Angela Marsons: Child's Play

 

This is the 11th yep 11th book in Angela Marsons' DI Kim Stone series, and I highly recommend it. All of the books are unique and interesting and there is only one or two that did not live up to the high standards that I have set for Marsons' as an author. You also need to start at the beginning as the characters are shaped throughout the books; Silent Scream, Evil Games, Lost Girls, Play Dead, Blood Lines, Dead Souls, Broken Bones, Dying Truth, Fatal Promise and Dead Memories.

D.I. Kim Stone and her team are back and the killer really is a Child at Heart:

Kim Stone is summeded to a very disturbing scene. An older women tied to a swing with barbed wire, with an X cut into the back of her neck. The victim is a retired child psychologist, who was known for taking on tough cases and tough case studies. Then two more bodies are discovered with the distinctive X mark as well as having a history of working with children. Kim and her team are on the hunt for a serial killer, one that appears to have links to gifted children. Could Kim and her team finally met their match. This is a game of Cat and Mouse you do not want to loose.

The best part about this book was that I was not able to figure out who the murderer was. I went back and forth between many people within the book and I can say by the end of the book that I got it wrong. Trust me, I do typically figure books out before the end of a book, it's my super power, but I did not see this one coming. Marsons is able to achieve this through her well thought out plots, storytelling and really having the reader in the thick of the investigation with Kim and her team. It is very rare that something is kept from the readers and when it is it is to add suspense to the book. Marsons' is a master of red herring and really showing what detective work is like, following the evidence set before them and where this information leads the investigation.

I do like when there is more than one case occurring within the book as I think that speaks to how detective work occur, you never really have one case on your desk. I just wasn't a fan of Penn going off on his own back to his old squad, even though I get that he was in charge of the case that is now before the courts. Really that whole case could have been a whole book to itself. I did like that it showed more of Penn as a character and the squad that he came from and how much he was appreciated there, but how he feels he is more at home with Kim's team. I just felt that as a whole that Penn story was very disjointed from the other characters as it only involved Penn and no one else.

One Character that I really with there would have been more Alison Lowe in this book. I like her preservative, her constantly reading her coworkers, as well as how she pushes Kim's buttons, constantly. I get she cannot be in every book, but I actually thought she was going to be a permanent member of the team after the last book and I missed having her there. Though I will admit I did like the addition of Tink, add some overeager cheerfulness to the mix and I look forward to see what Kim does with that in the long run, if she is allowed to stay (Please let her stay Marsons).

Well 11 books in and I'm still a huge fan of this series and Marsons's work. It takes a lot to have a reader stick around this long and to keep each book refreshing with new mysteries to solve. Does this have some similar elements to some of her other novels, Yes, but Marsons' creativity with the plot and mysteries makes it new once again. I always look forward to reading her novel and I am looking forward to book 12. 

Enjoy!!!

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