Fatal Promise

Another absolute belter from Angie Marsons.

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Book description

When the body of a doctor is discovered brutally murdered in local woodland, Detective Kim Stone is shocked to discover the victim is Gordon Cordell – a man linked to a previous case she worked on involving the death of a young school girl. Gordon has a chequered past, but who would want him dead?

As the investigation gets underway, Gordon’s son is involved in a horrific car crash which leaves him fighting for his life. Kim's sure this was no accident. 

Then the body of a woman is found dead in suspicious circumstances and Kim makes a disturbing link between the victims and Russells Hall Hospital. The same hospital where Gordon worked.

With Kim and her team still grieving the loss of one of their own, they’re at their weakest and facing one of the most dangerous serial killers they’ve ever encountered. Everything is on the line. Can Kim keep her squad together and find the killer before he claims his next victim?

The killer is picking off his victims at a terrifying pace, and he’s not finished yet. 

My review - 

This book leans upon the previous story and the changes it meant for Kim and her team. A doctor is brutally murdered – and he was part of the story of Dying Truth. More bodies follow and the team, still trying to get to grips with a past they can’t recover, work punishing hours, even though Kim is still suffering from an injury. The story is entwined with one of a missing girl and they run in parallel, as cases must in real life. There are plenty of heart-stopping moments. Angela Marson’s stories never get stale. This is a belter.

About the author -

Angela Marsons is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of the DI Kim Stone series and her books have sold more than 3 million in 3 years.

She lives in the Black Country with her partner, their cheeky Golden Retriever and a swearing parrot.

She first discovered her love of writing at Junior School when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read "Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people's".

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Just a thought 

Which of us has not felt that the character we are reading in the printed page is more real than the person standing beside us? ― Cornelia Funke

Dying Truth

I'm working my way up the numbers in Angie Marsons' brilliant Kim Stone series. This
is number 8.

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Book description How far would you go to protect your darkest secrets?

When teenager Sadie Winter jumps from the roof of her school, her death is ruled as suicide – a final devastating act from a troubled girl. But then the broken body of a young boy is discovered at the same school and it’s clear to Detective Kim Stone that these deaths are not tragic accidents.

As Kim and her team begin to unravel a dark web of secrets, one of the teachers could hold the key to the truth. Yet just as she is about to break her silence, she is found dead. 

With more children’s lives at risk, Kim has to consider the unthinkable - whether a fellow pupil could be responsible for the murders. Investigating the psychology of children that kill brings the detective into contact with her former adversary, Dr Alex Thorne – the sociopath who has made it her life’s work to destroy Kim. 

Desperate to catch the killer, Kim finds a link between the recent murders and an initiation prank that happened at the school decades earlier. But saving these innocent lives comes at a cost – and one of Kim’s own might pay the ultimate price.

My review - 

A child at an exclusive public school dies in tragic circumstances. Kim’s team start turning some stones and find nasty things under them. The case begins to tie up old and new deaths at the school but everyone there is in denial. I found the book exciting and scary with its almost conspiracy-theory story about those with wealth and power. Kim’s team have come from very different backgrounds to those at the school but there’s no end to what they will do for the people who need their help. Emotional, exciting, another cracking book in the Kim Stone series.

About the author

Angela lives in the Black Country with her partner, their cheeky Golden Retriever and a swearing parrot.

She first discovered her love of writing at Junior School when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read "Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people's".

After years of writing relationship based stories (The Forgotten Woman and Dear Mother) Angela turned to Crime, fictionally speaking of course, and developed a character that refused to go away.

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Just a thought - I love the way that each book—any book—is its own journey. You open it, and off you go….  ― Sharon Creech

Angela Marsons

Seventh - and Angie Marsons could go on much longer with all the possibilities these characters offer.

Broken Bones

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My review

This is the seventh in the DCI Kim Stone series and another cracking read. A baby is left at the police station, a young girl is killed and the team are investigating prostitution, possible illegal immigration and human trafficking. Nothing is ever simple, the answers never cut and dried and Kim and her team struggle to keep their professional distance. Things come close to home sometimes and they have to listen to their gut instincts. ‘What would the boss do?’ they sometimes ask themselves – out of Kim’s hearing!

This team, though from very different backgrounds, work like a family. The sort of family where the members respect one another, share joys and fears, and yet still have that little secret. We learn a few more in this book. Angela Marsons has created some fantastic characters and she puts them in perilous situations. This series goes from strength to strength.

I received a review copy of this book from Netgalley.

Angela Marsons

Number six in the Kim Stone series. They get better!

Dead Souls

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My review - 

Kim Stone is sharing a case with her ex-colleague Travis. It’s fair to say they don’t get on but the bones they are investigating were found on the boundary of the two police forces. There’s a strange relationship between the land owner and the lease-holder and Kim realises that they are all lying. The hate crimes of thirty years ago begin to find a horrifying echo in the present and one of Kim’s team is in danger.

I now feel I know these characters and yet in each book a little more background is revealed. We learn more about Travis and Stacey’s past lives and once again, understand them better. The dynamic of Kim’s own team is shifted slightly in her absence and it’s great to see how they grow without her constant influence. I love these characters and the cases they get tied up with. Long may this series continue!

Angela Marsons

Another cracker in a great series.

Blood Lines

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My review - 

DI Kim Stone and her team investigate a murder involving a single, unhesitating knife thrust. When more deaths occur with the same method of killing, the investigators are desperate to find what connects the dead. It takes Kim Stone to work out what’s really going on – but that’s only half the battle. Her chain is being yanked from inside prison by the sociopathic psychologist Dr Alexandra Thorne, who knows Kim well enough to understand what her weaknesses are.

I’m really growing to like the characters in this series. They all have their strengths and their faults, just like the rest of us. Whatever else, though, her team trust and have faith in Detective Kim Stone. Angela Marson’s stories are a little different from the run-of-the-mill detective stories which are out there in seemingly huge numbers. I enjoy the threads which run throughout, the stories within the story, and the way they are unravelled for us. A very good read indeed.