Title: Review: “The Doll’s House” by M. J. Arlidge
Meta Title: “The Doll’s
House” by M.J. Arlidge
Subtitle: Detective
Helen Grace interacts with A Doll’s House
Social Title: A Doll
House Mystery for Miniature Lovers
Review: “The
Doll’s House” by M. J. Arlidge. A Detective Helen Grace Mystery. The New American Library, 2015.
As a connoisseur of all things doll and murder mystery, I
had to read this book. The title alone
grabbed me and wanted me to include it in the second edition of my own book, “A
Bibliography of Doll and Toys Sources.”
This is the third of Aldridge’s Helen Grace murder mystery
series. Set in Southampton,
the style reminds me of Elizabeth
George.
Helen Grace, who is good at catching serial killers,
including her own sister, has another serial offender case on her hands. Young girls are being abducted, yet even when
they disappear, their families receive texts and tweets from them.
The chapters are old with alternating points of view, the
latest victim’s, the killer’s, Det.
Helen’s, and her colleagues. Some
of her colleagues and superiors are intent on ruining her career, and their
sneaky tactics make an interesting subplot.
One pathetically sinister character and his sister have
grown up in a moldering, damp old Victorian house straight out of Dickens or The Cryptkeeper’s TV series. To
hide from their violent mother who drinks, they retreat to the attic. Previous owners have left al kinds of rubbish
there, including a doll’s house, described below:
Excerpt:
“Once safe, they had
turned their attention to the toys within the magic circle. They stole valuable items from Dixons—Game
Boys—as well as books, dolls and Tom Trumps from other children—but oddly the thing
they kept coming back to was the doll’s
house. They had inherited it in poor
condition. The plastic windowpanes ere
long gone and there were childish scribblings in biro on the roof that wouldn’t
come off however hard they scrubbed. But
for all that they loved it, not least because inside were two
small figures. Once dressed in pin,
one dressed in blue.
The adopted one each,
naming them appropriately, and began to lay with reality, imagining themselves
in faraway places, living unfamiliar, glamorous lives. King and queen of all
they surveyed. It was an arresting fantasy and they played it every day . . .
It was their world—their special world—and he still felt a deep pang of shame
whenever he pictured the doll’s house’s sad end—smashed into a hundred pieces
by his hand . .. What a fool he had been. . . He would have coveted the doll’s
house had he still possessed it.”
The doll’s house becomes a metaphor for who the victims are
ultimately imprisoned by their killer, in a contrived setting that reminds the
reader of a large doll house. The
premise is similar to John Fowles’
classic, “The Collector.”
Years ago, the old TV show “Daniel Boone” starring Fess
Parker featured an episode where an eccentric collector kept his treasures
stored in an underground cave. He had
many unusual figurines and life-sized statues among them. The story turned bizarre when Boone
discovered a young girl, played by Mariette Hartley, entrapped among the
treasure. That particular collector also
had a penchant for kidnapping people and making them part of his “collection.” The book “A
Gentle Madness” explores more mental conditions that have afflicted this
type of “collecting”, in the past. I have to comment here that the sociopath’s
featured in this book were sociopaths before they got interested in collecting
anything. It’s fun to play with the idea
of collectors gone mad, if you will, and the authors mentioned here are not the
only ones to play with the theme. Yet,
please remember that collecting leads to wonderful thing, teaches knowledge,
promotes diversity, and inspires many trades and avocations.
This novel is fast paced, and hard to put down. My only clue that the latest victim might
survive was that so much of the story was told in her perspective. This is a great book for those who want to
explore the “dark’ side of life, and of collecting.
About the Author:
M.L. Arlidge has had a career in television for over 15
years, He lives in England, and his other Det. Helen
Grace mysteries are “Pop Goes the Weasel” and “Eeeny Meeny.” Those
who read the Alex Cross mysteries by James Patterson will note the nod to the
use of children’s nursery rhymes. The latter book has been sold in 28 countries. For more, go to witter.co/mjarlidge.
Categories:
Information for Doll Collectors
Books for Doll Collectors
Doll Houses and Miniatures
Quick Information for Doll Collectors
Headlines: [Link
Boxes]:
Fairy Gardens, Dolls and Flights of Fancy:
Dolls, Flowers and
Gardens:
Metro Minimakers 30+
Years and Still Thinking Small:
Under Glass: A Victorian Obsession
Miniature Wax Doll
Under Dome:
Creche Dolls:
Doll Bytes for Autumn
and Summer:
Ushabti and the
Legend of King Tut:
Dolls of Anne Boleyn
and the Tudors:
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