Fabulous reads – Thriller series falls from grace
Book review - Love Me Not by M.J. Arlidge.
Love Me Not (Helen Grace #7), M.J. Arlidge, Penguin Random House, ISBN: 9780718183868
THIS series had me hooked with Little Boy Blue and equally so with its follow up, Hide and Seek.
Arlidge seems to have taken a different approach with his storytelling in Love Me Not, the seventh book in the series, and I’m still not quite convinced that it worked.
The quick and punchy chapters, combined with his knack for creating deep mystery and nail-biting suspense is what has readers coming back for more of Helen Grace.
Spoiler warning ahead for those who have not yet read the previous novels.
DI Helen Grace has been released from prison and takes on a more senior position at Southampton Central.
ALSO READ: Fabulous reads – Quench your crime-thrilling thirst
She finds a woman brutally murdered on the side of the road and the body count only begins to climb.
The killer is known from the beginning, completely stripping any sense of mystery from the novel.
This was one of Arlidge’s downfalls.
The second problem that comes from this was how linear the story became.
The writer essentially hands you the story in the first few chapters.
Luckily enough, each chapter is short and helps push the pace.
The constant switch between characters also gives it a fresh feel, climbing into their heads and seeing the world through their eyes.
This book would be best suited to an episode on a TV series than one that begs to be read.
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