When you think you’re safe,
When you think you’re all alone,
That’s when he’ll come for you…
A silent killer stalks the city, targeting those home alone at night, playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with the victims.
As panic spreads, Detective Inspector Helen Grace leads the investigation, but is herself a hunted woman, her every step shadowed by a ruthless psychopath bent on revenge.
As she tracks the murderer, Grace begins to suspect there is a truly shocking home truth that connects these brutal crimes. But what she will find is something more twisted than she could ever suspect…
Check the windows, lock the doors – this is a twisted page-turner that will prey on your darkest fears, in the way only M.J. Arlidge can.
I’m thrilled to be opening up the “Cat and Mouse” blog tour today along side the fabulous Tracy Fenton and her Compulsive Readers blog. So make sure you check out her review today too. The DI Helen Grace series is always a must read for me and I’ve enjoyed it from the very beginning! I’ve loved all the books in the series but I have to say that this is the best so far in my opinion. Don’t worry if you’ve not read any books in the series and have picked this one up, as you can totally read it as a stand-alone.
I don’t think I’ve read a more chilling opening to a book this year as a married mother of one lays in bed awaiting her husband’s return from his evening run. I think we’ve all been there, not able to go to sleep until our other half is safely tucked up alongside us. But the unease I felt as her husband came up the stairs and sat on the bed quickly turned to horror…yes, there is a serial killer stalking the residential streets of Southampton and they are waiting until their potential victims are home alone. There was actually one point during these opening chapters that I thought I would need to stop reading as the horror took a turn I really wasn’t expecting. I honestly felt sick as I read through the processes going through the mind of this evil individual but I won’t say any more than that! You’ll know which bit I mean if and when you get to it!
DI Helen Grace is called in to investigate alongside her team and it was wonderful to meet them again. Helen has her own personal worries as she is also being hunted down by someone desperate to take their revenge on her from a previous case. Charlie also has a lot on her mind that isn’t work related but she has to put her suspicions to one side as there are more important crimes to solve. The author has very cleverly woven the threads from both of their lives into the main storyline to create a compelling and gripping narrative that never lets up. As usual, the use of short chapters keeps the tension high and means that you just can’t help but keep reading “just one more chapter” before you put the book down.
There are lots of twists and turns in this plot and I have to say that I didn’t see any of them coming! The big reveal was shocking, unexpected and dramatic with a high energy finale worthy of any tv crime drama. Helen Grace does have a complex and intriguing backstory that means I always understand why she takes the risks that others might hesitate to follow through with but this is what makes her such a fascinating and engaging character.
I loved this book so much and read it in one sitting-which I totally regretted afterwards as I wish I had savoured it…it’s always such a long wait until the next book! But M.J. Arlidge knows how to grab my attention and hold it within the pages of Helen Grace’s life and so I had no choice but to binge the whole book from start to finish in one afternoon. Cat and Mouse is what rainy Bank Holiday afternoons were made for!
Highly recommended by me!
M.J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last twenty years, specialising in high-end drama production, including prime-time crime serials Silent Witness, Torn, The Little House and, most recently, the hit ITV show Innocent. In 2015 his audiobook exclusive Six Degrees of Assassination was a number-one bestseller. His debut thriller, Eeny Meeny, was the UK’s bestselling crime debut of 2014 and has been followed by nine more DI Helen Grace thrillers – all Sunday Times bestsellers.
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