Angela Marsons: Play Dead

This is the fourth book in Angel Marsons' DI Kim Stone series. I personally think that you should start at the beginning of the series (Silent Scream, Evil Games and Lost Girls) and the books are amazing (especially the first two), but I think you could read this book as Marsons does a good job in defining who the characters are.

Angela Marsons is back with the next DI Stone book and there are going to be even more bodies on the body farm:

All dead bodies hold a mystery especially those of people that have been murdered. It is the job of a Body Farm to help understand how elements of nature can affect a body and help solve cases. Westerley is a new Bod Farm research facility in DI Kim Stone's backyard and she it voluntold by her boss to go there, take a tour and try to use the expertise of the Doctors there to help solve some unsolved and historical homicides. Things never seem to be so simple for Kim as she discovers a body that does not belong on the body farm. The murder victim is killed in such a way that Kim knows that there will be more than one as it seems too personal. Kim is proved right when another victim is found at the farm barely clinging to life. Kim now has a serial killer on her hands and knows that the victims won't stop till she discovers who the killer is.

Ah how I have missed DI Kim Stone, really truly missed her. Right from the very beginning of the book, where Kim is willing to put her job and at times the case on the line in order to protect the innocent, you fall right back in love with her character. Kim is what makes this series so addictive as well as Marsons writing style which grabs hold of you and never lets go (I really wanted to and could have read this book in one sitting, as there never seemed to be a good place to stop, but alas it was not to be).

I found that this book was not as inventive as her previous books in this series, but still entertaining and she was able to surprise me in the end as Marsons has become a master at red herrings and having some questionable characters throughout. I was able to figure out part but not all of the mystery/serial killer aspect. I think part of what I missed in this book is the separate case that Kim or one of the members on her team takes on. I wonder what case Marsons will come up with next. I actually wish there was more of a story behind the human/child trafficking story that the book leads off with. I think that would be an interesting story for Kim and her team to tackle against as the cross border aspect that could occur.

I liked that we got to have some additional points of view from Tracy (Kim's nemesis reporter) as her and Kim play really nicely off each other. As Tracy has been a fixture in this series so far and her obsession of trying to find out what makes Kim tick as well as the next big story, it was nice to get to know more of her as a character. We also get a glimpse into Tracy's past as to what shaped her into the woman she is today. Marsons does a good job of this in each of her books, taking at least one secondary character and fleshing them out so you feel that you do not just know Kim but the people around her (both good and bad) as well.

Although I do not think that this book is as good as the first two novel in this series As long a Marsons keeps writing with Kim as her main character I will continue to read her books. I cannot wait for the fifth book in this series.

Enjoy!!!

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