"The Doll's House" by M. J. Arlidge

Expected Publication Feb. 2, 2016

"Ruby pulled off the pillow and sat up. Her mouth fell open, but only a weak gasp came out-her body frozen in breathless panic. She had gone to sleep in her nice, cozy bed. But, had woken up in a cold dark cellar".......

Taking place in Southampton, this story brings you a terror filled ride of abduction and murder. This is the third book in the "Helen Grace Detective" series. I have not read the previous two, but I definitely want to. This book can be read alone and made perfect sense without any prior knowledge of the previous books.

Detective Helen Grace is called to the scene of a dead girl. Buried in the sand and probably there for years. No one know she's dead. There is another case of a girl, named Ruby, who is abducted. But her family thinks while she may have just run off, there might be more to it. She left without something important that she'd never leave behind. The major issue is that the victims still seem to be in touch with their families through text messaging. What kind of sick mind would play such a game?

It's now up to Helen to figure out the puzzle and the missing pieces. Can she capture this mad man? Her hard working investigative co-workers are her support and slightly jealous of her. She's very good at what she does. Notoriety from past cases seems to rub some the wrong way. Some very dark story lines in their lives. Still they'll need each other if they're going to solve this.

A clue and a connection give Helen something to go on. The families of all involved are suffering. Ruby's mom and the dead girl's father are both struggling-one with death, the other with the unknown. Even Helen is struggling with her missing nephew and the fact of how his mother, her sister, ended up dead. (previous book story line)

With the help of her team and breaking a few rules she is determined to find this serial killer before he takes anymore girls, and save the life of the one he has. Sometimes breaking the rules is the only way to find out what you need to know. Can she? Will it be too late? Exciting and fast paced in the race against time.

I enjoyed this crime book. A little creepy for sure, my favorite kind. I think it would be good to read more of this series. I'd like a better idea of the depth of these characters. A page turner until the very end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group.