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A review by domino911
Truth or Dare by M.J. Arlidge
5.0
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.
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.