The Doll's House - A Review
THE DOLL’S HOUSE by M.J. Arlidge
After a night out and, admittedly, a few too many drinks Ruby collapsed into her own bed in her own flat … and then woke up in a strange room staged to look cozy. What happened and how? Who is this man that abducted her? And, why does he keep calling her Summer?
At almost the same time a family enjoying a lovely day at the beach make a grisly discovery while digging in the sand to make a sandcastle.
When she gets the separate cases DI Helen Grace suspects that, once again, she has a serial killer case on her hands. While she is diligently working to catch this predator her team is falling apart, cliques are forming and alliances are divided between herself and her nemesis (and boss) Ceri Harwood. Is this anyway to run an investigation?
I’ve been enjoying this series and this installment is no exception. The crime is always an interesting (and gruesome one), the behind the scene dramatics and conflicts at the police station add an interesting layer to the books and even three books in I feel that there is so much about DI Grace that readers have not been told.
Looking forward to picking up the next one.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (from Publisher's Weekly)
I’ve already done two “About the Author” on Mr. Arlidge on my blog so here’s an excerpt of an interview he did with Publishers weekly.
How do you maintain the reader’s interest (and your own) in an ongoing series?
By creating an amazing set of characters who have massive personal journeys to go on, and remembering to refresh each novel, so it seems somehow different, bigger and more surprising than its predecessor. If you are not bored, hopefully your readers will not be either.
Is your choice of a strong, independent female protagonist a political statement or purely a literary decision?
Actually it is both. I love writing female characters and am naturally drawn to them, but I also feel it is time for the women to lead. We have had enough boring, middle-aged white male coppers. All the best fictional detectives of recent times are female—Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander, The Killing’s Sarah Lund, The Bridge’s Saga Noren, and more besides. It just feels that the world is changing, and that finally it might be time for the women to take center stage.
16/30
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