Hidden Scars by Angela Marsons

Hidden Scars by Angela Marsons
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days as able

Pages - 356

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Netgalley

While Jamie’s cold, lifeless body lay in the morgue, Detective Kim Stone stared at the empty board in the incident room and felt her anger boil. Why were there no photos, details, or lines of enquiry?



When a nineteen-year-old boy, Jamie Mills, is found hanging from a tree in a local park, his death is ruled a suicide. Detective Kim Stone’s instincts tell her something isn’t right – but it’s not her investigation and her temporary replacement is too busy waiting for the next big case to be asking the right questions.

Why would a seemingly healthy boy choose to end his life?

Why does his mother show no sign of emotional distress at the loss of her son?

Still mending her broken mind and body from her last harrowing case, Kim is supposed to be easing back into work gently. But then she finds a crucial, overlooked detail: Jamie had a recent injury that would have made it impossible for him to climb the tree. He must have been murdered.

Quickly taking back charge of her team and the case, Kim visits Jamie’s parents and is shocked to hear that they had sent him to a clinic to ‘cure’ him of his sexuality. According to his mother, Jamie was introverted and prone to mood swings. Yet his friend speaks of a vibrant, outgoing boy.

The clues to smashing open this disturbing case lie behind the old Victorian walls of the clinic, run by the Gardner family. They claim that patients come of their own accord and are free to leave at any time. But why are those that attended the clinic so afraid to speak of what happens there? And where did the faded restraint marks identified on Jamie’s wrists come from?

Then the body of a young woman is found dead by suffocation and Kim makes two chilling discoveries. The victim spent time at the clinic too, and her death was also staged to look like a suicide.

Scarred from an ordeal that nearly took her life, is Kim strong enough to stop a terrifying killer from silencing the clinic’s previous patients one by one?

A compulsive page-turner that will have your heart hammering in your chest and leave you absolutely reeling when you discover the explosive final twist. If you’re a fan of Karin Slaughter, Val McDermid, and Robert Dugoni, you’ll love Hidden Scars.



Can be read as a standalone.


My Review

If you haven't read the previous books you should because they are awesome but the precious book is really required as it helps understand DI Kim Stone's transition from what happened previously to where she finds herself now. Everything that transpired before has long lasting ripples and helps the reader grasp everything Stone has dealt with to get to this point. Her team is epic but Stone's replacement is an absolute tool, everything that is wrong with a leader/supervisior. With Stone just coming back and not quite there to take over the lead she can't ignore what makes her her and this suicide doesn't sit well and before we know it there is another "suicide" that calls for a closer look.

Kim Stone is such a great character, she has flaws, she is human but her inner compass pushes her past just about everything to do the right thing for the victims they come across as officers. This book has a trio of main themes, Stone and her recovery, the case(s) of course and the team dynamics and sexuality/LGB.

Some parts of the book are absolutely heart wrenching to read, what people will do to their supposed loved ones if they are gay, the lengths some gay people will go to in order to fit into what societal norms are expected in some areas of the world and the absolute extremes of this. I really struggled with that and whilst it is a fictional book/characters there are absolutely clinics/camps/conversions still active and it is 2023!

Murder most horrid, some really horrific individuals that will make you absolutely enraged and an abundance of things going on with our favourite team! You would think by book 17 things would be beginning to get overdone or boring or even just dropping in quality/ideas, nope. Marsons manages to keep it freh, the readers engaged and create more shady horrors that have us cheering on for our team to catch the baddy, 5/5 for me this time!

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Dead Memories by Angela Marsons

Dead Memories by Angela Marsons
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 1 day

Pages - 459

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - Netgalley (Review Copy)

Blurb from Goodreads

She ruined their lives. Now they’re going to destroy hers.

‘Someone is recreating every traumatic point in your life. They are doing this to make you suffer, to make you hurt and the only possible end game can be death. Your death.’

On the fourth floor of Chaucer House, two teenagers are found chained to a radiator. The boy is dead but the girl is alive. For Detective Kim Stone every detail of the scene mirrors her own terrifying experience with her brother Mikey, when they lived in the same tower block thirty years ago.

When the bodies of a middle-aged couple are discovered in a burnt-out car, Kim can’t ignore the chilling similarity to the deaths of Erica and Keith – the only loving parents Kim had ever known.

Faced with a killer who is recreating traumatic events from her past, Kim must face the brutal truth that someone wants to hurt her in the worst way possible. Desperate to stay on the case, she is forced to work with profiler Alison Lowe who has been called in to observe and monitor Kim’s behaviour.

Kim has spent years catching dangerous criminals and protecting the innocent. But with a killer firmly fixed on destroying Kim, can she solve this complex case and save her own life or will she become the final victim?


My Review

Kim Stone has put away many a dangerous criminal, now someone is out to get her but where to start looking at potential culprits with so many to choose from. Stone is notoriously private, her personal life, her past, her emotions she keeps close to her chest. Someone is creating the worst moments of Stone's life, murdering people to recreate them but how, why and most importantly what is the end game? The team are on it but Stone isn't willing to give up her personal secrets and finds herself in a cat and mouse situation, holding out on her team, monitored all whilst trying to outrun her personal demons.

Ooft what a stooshie! We know and love her, she is strong, harsh, honest, brutal, brave, loyal and very private. The reader gets more than her colleagues but still we don't know anywhere near as much as we would like, this book lets us in to Kim's past - her worst memories. The killer seems to know everything and putting on a horrific and brutal display each time. It is hard to go into it without spoiling and I don't do spoilers but I think this book really pushes Stone's boundaries. The team are their delightful selves, banter, ribbing and we see the introduction of Betty! If you follow me anywhere online or know me you KNOW I love a Betty, I use it as a term on endearment for everyone and everything so to see her pop up in the book and in such a fab way, utterly delighted. The team dynamics are always fab and Marson's is giving us a fresh angle, a better understanding of what shaped Stone to being who she is. An investigation where the bodies are piling up, a cop is the target and no one knows what is coming next.

I love a series that keeps you hooked, invested in the characters and manages to surprise you and give you more, this series does just that despite being on book ten. 5/5 for me this time, I cannot wait to see what is in store for Kim and the team, hurry up book 11 we are waiting oh so impatiently!

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Fatal Promise by Angela Marsons

Fatal Promise by Angela Marsons
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 409

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

Eeeny meeny, miney, moe. Who lives, who dies only I know.

When the body of a doctor is discovered brutally murdered in local woodland, Detective Kim Stone is shocked to discover the victim is Gordon Cordell – a man linked to a previous case she worked on involving the death of a young school girl. Gordon has a chequered past, but who would want him dead?

As the investigation gets underway, Gordon’s son is involved in a horrific car crash which leaves him fighting for his life. Kim's sure this was no accident.

Then the body of a woman is found dead in suspicious circumstances and Kim makes a disturbing link between the victims and Russells Hall Hospital. The same hospital where Gordon worked.

With Kim and her team still grieving the loss of one of their own, they’re at their weakest and facing one of the most dangerous serial killers they’ve ever encountered. Everything is on the line. Can Kim keep her squad together and find the killer before he claims his next victim?

The killer is picking off his victims at a terrifying pace, and he’s not finished yet.


My Review

Kim and the team are still coming to terms with everything that transpired in the last book, if you haven't read it YOU NEED TO! Physically and psychologically Kim is recovering and desperate to be back at work, six weeks is long enough for any recovery surely. As per the department guidelines she needs to be declared fit for work but Kim has been burned before and will do things her way. On top of all of that there is a ruthless killer on the loose and paths clash with characters from the previous book, Kim and the team have their work cut out for them. A new detective is joining Kim's squad and each will have to deal with issues they would rather not and focus on catching the bad guy.

As with all Marson's books we have a new case and a brutal killer, the investigation is full on and the team are dealing with personal issues linked into work. This book has a lot of heart to it and it is hard to cover without spoilers, so forgive any vagueness. Love and loss will always be a big part of the job, Stone has always been an advocate and fierce warrior for the victims. This book we see her have internal struggles and trying to deal with it as Stone does, alone, shutting folk out and playing by her own rules. She is the glue that keeps the team together but we get to see a very vulnerable side to them all and I think any fan of the series would be hard pushed to not feel a bit emosh reading this book.

Stone is one of my fav characters, she is so socially awkward but a champion for the little people so you excuse her a lot and love her flaws. This book sees her raw and vulnerable even though she tries to hide it, the reader gets to see her in a new light. I think this book made me love the characters even more and forgive them a lot when some of their choices or behaviours weren't the best. The new guy is an interesting choice and from what we see I like, the book shows the reader that for all these guys we never really know everything about a person. Stone always keeps parts of herself hidden and with all of the team we get a wee bit more.

Really good pace, we get to hear from the killer in snippets throughout the book, there is a lot of high emotions running in the book which spill out into the reader. Action, friendships, love, loss, murder, team building, personal growth, motive, ooft we have a bit of everything in this one. For a series on its 9th book you worry something will be lost or lessen but so far Marsons has managed to smash it and keep it fresh. I cannot wait to see what is next in store for these guys, 5/5 for me, roll on the next. Also, just to note, if you have never read these books, I started them earlier in the year, June, and have devoured them all, do yourself a favour and grab the first, Silent Scream, you won't look back!

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Dead Souls by Angela Marsons

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

Time taken to read - < 1 day

Pages - 387

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - Gift

Blurb from Goodreads

The truth was dead and buried…until now.
When a collection of human bones is unearthed during a routine archaeological dig, a Black Country field suddenly becomes a complex crime scene for Detective Kim Stone.

As the bones are sorted, it becomes clear that the grave contains more than one victim. The bodies hint at unimaginable horror, bearing the markings of bullet holes and animal traps.

Forced to work alongside Detective Travis, with whom she shares a troubled past, Kim begins to uncover a dark secretive relationship between the families who own the land in which the bodies were found.

But while Kim is immersed in one of the most complicated investigations she’s ever led, her team are caught up in a spate of sickening hate crimes. Kim is close to revealing the truth behind the murders, yet soon finds one of her own is in jeopardy - and the clock is ticking. Can she solve the case and save them from grave danger – before it’s too late?


My Review

Kim Stone and the team are back after an archaeological dig uncovers human remains bringing about a joint investigation with someone from Kim's past. Throwing up one of the hardest investigations Stone has to endure, from a personal and professional aspect the team are pushed to the brink.

With Stone and Detective Travis investigating the bones, Stone's team are investigating hate crimes bringing the danger a bit too close to home. This aspect of the book will make for hard reading for some fans, racism, suicide, abuse and brutality are horrific and Marson's does well to capture the reality within fiction.

We learn a wee bit more about Stone's past, her and Travis background and how they both struggle to remain professional and focused with the elephant in the room. Yet another dark tale with some of the worst sides of humanity but glimmers of light from the team and the relationships they have. 4/5 for me this time, short chapters are guaranteed to get a thumbs up from me, add to that a story that hooks you pretty much from the get go!

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