Dead Memories by Angela Marsons

Title: Dead Memories (Detective Kim Stone Crime Thriller Book 10) by Angela Marsons

Genre: Crime Fiction, Noir, Police Procedurals Serial Killers

Publisher: Bookouture

Print Length: 459 pages

• ISBN-10:1786817721
• ISBN-13:978-1786817723
• ASIN: B07KYS8SPF

Publication Date: Happy Release Day! February 22, 2019

Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title and Cover: Dead Memories – Housing project playground

Book Blurb:

‘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 death 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:

Well, yikes! I downloaded this tenth in the successful DI Kim Stone series, remembering I enjoyed her eighth (my first) in the series, Dying Truth. Somehow, I don’t remember quite the level of (ahem!) language or graphic scenes as contained in this entry. And some of these scenes were exceedingly graphic.

I was impressed again by how well developed Kim and her team are, their camaraderie, and that each function so well in his or her specific roles. Partner DS Bryant is back, as well as Stacy (Stace), and many of the other support characters to which I was first introduced in book 8. And as independent as they operate and evan at book 10, the novel can still work well as a standalone. But I confronted a severe edge in the dialogue from Kim dealing with her associates this time that generated tension apart from that of the well-plotted and complex (oh, my gosh–COMPLEX–pay attention!) storyline. Someone is targeting DI Stone and it is evident they’ll not stop in the level of vicious attacks on innocents to send their extremely pointed message of hate and death.

Once again, the crime and police procedural follows a strong and steady pace, investigating each nuisance, following up on leads, finding evidence where none would have expected exist. Kim is damaged. And stalwart as she is, Kim appears to be lashing out at her team. As long as she’s been doing this job, she’s created many who would like to see her suffer. Given the numbers, it is tough to zero in who could despise her to this degree. These reenactments begin with horrific experiences in her childhood forward, each culminating in another gruesome death(s). She is being totally exposed. Author Marsons throws in numerous arguments, red herrings, bits of dialogue that relieve some of the tension then throw you right back in the fray.

My favorite character this time? Profiler Alison Lowe. Kim doesn’t really believe in the science but must work with her because of the intense personal nature of this case and the impact on her psyche. Alison doesn’t work with real people though, she works with personality quirks, tells, body language, so she’s just a little awkward.

The narrative proceeds until most possible perps are examined and rise to the top of the list or left off the list completely. Difficult to go guessing who might be the antagonist, as the obvious is just too obvious and the conclusion wraps all the loose ends. I can’t put my finger on the exact reason for my not being gung ho with this one. It’s a dark telling, graphic, with raw verbal exchanges. Yeah, and that’s probably about as real as it gets.

I received this ebook download from Bookouture and NetGalley and greatly appreciated the opportunity to read and review. Recommended to any who know and appreciate this author and her DI Kim Stone series. To those for whom this is their first foray into the “completely gripping crime thriller,” you won’t be disappointed, and I’ll be looking for the next in the series. It’s a super police procedural.

Rosepoint Publishing:  Four of Five Stars

The Author: Angela Marsons is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of the DI Kim Stone series and her books have sold more than 3 million in 3 years.

She first discovered her love of writing at Junior School when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read “Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people’s”.

After years of writing relationship based stories (The Forgotten Woman and Dear Mother) Angela turned to Crime, fictionally speaking of course, and developed a character that refused to go away. She is signed to Bookouture.com for a total of 16 books in the Kim Stone series and her books have been translated into more than 27 languages. Many of her books, including Blood Lines, Dead Souls, Broken Bones, Fatal Promise and Dead Memories reached the #1 spot on Amazon on pre-orders alone.

She lives in the Black Country with her partner, their cheeky Golden Retriever and a swearing parrot.

©2019 V Williams