M.J. Arlidge Books in Order
M.J. Arlidge is an English crime thriller author, screenwriter, and television producer who wrote the DI Helen Grace series, set in Southampton and the county of Hampshire. The books follow a detective who is very good at hunting violent offenders but is not very comfortable letting people close to her.
The series began with Eeny Meeny in 2014 and now includes more than a dozen Helen Grace books. The author’s background in television shows in the way the books are written using short chapters, quick scene changes, the obvious pressure inside the investigation room, and cases that often bring Helen’s personal life into the job.
This page lists all M.J. Arlidge books in order, including the DI Helen Grace series, Helen Grace novellas, standalone thrillers, and co-written standalone novels.
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Latest M.J. Arlidge Books
Where to Start with M.J. Arlidge
→ New to M.J. Arlidge? Start with Eeny Meeny (DI Helen Grace #1). It introduces Helen Grace, her job and her relationship with her colleagues, her damaged private life, and the kind of high-pressure cases that are present throughout the series.
→ Want the easiest Helen Grace reading order? Read the main novels in publication order. The individual cases are usually easy to follow, but Helen’s personal and work relationships and her police career develop as the series goes along.
→ Can you jump in with a later book? You can, especially if you are used to police thrillers. But later books have more background history about Helen, so starting at book 1 is still the better way.
→ The novellas, including No Way Back and Running Blind, are short Helen Grace extras.
→ The standalone thrillers and co-written books are independent from the series.
Helen Grace Series (Books in Order)
The DI Helen Grace series follows Detective Inspector Helen Grace, who works out of Southampton Central and leads a team dealing with some of the city’s worst crimes. The first book, Eeny Meeny, starts with a case where pairs of victims are trapped and forced into an impossible choice, and that sets the somber and dark tone for the series. Helen is often dealing with killers who plan carefully, choose victims for a reason, and try to stay one step ahead of the police.
Helen is good at the job because she notices what others miss and keeps moving even when a case gets ugly. However, when she’s away from work, she is much harder to know. She grew up in foster care, so she learned to keep most people at a distance. She has parts of her private life that she does not want her colleagues to know about, so she is pretty secretive about her painful past. That tension between the public detective and the guarded private person is a major part of the series.
- Eeny Meeny, 2014
- Pop Goes the Weasel, 2014
- The Doll’s House, 2015
- Liar Liar, 2015
- Little Boy Blue, 2016
- No Way Back, 2016
- Hide and Seek, 2016
- Running Blind, 2016
- Love Me Not, 2017
- Down to the Woods, 2018
- All Fall Down, 2020
- Truth or Dare, 2022
- Cat and Mouse, 2022
- Forget Me Not, 2024
- Into the Fire, 2025
- Out of the Ashes, 2026
Standalone Novels
- Six Degrees of Assassination, 2015 (only as an audiobook)
- A Gift For Dying (also titled The Last Rites), 2019
- Eye For an Eye, 2023
- The Wrong Child, 2024 (with Julia Crouch)
- The Reunion, 2024 (with Stephanie Broadribb)
- Your Child Next, 2025 (with Andy Maslen)
- The Mistake, 2025 (with Lisa Hall)
- Her Last Breath, 2026 (with Alex Khan)
M.J. Arlidge Biography
Matthew Arlidge writes as M.J. Arlidge and is a Sunday Times bestselling crime author best known for the DI Helen Grace series. His official publisher page is at Orion Publishing.
Matthew J. Arlidge, was born in 1974 in London, where he also grew up. His father, Anthony Arlidge, a QC (Queen’s Counsel) barrister had a major influence on his career due to him prosecuting several high-profile criminals, including Jeremy Bamber, who murdered both his parents. Matthew became intrigued by these cases and also interested in the world of killers and how best to catch and prosecute them.
Before he went to college, he traveled quite a lot to countries such as Singapore, Australia, and India. After his return to the UK, he got an English Literature degree at St Johns College in Cambridge. Soon after enrolled at Bristol University to study Film and TV Production. During this time won the Douglas Chivers Prize for outstanding Shakespeare scholarship.
He started working in television production as a story liner and then became a script editor at Eastenders, a popular BBC1 TV soap opera known for its high-end drama production. After leaving Eastenders, he joined Ecosse Films, a British production company, where he worked as a story liner and editor on the TV show Monarch of the Glen. He was later promoted to the role of TV development producer and contributed to shows such as Mistresses and Cape Wrath. His credits also include Silent Witness, Torn, The Little House, and Innocent.
In 2007, M.J. Arlidge founded his own production company, TXTV Limited. He has created popular TV shows like Torn, The Little House, and Undeniable. Recently, he has been working on crime thrillers for ITV.
His first novel, Eeny Meeny, was published in 2014 and introduced DI Helen Grace, a Southampton detective who doesn’t get close to people but is extremely committed to her job. The book became the UK’s bestselling crime debut of 2014 and was followed by several DI Helen Grace novels, most of them Sunday Times bestsellers.
M.J. Arlidge also wrote solo and co-authored standalone novels, working together with Julia Crouch, Steph Broadribb, Andy Maslen, Lisa Hall, and Alex Khan. In 2015, he wrote a 10-part thriller called Six Degrees of Assassination for Audible, which became a number-one bestseller the same year.
M.J. Arlidge Awards and Honors
Awards and Book Club Selections
- Eeny Meeny – Richard and Judy Book Club Summer Pick (2014)
- Helen Grace – The Kathy Reichs Award for Fearless Female Character, Dead Good Reader Awards (2017)
- Little Boy Blue / Oxygène – Prix Cognac for Best International Novel, Festival Polar de Cognac (2019)
- Eye for an Eye – Richard and Judy Winter Book Club Pick (2024)
Nominations and Shortlists
- Little Boy Blue – The Hotel Chocolat Award for Darkest Moment, Dead Good Reader Awards (2016)
In your book the wrong chill you forget to write what happens to the three dogs
My favourite author by far – his Helen Grace is a spectacular character full of mystery and intrigue got to love her – as is Charlie – have read all his books in order (a must for getting to know each character) and have now just completed All Fall Down never thought I would shed a tear but I did now on the look out for Truth or Dare.
For all who enjoy this genre you will not be disappointed.
terrific author, once you start a book it is hard to put it down, especially the Helen Grace ones, when you finish you cannot wait to start his next one, I have read most of his books and I hope he will continue to write as I have read a lot of these kind of books but find he is one of the best, if not the best author I have come across