Another great read from MJArlidge. Down to the Woods is the eighth in the D I Helen Grace series and it doesn’t disappoint. The New Forest is suddenly invaded with evil, visitors are being murdered and displayed in a ritualistic manner. What do their victims have in common? Why were they selected ? In this novel we meet D S Joseph Hudson who joins the team, a motor bike riding loner who seems to have his eye on his boss. Cannot wait for the next.

You can't go wrong with a MJ Aldridge book. I've read them all and they are all fabulous. This was no different. I can't wait for the next addition to the series.

MJArlidge does it again.
Another fantastic fast paced story for DI Helen Grace and her team.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book and looking forward to reading Book 9!!

Fantastic book. I love the Helen Grace series and this didn’t let me down. Plenty of twists and tension to keep me enthralled. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Helen Grace is back with a bang and also her team of heroes. This series gets better and better.

Yet another amazing story about a serial killer in the woods in the DI Helen Grace series. Every time I finish a M.J. Arlidge book I can't wait for the next book an this one was no exception. This story grabs you from the very first page until the end and kept you guessing with its twists and turns.

Down to The Woods is the eighth in the DI Helen Grace series and I believe it lives up to all the expectations of Grace’s many fans. I must admit to having read just the first two in the series. I have others in the series but simply hadn’t got round to reading them yet and then I jumped to number eight! Clearly I have missed out on a lot of events that have taken place involving Helen and members of her team within the books I haven’t read, and although I feel I have missed out, Arlidge summarises these incidents well within this instalment. I am determined now to go back on myself and read the other books in order so what I would recommend to anyone is, if possible, read this series in order. It just helps you have a better understanding of Helen herself, she is a complex and multi-layered character and the more you learn about her, the more you will get out of this brilliant series.

Down to the Woods follows the horrific deaths of seemingly unconnected characters, all murdered whilst camping in the New Forest. What ensues is yet another utter compelling tale which sees Helen and her team pushed to the edges of their endurance in the desperate hunt to find the perpetrator and stop the violent killings.

I won’t go into detail on the case, that is your journey to take and I fully recommend you do! Arlidge has a gift for depicting the most warped of crimes and hooking you in from page one and not releasing you until the (gloriously twisted) end. Helen is a fantastic character to read, as are her team members. You may have to suspend your disbelief at times but I don’t care, brilliantly written as always, this latest chapter in Helen Grace series is a thriller well worth the read!

My thanks to #NetGalley and #PenguinUK for a copy of #DownToTheWoods in exchange for an honest review.

Thoroughly enjoyed this read. Tension and realism all in one. Very descriptive and sometimes gratuitous.

Down to the Woods is the latest book in the wonderful Helen Grace series and whilst it could be read as a standalone, personally I think you need to read all the books in order to get a better understanding of who Helen Grace is and the rest of the team.

This book felt very different to the previous 7 in the series, the pace was much slower, the plot-line less frantic and the overall feel was of a slow burner rather than a gripping page-turner.  This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it though, it means the reader has more time to really get to know the main characters in more depth which, as a huge fan of this series, I really appreciated.

Still mourning the death of one of their team members, Helen, Charlie and the rest of the team are struggling with their feelings and emotions and when a mutilated body is found in the New Forest the team have to try to find the killer before he or she strikes again.

This book has so many red herrings  I actually thought I was at Billingsgate Fish Market at times.  I was absolutely convinced I had worked out who the killer was at least 4 times only to realise MJ Arlidge had led me down a one-way street and just left me stranded.

The introduction of a new team member shakes up the dynamics of Grace and her team and personally I loved getting to see her softer and more vulnerable side for a change.  Another great book in one of my favourite series.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book and I really loved it. I have read all the series and this is book no. 8 I am a big fan and yet again I loved this book and it was well written and realistic and yet again wrote a fab novel. Proper thriller. Fully Recommended

Ok, starting to read this at 11.30pm was not my best idea! First of all those short sharp chapters meant I immediately succumbed to that "just one more chapter" scenario and secondly that initial scene in the forest scared the living daylights out of me!

This one certainly had the "spook factor" for me and I found myself a little bit, ok then a BIG bit afraid as I was reading it! That whole feeling of being hunted through the dark woods gave me the heebies!

I love Helen Grace and that internal conflict she has got going on. She has a real need for solitude and privacy but we can see her need for human contact is becoming more of an issue to her and this time around I felt a real sense of loneliness from her character. She is not as "harsh" in character as in previous novels and while this doesn't mean she has become softer as the series develops it is an interesting dimension added to her character this time around.

DS Hudson is the latest recruit to the team replacing DS Joanne Sanderson. I couldn't quite make my mind up about him; there was something about him that just triggered a sense of uneasinesses. He certainly has got under Helen's skin! Was I right to feel this way? Well, you will just need to read it and see!

DS Charlie Brooks is one of my favourite characters in the series, in this novel, her sense of anxiety at the investigation hints very much to the dark and macabre nature of the plot, it helps provide the reader with a similar sense of unease. Charlie has her own personal issues to deal with in this book as her daughter is struggling with night terrors and she is trying to get to the bottom of it all. Meanwhile, her relationship with her husband is a little bit shaky as both appear to want very different things from their future.

Emilia Garanita is the journalist who will not take no for an answer when it comes to getting her story and when she sniffs out the death in the woods she is on it like a shot. She is a nasty piece of work who thinks nothing of manipulating the truth to get her story and we watch as she reels in each person connected to the murders. What a brilliant "baddy" the author has created in Emilia, she had me wanting to reach into the pages and rattle her!

The plot was definitely dark and it was most certainly macabre! Twists, turns and a sea of red herrings kept me hooked from the start to finish! It isn't action packed nor "in your face" but rather it brings you slowly to the boil, leaves you to simmer and lights you right back up again! Perfect in a psychological thriller with an added twist of police procedural!

Tom is camping with his fiancée, he wakes up confused being chased in the woods. His gruesome death leads to another case for Helen Grace. A further death follows, is there a connection. Different suspects but who is behind this and how will it end. Brilliant crime book from start to finish. Get sucked into each character, led down different paths right to the end. Would really recommend.

This is only the second of M.J. Arlidge's books starring DI Helen Grace that I have read but the eighth in the series however I don't feel it absolutely necessary to have read them all as this stands up well on its own.

What a great story this is with scenes of peril, suspense, graphic descriptions of the aftermath of gruesome murders, twists, turns and red herrings, with fantastic and interesting characters especially DI Grace and the introduction of a new character, DS Joseph Hudson [I am very interested to see how their relationship develops in future stories] and all wrapped up in a great mystery set in the beautiful setting of The New Forest ... what more could you want?

Definitely recommended to fellow readers who don't mind a bit of blood mixed with action ... M.J. Arlidge does not disappoint with this book and my thanks go to the Publisher, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph via NetGalley for providing me with a copy in return for an honest review.

I can't fault these books (I'll seriously recommend reading from the very beginning of the series if you haven't already.)

The killings in this one are just as disturbing, the plot lines and characters always make these books. Especially Helen. There's also a new DS and I'm really liking him - also, yay an actual, probable keeper of a love interest for Helen.

These books deserve more praise. And their own TV show. Please.

This is the eight instalment of DCI Helen Grace. Unfortunately it did not match up to the previous. This was easy to put down and a struggle to get to the end.
The story and first victim starts quickly but ends quickly but is very slow in the middle. Hopefully this is an anomaly as the rest of the series is great.
There is serial killer kidnapping one member of a camping couple and then releasing them to hunt. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.
#NetGalley #DownToTheWoods

I must admit I dip in and out of the Helen Grace series, I don’t follow MJ Arlidge avidly but whatever I read of his I do enjoy. This, the 8th in the series sees the usual team joined by newcomer DS Joseph Hudson, who, although he features slightly in this novel, will, I think be fleshed out more in subsequent novels, and dare we suggest it, a possible (proper) love interest for DI Grace?

Campers are dying! They are being gruesomely tortured and then hung upside down from trees - literally being hung out to dry. Set in the New Forest, Down to the Woods follows DI Grace and her team as she tries to solve the case. Murder, mayhem, and misdirections (many misdirections) abound in this book, hang on to your hats this is a rollercoaster ride that will hook you from the get go. Well worth a read.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A good crime/detective novel with some twists leading the reader down dead ends, until the final reveal. Enjoyed this and would love to read others by this author.

Just brilliant. This next installment in the Helen Grace series does not disappoint and I devoured it in one sitting.
Gripping, tense and a little spooky its a perfect read for the dark nights.
Set in the New Forest at first it would appear that a killer is killing campers because of some kind of grudge over the forest being cleared for commercial gain, but can Grace's team find some kind of link between the victims before the killer strikes again.
The book begins with the first victim being told by a hooded dark figure to 'Run". Tge victims are found strung up in a tree killed by crossbow blots.
With the local rags interfering reporter getting wind of a juicy story and scaremongering it is a race against time to stop the killer in their tracks.

Another brilliant book by MJ Arlidge that won't disappoint.

Once again we meet Helen and her team and are introduced to a new member of it. Who is killing campers in the New Forest and is there a connection with the victims?
A few red herrings lead the reader on the wrong track but Helen is helped to solve the mystery by her old arch enemy, Emilia Garanita..
Another great book couldn't put it down.

I can't express how much I enjoy reading M.J. Arlidge's work. The Helen Grace series is probably my favourite crime series and the new book definitely does it justice. Massive thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for approving me to read this ARC

When I spotted the hardback in Tesco I am not ashamed to admit I found the size of it a bit intimidating, the book appeared to be massive. However since seeing it I found out the books are really all a similar length, just it might have felt different due to the fact it was in a hardback. Anyhow, long story short - don't judge a book by its cover! 

If you have read the series then you will know at length the journey which Helen has gone through and the previous book, Love Me Not was very impactful to this book. Basically I would suggest reading them in order before you get to this one. 

Down to the Woods is the eighth book in the series, you can find out more about each of the other books here, and I am glad to say that the series is still going strong and that I found this book to be at the same level of the others, captivating. 

DI Helen Grace is back in the thick of it. A murder has taken place in the New Forest as Melanie Walton wakes up alone in her tent to discover her boyfriend missing, his body is later found hanging in the forest and its down to Helen and her team to solve the case. 

I enjoyed the introduction of the new characters and enjoyed trying to get to know them throughout. Hudson was a strange character and I actually found it hard to get a hold of who he was throughout the book. He was very hard to read as a character, which I am sure was the intention and I feel we will see more from him in books to come. 

I decided to give this book a four star review as whilst I enjoyed it, I felt it was missing something. Don't ask me what though as I am no writer and it could have just been me in a funk but I didn't race through it like I have the others which was a slight shame for me. Saying that, I will be purchasing a copy for myself and I will be recommending the series to anyone who wants to get stuck into a new series. I think because a lot happened in Love Me Not, the characters were still dealing with the repercussions and that could be why it seemed slightly slower pace. We have seen Helen and her team go through quite a bit over the past 7 books and I think it was the first time we saw them all take a step back so to speak as it hit them harder than others.

Have to say though, the killer was creepy and this book has 100% put me off camping, just the thought of camping has me seeing the hooded figure running through the forest. 

Overall if you are a fan of the series, you will enjoy this. It has everything a Helen Grace series is great for. I can't wait for the next book in the series (I hope my hunch is right and there is another book). 

I would recommend this book, although to avoid any confusion over backstory would recommend you read the other books in the series first!