Six Graves by Angela Marsons

Six Graves by Angela Marsons
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 424

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

An absolutely heart-pounding and addictive crime thriller

It’s a typical teenage bedroom with posters covering the walls and clothes littering the floor. But the girl lying on her bed, wearing a delicate chain around her neck, is lifeless. A circle of red stains her white vest top. How had the girl’s mother looked down at her sleeping child and pulled the trigger?

When Detective Kim Stone rushes to the scene of a house fire, she’s shocked to discover it’s claimed the lives of two teenage children and their parents. But this tragedy is not quite as it seems. Each body is marked by a gunshot wound and the mother, Helen Daynes, is holding the gun.

The case sparks painful childhood memories for Kim who suffered at the hands of her own abusive mother, but it just makes her more determined to uncover the truth. As Kim untangles Helen’s past, she finds a history of clinical depression. But did it drive Helen to murder her loved ones?

Then Kim uncovers a tiny, vital clue in Helen’s bedroom that throws the investigation wide open. Could someone else have killed the Daynes family?

Just as Kim feels she’s making progress, a deadly threat is made to her own life by a dangerous psychopath from her past. Biting back her fear, she keeps digging. And when Kim hits upon a shocking secret that changes everything she thought she knew about Helen, she realises that the remaining family members are in grave danger.

Kim is under pressure like never before, and the monster circling her is getting ever closer. Four bodies already. Four graves fresh in the ground. Who will be next? Can Kim find the killer and save herself before it’s too late?



My Review

If you haven't read the others just stop and go read them, it is a great series and you need to know the backstories to appreciate the dynamics of the team. Normally I tell you you can absolutely pick up and read as a standalone however the baddy you appreciate more if you read the previous books. Kim and co have came up against many a psycho but this one really pushed the limits and when someone wants revenge nothing will stop them.

As always Marsons does short chapters which I need as my concentration is all over the place and she has a knack for pulling you in from the opening pages. We see a few characters from previous books and Kim is pushed to new limits when she needs to go against everything she knows that gets results. Kim never gives her own safety a second thought, that of her team always but this time Kim knows she is the sought after prize and must adhere to the bosses rules.

We see an emotive side to Kim, she generally is a closed book and keeps her emotions locked up but when you can't do the thing you normally do and high pressure I feel we got a glimpse of a different side.

Warning, the prologue will pull you in, give you palps and for us a AW HELL NAW - so clear your schedule for going in because you won't want to put it down. Pacey, shocking, one very sick and twisted individual who thinks nothing of human torture in fact really gets off on it so a wee bit squeamish reading some scenes, more of the what done than super graphic details, 5/5 for us and as always we very much look forward to the next book!

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Blood Lines by Angela Marsons

Blood Lines by Angela Marsons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 380

Publisher - Sphere

Source - Birthday present

Blurb from Goodreads

How do you catch a killer who leaves no trace?

A victim killed with a single, precise stab to the heart appears at first glance to be a robbery gone wrong. A caring, upstanding social worker lost to a senseless act of violence. But for Detective Kim Stone, something doesn’t add up.

When a local drug addict is found murdered with an identical wound, Kim knows instinctively that she is dealing with the same killer. But with nothing to link the two victims except the cold, calculated nature of their death, this could be her most difficult case yet.

Desperate to catch the twisted individual, Kim’s focus on the case is threatened when she receives a chilling letter from Dr Alex Thorne, the sociopath who Kim put behind bars. And this time, Alex is determined to hit where it hurts most, bringing Kim face-to-face with the woman responsible for the death of Kim’s little brother – her own mother.

As the body count increases, Kim and her team unravel a web of dark secrets, bringing them closer to the killer. But one of their own could be in mortal danger. Only this time, Kim might not be strong enough to save them…


My Review

Detective Kim Stone and crew are back on another case, a victim with a single stab wound to the heart. Kim knows it isn't a robbery gone wrong and soon her hunch is proved right but how and why is the killer choosing their targets? As if that isn't enough to contend with Doctor Alex Thorne makes a reappearance in Kim's life turning everything upside down.

Oh that Alex Thorne is one horrible human being, even incarcerated she is pulling strings and her actions have long consequences. Stone tries to keep her mind focused on the task at hand but with someone so manipulative and dangerous as Thorne the going is tough. The investigation kicks off but how do you find the bad guy when you don't know what drives them, why their victims, how they are selected. We follow the team as they try to put the puzzle together. In between we visit Thorne and how her predicament unravels, her calculating ways and how she manages to play people and the ripples that come from her earlier manipulations

She is a shocking character and her parts in the story overshadowed the investigation for me as she is just such a horrific character with no moral compass. One of those you love to hate! The usual trademark of Marsons, death, destruction, investigation, relationships, actions, consequences and the past never quite staying in the past. She weaves a story that pulls you in from the beginning and keeps you turning page after page trying to figure out who and why, 4/5 for me this time.

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Play Dead by Angela Marsons

Play Dead by Angela Marsons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 2 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Sphere

Source - The Works

Blurb from Goodreads

The dead don't tell secrets... unless you listen.

The girl's smashed-in face stared unseeing up to the blue sky, soil spilling out of her mouth. A hundred flies hovered above the bloodied mess. Westerley research facility is not for the faint-hearted. A 'body farm' investigating human decomposition, its inhabitants are corpses in various states of decay. But when Detective Kim Stone and her team discover the fresh body of a young woman, it seems a killer has discovered the perfect cover to bury their crime.

Then a second girl is attacked and left for dead, her body drugged and mouth filled with soil. It's clear to Stone and the team that a serial killer is at work - but just how many bodies will they uncover? And who is next? As local reporter, Tracy Frost, disappears, the stakes are raised. The past seems to hold the key to the killer's secrets - but can Kim uncover the truth before a twisted, damaged mind claims another victim ...?



My Review

This is book four in the series, you would manage this as a standalone but I would say to read the previous three. You get better insight into the characters, their background and they are just really good books. DI Kim Stone and crew are headed to a body farm, ordered by the boss the team reluctantly go and come across a body that shouldn't be there. When it soon becomes apparent they have a serial on their hands the team is pushed to get to the bottom of it before another life is taken.

The book splits into two, the murders/police investigation and an unknown character (written in italics) we don't hear often from them but as the book progresses we get a bit more clarity of what is the point. Stone has to find out who the victim is, why someone would have so much rage toward them and what the motivation could possibly be. Whilst dealing with that she also has a journalist under her feet, Tracy Frost, Tracy has a nose for these things and wants the scoop, regardless.

I love Stone and her team dynamics, even snarky encounters she deals with them brilliantly and always the champion for the victim. What I liked about this book (as well as the norm stuff we see from Marsons) was the body farm stuff, what they do, different tests on the subjects, it isn't something you really ever think about. Action packed as per, relationships, police investigation, dead bodies, serial killer what more could you want? 4/5 for me, I have the rest in the series on my shelves, cannot wait to see what is next for Stone and the team.

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