Bad Blood by Angela MarsonsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - in and out over 4 days
Pages - 368
Publisher - Bookouture
Source - Bought (ebook and treebook)
Blurb from Goodreads
The victim is lying under the trees, arms lifted above his head, unnaturally still. His muscles are slack. His eyes are empty. There are no signs of life. But he is not quite dead…
When Detective Kim Stone races to the crime scene, there is no body waiting for the paramedics are desperately trying to save the victim’s life. But there is something very strange about the way the man was found, his arms raised above his head, his legs spread apart. When he dies on the way to the hospital, Kim is certain she’s on the hunt for a killer… but all evidence at the scene has been destroyed.
The dead man, Eric Gould , seems ordinary, until the team dig into his past. As a teenager, he was locked away for attacking his girlfriend, and Kim suspects he was hurting his fiancé now. Was someone trying to stop history repeating?
Then another man is found on the verge of death, his bones broken to force him into an unnatural shape. The team realise the killer is sending a message – the victims’ bodies are spelling out their sins. As boys, they were both part of a group of six who bragged about their terrible crimes. But they were children then, and when she sees the grief on the faces of their loved ones now, Kim swears to find answers.
Is someone finally getting revenge… or do they think these men are still dangerous? The killer is threatening to strike again, and the only way Kim can crack the case is by tracking down the rest of the six first.
But then a revelation about what one of her team is suffering makes Kim understand why people take the law into their own hands. Do these victims deserve what’s coming to them? Or is there even more to fear from their brutal killer?
Unputdownable from start to finish, Bad Blood is a brilliantly gripping crime thriller with a reveal you’ll never see coming. Fans of Karin Slaughter, Robert Dugoni and Val McDermid will love the latest compulsive read from multi-million-copy bestseller Angela Marsons.
Can be read as a standalone.
My Review
Guys this is book nineteen in the series and normally I would say you can read as a standalone or start here BUT I would absolutely advise reading the others. One because it is a great series but if you don't want to go back that far at least read book eighteen first as there is a central storyline in this one that I feel hits more with the context/background of the previous book. A victim has been found under a tree, no signs of life, Stone is called down. A shock turn of events has no body waiting for Stone and the start of some nasty bodies popping up. From the previous book we see Stacey struggling with her stalker, trying to deal with it alone as she hasn't told anyone what is happening. With a team as small and tight as Stone's nothing remains a secret for too long and Stacey's secret has huge impact on all of the team.
I do love the Stone series, the team is such a great bunch and I love how Bryant is the Ying to Stones Yang. The investigation into the almost dead victims, why would someone do this and what are they trying to say with each body/victim. We see Stone go tonto when she discovers what has been happening to Stacey and the impact it now has not only on Stacey but the team and an investigation.
Kim is like the maw of the group and Bryant the dad I would say we see this more in this book. The usual police investigation parts with relationships, danger and shady individuals. Despite this being book nineteen Stone manages to keep the writing and plots fresh and pulling you in from the opening chapter, 4/5.
