Down to the Woods: DI Helen Grace 8

M. J. Arlidge

Sep 2018 · Detective Inspector Helen Grace Book 8 · Penguin UK

About this ebook

If you go down to the woods today, you better not go alone . . .

FROM THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR M.J. ARLIDGE
_________

The last thing Tom Campbell remembers is camping in the New Forest with his girlfriend, Melissa.

Now he is helpless, alone, and being hunted through the woods by a sinister, masked figure . . .

When Tom's body is found, displayed with grisly relish, Helen Grace takes the case. But before she can catch her breath, a second victim is taken.

There's a serial killer on the loose.

As something dark and deadly stalks the forest, Helen and her team must race against time to catch the perpetrator, before more blood is shed.

But the hunt will take Helen back into the eerie twilit woods.

And this time, she might not make it out alive . . .

PRAISE FOR M.J. ARLIDGE:

'Helen Grace is one of the greatest heroes to come along in years' Jeffery Deaver

'The new Jo Nesbo' Judy Finnigan

'Fast paced and nailbitingly tense . . . gripping' Sun

'DI Helen Grace is a genuinely fresh heroine . . . MJ Arlidge weaves together a tapestry that chills to the bone' Daily Mail

Ratings and reviews

I was delighted at the opportunity to read this novel as I’ve followed the series all the way through. It was good to catch up with DI Helen Grace, her side-kick, Charlie and the irrepressible Emilia, the journalist. This book introduces the handsome Joseph Hudson to the team. Helen Grace is damaged by childhood experiences, conscience over past cases and she has extraordinary methods of atonement for past events. This book doesn’t stop for breath. In the New Forest, a killer is using a cross-bar to kill his victims. On the surface, it would seem a simple matter to locate a local man with a cross-bar who makes the bolts because the weaponry is so unusual. Wrong. He is elusive, and the team are baffled. As the reader, you get the graphic horror and full sense of terror of the victim in the first brutal killing. It is chilling and elaborately staged to maximise fear in the victim. What is driving the killer to commit these gruesome murders? Is there a reason or is it random? Halfway through I was certain I’d identified the killer, only to discover I was mistaken. How infuriating is that? That’s what it must feel like for the detectives. It struck me forcibly that it must cost a fortune to research so many lines of enquiry, test for DNA etc. and the logistics of apprehending an elusive killer. But, the devil is in the detail. A dynamic, punishing end which reveals the strength, determination and dedication of the team. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph.

Arlidge always writes a gripping novel, BUT there is one problem. I only have reading issues on my Notepad with Penguin ebooks. The font size settings won't adjust and the font size in the Penguin ebook is tiny and difficult to read. Not so good for older eyes. I've checked all my settings but there is no solution so I'm assuming it's to do with Penguin ebooks, because all other ebook publishers are just fine. Quite frustrating to say the least. Hopefully Penguin will see this review and look in to it.

Always a big fan, read the entire series. However it didn't feel much like a helen grace mystery, Just didn't have the magic like the other books.

About the author

M. J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last fifteen years, specializing in high-end drama production, including the prime-time crime serials Torn, The Little House and Silent Witness. Arlidge also pilots original crime series for both UK and US networks. In 2015 his audio exclusive Six Degrees of Assassination was a Number One bestseller.

His first thriller, Eeny Meeny, was the UK's bestselling crime debut of 2014. It was followed by the bestselling Pop Goes the Weasel, The Doll's House, Liar Liar, Little Boy Blue, Hide and Seek, Love Me Not, and Down to the Woods.