightmare.

Nearby, the body of another young woman is discovered buried on a remote beach. But the dead girl was never reported missing - her estranged family having received regular texts from her over the years. Someone has been keeping her alive from beyond the grave.

For Detective Inspector Helen Grace it's chilling evidence that she's searching for a monster who is not just twisted but also clever and resourceful - a predator who's killed before.

And as Helen struggles to understand the killer's motivation, she begins to realize that she's in a desperate race against time .

Review:

It was great to be back with DI Helen Grace. As I have previously stated on my reviews for the other two books she is one of my all time favourite leading characters in books. She takes no crap, is strong willed and does what she has to do to get the job done. The Doll's House is no different. The story line for this one is very dark and I believe that each book just gets darker and darker. Part of me really likes this but then part of me is worried that I like the darker crimes better haha.

The reason this book is so dark is because of the evil monster that is killing these women. It has been wonderfully written which puts you there on the pages with these women. This makes it a very scary but believable read. I have said it before but I just keep going back to one of my favourite TV shows Criminal Minds and know that this "baddy" would fit straight into one of these episodes.

For most of this book it flowed very well and the pages turned themselves. Although for me not as much as the previous book Pop Goes the Weasel which I really loved. For me this was the only thing I could find fault with really. Maybe because I loved the previous book too much that this one was not as strong even though it is a great book. I have had this before when reading James Patterson's Unlucky 13 which I thought was brilliant but then the following book 14th Deadly Sin I was not as hyped.

The characters in these books I really enjoy. I like how they have been written and how their lives follow on from previous books. This does not stop you understanding them if this was say the first book you have read but I would recommend that you start at the beginning (Eeny Meeny) and read them in order.

I scored this book a 4 out of 5. Again mainly because I really enjoyed the previous book so much. Liar Liar is book four in the series and I will definitely be reading that very soon.

I would love to know what other people think. Are you a fan of this series? do you agree with me or not. Let me know.

Speak soon,

CBailey31