Eeny Meeny by M.J. Arlidge

The first Detective Inspector Helen Fields thriller is a gritty, intense piece of work. Arlidge rubs your nose, exploring the dark side of every character with a propulsive pace.

Pairs of people are being kidnapped and held captive in derelict containers with no escape. A dying cell phone alerts them the gun provided has one bullet. The first to kill the other wins freedom. Newlyweds, strangers, a full-time carer and her special needs daughter - makes no difference. Days or weeks later, the victims are filthy and emaciated, and one is found alive.

Detective Inspector Helen Fields heads the Southampton Major Incident team with DS Fuller and DC Brooks. Brooks is perky and competent, but Fuller is a raging alcoholic unable to stop stalking his ex-wife and daughter. Their boss, Superintendent Whittaker, is corrupt and misleading. Our heroine Helen is no better; a leather-clad Kawasaki-riding badass with no friends, her only outlet is hiring a dominator for BDSM pain and abuse. Her real name is not even Helen: changed when she escaped a childhood of abuse before her parents were murdered. As more pairs go missing, it appears they all have a personal connection to Helen. And it's Christmastime.

Dark and tense, no one is spared debasement. Even the local crime reporter was abused by a drug-dealing father who used her as a mule. Plot and character are well balanced in this fast-paced page-turner with satisfying twists. There are thirteen Helen Fields thrillers so far, and I enjoyed this so much I followed it with the next in the series, Pop Goes The Weasel.

M.J. Arlidge is an executive producer of British crime series and a writer on Silent Witness.

Recommended for those who like it dark.

2014 / Tradeback / 442 pages

My other review for M.J. Arlidge:

Pop Goes The Weasel