I loved the ending… a tasty titbit to make me anticipate the fifth book in the series by MJ Arlidge about Southampton detective Helen Grace.

Don’t start reading an MJ Arlidge novel, unless you have nothing to do but read. Because the story moves so fast you won’t want to put it down. Liar Liar is the fourth in Arlidge’s Helen Grace series set in Southampton, UK. Arlidge is an expert storyteller, he has created two likeable female detectives – DI Helen Grace and DC Charlie Brooks – and put them in a real, gritty, believable setting.

The writing is graphic. The theme of this book is fire – there’s an arsonist on the loose in Southampton, setting serial fires – so the description of fire in all its stages and its after effects is at times graphic. Is someone trying to cover up a crime? Could it be a revenge attack on one person disguised by multiple fires? Or is it an insider with a grudge?

It is a quick read, 448 pages. Arlidge writes TV drama and his skill at keeping the tension going is clear on every page.

For my reviews of the other Helen Grace books, click here:-
Eeny Meeny, #1HelenGrace
Pop Goes the Weasel, #2HelenGrace
The Doll’s House, #3HelenGrace

If you want to find new crime authors, try these:-
‘Wilderness’ by Campbell Hart
‘Wolf’ by Mo Hayder
‘An Uncertain Place’ by Fred Vargas

‘Liar Liar’ by MJ Arlidge, #4HelenGrace [UK: Penguin] Buy now

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
LIAR LIAR by @mjarlidge #bookreview via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1PW