Book Reviews: A trio of Angela Marsons books to thrill you over the festive season

I only recently got introduced to Angela Marson's DI Kim Stone books and I'm so glad I did.  Kim is an unlikely heroine: anti- social, lacking in social graces and dogged to the point of obstinacy- just up my street.  If you've not come across this trio of books before then you're in for a treat.  Set in The Black Country near Lye, Stourbridge and Rowley Regis, Marsons gives more than a passing nod to the areas history in her writing.

Silent Scream by Angela Marsons (Feb 2015)

Set in The Black Country in the Midlands, Scream opens with five people standing round a grave in the dead of night. These five people form a pact with far reaching consequences.  Then, DI Kim Stone is called out to a murder and she soon discovers that the victim has links to an archaeological dig about to start on the grounds of Cresswell, a disused children's home.  When the next victim also has links to the home, Stone is on a mission to catch the killer before they murder victim number three.  Silent Scream is enjoyable and Kim

Rowley Regis

Stone is compelling as a character.  Her relationships with her team are deliciously natural and the reader wants to find out more about Kim's own mysterious past.  A definite recommend from The Crime Warp.
Available on Amazon kindle 99p or PB £8.27 or free on audible download trial.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00S5K0CAU?keywords=angela%20marsons%20detective%20kim%20stone%20series&qid=1450096611&ref_=sr_1_3&s=books&sr=1-3
Evil Games (May 2015) is the second of Marson's Kim Stone

books and is as compelling as the first.  

The human mind is so fragile and, in the wrong hands easily manipulated.  Well respected psychiatrist Alex Thorne uses this to her advantage as she plays a dangerous game of cat and mouse with DI Kim Stone, manipulating the vulnerable and mentally ill to kill and injure.  Evil Games sets Kim apart form her colleagues and superior officer who can't believe Kim's suspicions.  Kim is on her own and with her own past traumas playing a part she is vulnerable to the skilled doctors manipulations.  A tense dram unfolds skillfully in Marson's deft hands as we become more and more drawn to Kim Stone as a character.
Another excellent read.Available on Amazon Kindle for £1.99 or PB £8.99 or free on audible trial.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00U7K5F4O?keywords=angela%20marsons%20detective%20kim%20stone%20series&qid=1450097473&ref_=sr_1_2&s=books&sr=1-2

Lost Girls (Nov 2015) is the third in the series.  A blast from DI Kim Stone's past life in foster care demands Kim lead the investigation into the kidnapping of her daughter and her best friend.  Kim is initially reluctant but soon overcomes this and ensconces herself and her team in the family home to lead the investigation.   When Kim realises this case links to the kidnapping of two friends a year earlier, a case where only one of the daughters was returned, she knows this is

Lye

a race against time.  As relations between the two couples whose daughters have been kidnapped, becomes more strained Kim is determined to find the girls and return them to their families.  The beauty of Marson's Kim Stone books lies in the way she manages to instil a deep sense of empathy for the various victims she writes about.  Another recommended read.
Available in Amazon Kindle £1.99 or PB £9.99 free on audible trial.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01408LTV6?keywords=angela%20marsons%20detective%20kim%20stone%20series&qid=1450097473&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1