Sunday Series: DI Kim Stone by Angela Marsons #AngelaMarsons #JanCramer @bookouture.bsky.social #LoveAudiobooks #SundaySeries @writeangie

I needed to figure out a way to start reading series where I am not current or the series is finished but haven’t read them yet.  So it’s a way to commit myself to read my backlist, particularly series.

I’ve been wanting to read the DI Kim Stone for a long time.  The audiobooks are available just on Audible so I’ve collected them. I don’t know much about them other than the setting and Jonetta likes them.

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 ...?

Happily, I went on reading in the series.  Each book has a case or two and the personal lives of Kim and her team, with Kim’s point of view, personal growth and some look at her history.  I am really loving the series.

In Play Dead, Kim and her team are sent to the local body farm and end up finding dead bodies which weren’t donated. They are women who have their faces smashed in and mouths full of dirt.  She also has a cold case for an older guy whose hands were removed, probably to delay identification.  With Stacey working the databases to find missing men during that period and Kim deducing what other evidence means she is able to identify him.

Kim does her best to protect the victims and find the killer.  She and her team connect a lot of the dots. Then her pest, the local reporter goes missing, about the same time Kim realizes Tracy has something in common with the victims.

Kim is amazing at figuring out how things went.  She is a little negligent with herself and takes a few risks.  I love how she solves the cases and protects the innocents, even standing for the dead who aren’t always blameless.

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…

The ever present irritation of her mother and loss of her brother continue to stay with Kim.  Her mother has a parole hearing coming up and Kim’s tormentor Alex Thorne aims to stir the pot from prison.   Alex makes plans to get rid of those testifying against her and also have fun playing with Kim.

Meanwhile, Kim is working on a murder with the same method but with unseen ties between the victims.  The team digs into a contractor who may have worked for more than one victim’s family.  Evidence against him is limited.  Kim also notices the victim’s families have really had a lot of bad luck, often losing another member not long after the murdered one.

Alex seems to be having her way with things going well.  But she berates one of her helpers once too often.  That’s when the schemes start to fail.

Kim may seem harsh and impersonable but those who interact with her can’t miss her dedication to truth and caring for others. Her intelligence and deductions allow her to carry forth with justice.

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?

Another amazing story in the world of DI Kim Stone. Kim is seconded to a team run by her old partner, Travis. She had a falling out with him almost 5 years ago.  She was promoted before him, but he is also a DI. They often run into each other and try to take over the same crimes.  (Kim usually wins and gets them).  This time Kim is put on his team, without her team. So they are partners on this new case where dead bodies are found on land owned by one family and rented by another.

Kim has the struggle throughout to work with Travis. Gradually they both are reminded of the skills they appreciated in each other.  Kim learns about why the incident occurred with Travis allowing them to repair their relationship and in the end giving their teams the opportunity to know and respect each other.

Kim’s team has Bryant in charge which Dawson and Stacey have to adjust to his style.  They are tracking what looks like a bunch of hate crimes.  Stacey is disturbed by a suicide which mirrors an incident in her past.  She just starts to put it together when she is abducted.

The combination of personal growth for all our favorite characters, along with the downfall of the disturbing haters with an exciting and scary race to rescue Stacey make this an incredible story.   I loved it.

They thought they were safe. They were wrong.
The murder of a young prostitute and a baby found abandoned on the same winter night signals the start of a disturbing investigation for Detective Kim Stone – one which brings her face to face with someone from her own horrific childhood.

As three more sex workers are murdered in quick succession, each death more violent than the last, Kim and her team realise that the initial killing was no one-off frenzied attack, but a twisted serial killer preying on the vulnerable.

At the same time, the search begins for the desperate woman who left her newborn baby at the station – but what looks like a tragic abandonment turns even more sinister when a case of modern slavery is uncovered.

Every book in this series is a winner.   I enjoy the cases and how clever and determined Kim and her team are to solve them.  Many seem to have links to something which happened in childhood or people she knew.  I suppose there are a larger percentage of children who were in foster care who have issues as adults.

There are a couple of things going on in Broken Bones.  One is someone is abducting and killing prostitutes.  Another is a man shows up, exposed to the cold and dead.  Then there is the baby boy left off at the station.

Kevin and Stacey are looking into the dead man and also the baby.  There seems to be some connection to the Romanian community which works at some factories in town. Kevin is a bit protective of Stacey as it is her first case out and about since her abduction.

Kim and Bryant are following up on the dead prostitutes.  Kim is sure it leads back to Kai Lord somehow.  One of the women is someone she knew in foster care.  She provides some info and gets beat up for it.  But the info saves a young girl who was going to be hauled away, probably trafficked.

We also get the story of Ellie who is being groomed, first online and then in person.  It’s a scary and emotional journey for a teen girl.

The team, of course, solves everything and it is all tragic more can’t be done but at least the criminals face justice.

When teenager Sadie Winter jumps from the roof of her school, her death is ruled as suicide – a final devastating act from a troubled girl. But then the broken body of a young boy is discovered at the same school and it’s clear to Detective Kim Stone that these deaths are not tragic accidents.

As Kim and her team begin to unravel a dark web of secrets, one of the teachers could hold the key to the truth. Yet just as she is about to break her silence, she is found dead.

With more children’s lives at risk, Kim has to consider the unthinkable - whether a fellow pupil could be responsible for the murders. Investigating the psychology of children that kill brings the detective into contact with her former adversary, Dr Alex Thorne – the sociopath who has made it her life’s work to destroy Kim. Desperate to catch the killer, Kim finds a link between the recent murders and an initiation prank that happened at the school decades earlier.

Dying Truth is an investigation of murders which have happened at an elite school.  Kim is first on the scene of a student thought to have jumped from the roof of a building in a suicide.  Kim is suspicious and finds it is murder. She starts investigating and continues to find irregularities everywhere.

There is a social club which is like a deck of cards.  Clubs and spades are male students; Hearts and diamonds are female students.  Everyone in the club starts as an ace and moves up as people graduate.  Graduates are still in the club to form a wealthy and powerful cabal to support and protect each other.

Kim and her team do an excellent job at finding out who might have wanted to get rid of students and why, and looking into students who have died or left the school mid-term.  All of these things provide details confirming what is happening.

The case is fast paced and plenty of horrible things are happening.  As additional murders happen, they all try to protect the vulnerable students.  I highly recommend every book in the series.

Narration:

I am not sure I have listened to Jan Cramer previously.  Her voice was clear and no nonsense for Kim which was just right. I am comfortable with the voices for the other male and female characters.  I have been able to listen at my newer 1.7x speed.

Listen to a clip:  HERE

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Anne - Books of My Heart

Blogger at Books of My Heart

I can't really remember any time when I wasn't reading. I LOVE books and what they give me. It's an opportunity to learn new things, see new places,live different emotions in a "safe" way. It lets me live in a new world.

I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 25-Audio
• 25-COYER

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