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

Title: The Doll’s House
Series: Helen Grace # 3
Author: M.J. Arlidge
 
Description: 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 text 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 Hellen struggles to understand the killer’s motivation, she begins to realize that she’s in a desperate race against time…
 
Review: Ruby wakes up in a basement, having no recollection of how she got there and who did brought her here. She has been abducted. Nearby, a young woman is found dead, but she was kept alive on social media, therefore she was never reported missing. Detective Helen Grace knows she must find the culprit, before he strikes again.
 
One of the reasons I always enjoy reading M.J. Arlidge’s books, is because of the short chapters. “The Doll’s House” is no different. Chapters of only 2 or 3 pages, each with a different perspective. Also love that last part. Aside from our main character Helen Grace, we follow one of the victims Ruby, Helen’s former colleague Charlie, journalist Emily, and the culprit. But there are more characters, a bit too many and not all characters are interesting enough to read about. At least not from their perspective. The chapters following the one’s that have mentioned are the most interesting.
 
Helen Grace is one of the best characters I’ve ever read about. She is complex and very flawed. This makes the book interesting and she is a character I like to read about more.
 
I enjoyed the book, like the previous two. But it’s clearly my least favorite so far. I’m not going to abandon this series, definitely not, and I still think “The Doll’s House” is a good book. But the story was a bit too plain and standard for me. Where his previous books really shocked me at times, this third book just never had that effect. It was all a bit more predictable and didn’t have many surprising elements.
 
I met M.J. Arlidge earlier this year, he is a truly kind person who takes the time for his readers. This series still has many books in it, and I want to read them all.  
 
Rating: 3/ 5