Another cracker from Angie Marsons.

DI Kim Stone is one of my favourite detectives. Her team are among some of the best supporting characters in fiction. This is book ten in the series, and I am beginning to feel as if I live every moment with Kim and team, especially the long suffering sergeant, completely immersed in every word when I have a new instalment to read.

This time, someone is determined to make Kim suffer as they recreate traumatic events from her past. Its another rollercoaster race against time for the DI and her team, full of twists and turns, to solve the identity of the killer.

Angela Marsons has consistently delivered a high standard of writing, characters and plot from book one to book ten which speaks for itself in the success she has enjoyed - well deserved success! This book is an easy five stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this review copy.

Angela Marsons is one of the few writers I've read that can keep her books fresh in a series. You learn more about the main character DI Kim Stone is always fresh. Reading the book made me fall in fall with the character. Always new plots and new things to learn. When you reach the end of the book you will be wondering what will Ms. Stone get into next. Another page turner with the twist and turns along the way

I can't find the words to thank Kim Nash and Angela Marsons enough for having invited me to be part of this blog tour. I am utterly happy, absolutely thriller, and totally grateful. This review is unbiased, though, and all opinions are mine.

Mamma mia. This was my first thought as I slowly put down the book.

Mamma mia. Angela Marsons has killed me and brought me back to life.

Again.

You’d think that after ten books, the momentum would be gone. How long can a series last and keep catching your breath every time you read the first line? I don’t have the answer but I know Angela Marsons knows the secret to longevity!

Ten books, ten opportunities for readers to create bonds with characters, to play detective, to witness gruesome crimes. Ten books to fall in love, loathe, hurt, cry, smile, chuckle. Ten books to be in awe of the author’s strong and emotional narrative. Always powerful, never disappointing. Ten books mean this review will be kept on the short side, as I refuse to spoil anything for newcomers or readers who haven’t read all novels yet (WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU WAITING FOR?)

Dead Memories might be the tenth novel in the Kim Stone series, but it holds a very special place. It is a turning point, a breathtaking and painful path which had been left uncharted, only hinted at, until now. Try pick up a knife, plunge it in Kim Stone’s heart and mind, and twist it (No, don’t try it! Angela Marsons did it for you!!!). The result? I felt closer to Kim that ever before. Resilient and hard-boiled Kim Stone finds herself at the heart of the investigation. Not because she runs it, but because it is personal. More personal than ever before. Someone is hunting her, haunting her with her own past, recreating the horrors she went through. Can you imagine the drive it would take to do such a thing? Coming from nowhere, that threat had me boiling with rage. How dare they, whoever they are, do this??? I have grown so fond of Kim that I immediately wanted to protect her, even though she’s not the kind to seek protection… And that is a problem when someone is out to get you!

We get right away into the heart of the matter, with a crime scene that brings memories, feeling Kim’s reluctance, or expectancy to be wrong, to see signs where there is nothing. As usual, Angela Marsons put words on a rollercoaster of emotions running through her protagonist’ veins. She’s so spot-on that the worry, the pain, the memories themselves come alive in front of your eyes, leaving you shivering, dreading the next crime scene, and wondering what kind of evil mind can be behind this deadly game.

If this case hits too close to home, the author never forgets the wonderful team surrounding Kim, enabling them to grow along, to play their part, and to build an even more vivid picture of the nightmare they are living. Bryant and Kim’s relationship is gold, and I saw myself waiting for each of their interactions. Woody is a boss I’d like to have! Stace, Penn… I feel like if I pick up my phone right now, I’ll find their numbers! That’s how much I got used to them, that's how real they feel, and that’s one of the things that make this series so addictive.

Angela Marsons left me spinning. I want to keep on spinning. I think I will.

Dead Memories is pacey and awfully authentic crime-wise without ever being too much, as the author owns the right skills to give you the pictures you need with the finest details, bringing scenes to life with the smell of death but at the same time holding your hand so you don’t fall into the darkness. Dead Memories is painful but Angela Marsons chases away the cold with the warmth of the care of a close-knit team who seems unstoppable. Dead Memories opens cracks in walls that should have been left alone, leaving everything raw on the way.


In a nutshell, you MUST read Dead Memories, an enthralling page-turner!

This was a fantastic read, brilliantly written, the characters worked well together and the plot was great. You felt like you were living the story as part of the roller coaster ride this book put you through but what a ride it was!!

DS Bryant is already at a bad crime scene when DI Kim Stone arrives. He tries to stop her going in but she goes in and gets the shock he was trying to stop her getting. Two teenagers are chained to a radiator on the fourth floor of Chaucer House. Exactly like her and her brother Mikey were found all those years ago, just a few floors above. Seeing this brings back the memory.

The next horrifying event is another reminder from her past, an older couple burnt alive in a car .They were the best foster parents she had..Is someone recreating terrible events from her past and how will she handle these as well as handle the case?

Definitely well worth reading, I loved reading the book. So well written and everything is handled well. Hard to put down. Roll on book number 11

Unbelievably good addition to this series, brings the sad brutal history of Kim Stone into focus and tests the limits of loyalty of her devoted team

I really couldn’t put it down! I loved the characters and how they are developing and I love the fact that the series has a continuous thread of back stories and loyalties.

A must read for any fan of the genre

My thanks to Bookouture for an eARC via NetGalley of the latest in Angela Marsons’ popular D.I. Kim Stone series of police procedurals set in the West Midlands.

I do love police procedurals packed with plenty of clues and suspects, so having heard good things about this series I requested ‘Dead Memories’, even though I hadn’t read any of the previous books.

During her career D.I. Kim Stone has made enemies of a fair few villains and now someone is seeking to torture her by recreating traumatic events from her past. Of course, her supervisor is concerned that she is too close to the case and brings in profiler Alison Lowe to monitor her. Stone isn’t happy about this.

The chapters are short and move between various aspects of the investigation with a few side trips. The novel concentrates upon dialogue between its characters that lends to a sense of immediacy.

While for the most part I was able to jump in with Book 10 in the series, I did feel at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of appreciating the dynamics between its recurring characters. That is why I prefer reading a series in order when possible.

Plus, with the central plot requiring investigation into what person (or persons) from Stone’s past is currently targeting her, this meant that a number of former cases were mentioned. Long time readers would be aware of these but inevitably it led to some spoilers for me.

‘Dead Memories’ was a fast paced police procedural with plenty of twists that I certainly enjoyed and found hard to put down.

However, I didn’t feel as emotionally invested in the characters as I likely would have been if I had followed the series from the beginning. Yet by the closing pages my position had shifted considerably and I am interested in reading the earlier books in this series and keeping an eye out for future titles.

Angela Marsons is one of the best crime writers out there! And this instalment in the Kim Stone series doesn’t disappoint! Kim Stone, along with Erika Foster and Matilda Darke, is one of my favourite protagonists, her no-nonsense investigating style and grotty storylines leaves me desperate for more each time! Keep writing, Angela...I can’t wait for the next one!

Before I begin sharing my thoughts on this book I want to let you know that if you’re not caught up with this series yet, I may be unable to avoid spoilers in this review. Not for this particular book of course, but for the last couple of books, it’s kind of unavoidable and I would hate to ruin things for anyone. If you’re not caught up get cracking and if for some reason you haven’t even started this series then stop reading this now and go buy the first book in the series, I have a feeling you’ll be back to thank me later!

Alright, so the past few books in this series have been tough on Kim and team to say the least, you have the devastating loss of a team member, the usual scumbag murders to catch, but my friends, things couldn’t get any worse than the events of this book. Kim, Bryant, Stacey and Penn are trying to catch a killer who is recreating extremely traumatic events from Kim’s own life. We all know about some of the horrors she’s lived through at this point in the series but even more is revealed and it broke my heart in two. Can you have respect and admiration for a fictional character? Because I sure as hell do, this woman has been through hell and back and sure, she’s deeply flawed and has issues, but the fact that she’s a functioning member of society and a police officer nonetheless is so astonishing.

While Kim is a highly complex and incredibly well developed character by this point in the series, Marsons doesn’t skimp on the others characters whatsoever. Bryant, Stacey and Penn are all also multifaceted and interesting, and true to form, more is unveiled about each of them as well. The bond between the team is enviable, they truly care about each other and when one of their own is targeted, watch out!

Marsons is one of those rare authors who really takes each book to a whole new level, she ups the ante with every single aspect too. You are always guaranteed to get a book full of excitement when you dive into a KS book, but you’ll also get to spend time with characters that feel like old friends too. And the surprises?! They always leave me shocked, I swear no other author manages to continually blow my mind. I highly recommended not only this book, but also the whole series, and that’s not something I say lightly, I truly believe this one of THE best (if not the best) crime series available.

Dead Memories in three words: Thrilling, Intricate and Pacey.

Unfortunately I struggled at times with this book . Having read and absolutely loved all the other books in this series this just didn’t do it for me . Possibly the problem was there was so many characters and I found it confusing at times . There were some good parts to it though but it just didn’t hit the spot for me as these books normally do .

I seem to be the only person who has never read a book from the DI Kim Stone Series or any other novel by Angela Marsons. Well, where have been all this time? - I have read one now!

“Dead Memories” (in case anyone, like me, didn’t know) is the latest Kim Stone story by Angela Marsons. “Dead Memories” is fine a stand-alone book, but it does appear that, by not reading the other nine novels in the series, I have missed out on a lot of back-stories from previous books. Of course, I now plan to read the first book of the series, “Silent Scream,” followed by the rest of them.

This tenth novel in the DI Kim Stone series is set in the Midlands. In Chaucer House, two teenagers are found chained to a radiator. The boy is dead but the girl is still alive. Every detail of the scene mirrors DI Kim Stone’s terrifying experience with her brother, Mikey, when they lived in the same tower block thirty years ago. 

When more bodies 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. Can Kim solve this complex case and save her own life or will she become the final victim? 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading “Dead Memories.” I thought the premise was fascinating and I loved Angela Marsons’ writing style. This great, fast-paced thriller held my attention throughout and I had no idea as to the identity of the perpetrator.

“Dead Memories” is a superb read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

{Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a free copy and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.}

Having read every single one of Angela Marsons' books in this series so far, I can say with certainty that this book is also a terrific read!

Finding two teenagers chained to a radiator in the same block of flats where Kim and her brother were also chained up, brings back terrible memories - however, it is only the beginning. Someone seems intent on re-creating all of the traumatic events in Kim's life thus far, and using innocent people for the re-creations. Who is doing this? Who hates Kim enough to want to turn her life upside down? And how much will Kim divulge about her early life to the team that supports her?

This story is a bit of a roller-coaster, as you can imagine, but it was fascinating taking a look at Kim's previous cases as well as examining her childhood experiences. After all, they are what have shaped her.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

Dead Memories Angela Marsons


DI Kim Stone is back.

Her life did not have the best start. A mother that abused her and her brother in a way that finally led her brother’s death. Pushed from care home to care home with foster families sprinkled throughout her childhood, she has a lot of life experience to fall back on. That is one of the things that make her a good cop.

Nobody really knows her whole story. Friends have been few and far between, and none have ever found out about her complete background.

So when DI Kim Stone attends a murder in a high rise tower block she is mortified to see the scene is staged to mimic the final days of her brother’s life.

It must just be a coincidence.

Of course not.

Crimes start to happen on her patch that she can’t help but think are connected to her in some way. Or is she finally cracking up, is this paranoia a sign that she needs help.

As the investigation into the murder gets underway another murder mimics a traumatic event in her life.

Ok no coincidence, somebody is playing with Kim’s head and murdering people in the process.

What is the killers end game, kill more people, or destroy Kim???

The team need to catch the killer before they lose their boss, one way or another.

Ten books ago Angela Marsons introduced us to a series of characters based in the Black Country.

The main character is DI Kim Stone. A DI in the Major Investigation Team in Halesowen Police Station in the West Midlands.

Halesowen is a small town on the outskirts of the urban sprawl that makes up the Metropolitan Borough of the West Midlands. Its right on the border of what most people would call the area of greater Birmingham, and the sprawling countryside of Worcester.

It’s actually in the borough of Dudley, one of the seven boroughs that make up the West Midlands, but more importantly it’s part of the Black Country.

That is what makes it such a special place to set crime stories.

Dudley has some of the most affluent parts of the West Midlands, close to the country, and some of the poorest parts where it borders Sandwell. It has rich gated communities, run down industrial areas, and some of the poorest social housing estates in the UK. Its population commute into Birmingham City Centre to sit in smart offices and high end retail shops, or work in the manufacturing, scrap metal, or haulage business.

The black Country has a hard working history, and this ethic is seen daily in its population; but just like everywhere else there are the freeloaders who never intend to do a day’s work as long as the state will give them benefits.

Then there are the people who pray on both ends of the community. Drug sellers target the rich with designer drugs and well cut class A drugs, and at the same time pray on the vulnerable with less well, and dangerously cut, class A drugs and marijuana.

Addicts are addicts and once hooked will look to fund their next hit. The desperate will turn to crime.

Prostitution has been forced indoors over the last decade with sex being sold in private flats or thinly veiled massage parlours. This has led to illegal immigrants being forced into the sex trade alongside some desperate local people.

Illegal immigrants are also being used as slaves in retail and manufacturing.

Street kids are turning to violence.

Post code gangs are frequently a problem, fighting for territory to sell their wares, both human and chemical.

But most of its population are just your average family members trying to get along with their neighbours.

So, as you can see, Angela Marsons has chosen a great area to set her crimes. Just about anything that could make up a serious crime happens in the area, and so can be portrayed realistically in her books.

The characters she writes about are just as real as her crimes.

Kim Stone is epic. A kid-from-care made good.

In the first few books her character is established as one of the best cops in British Crime Fiction, her back story is slowly revealed showing how her life has evolved and how she has become the successful detective she has.

Her team also have good back stories. The ever reliant Bryant, her Detective Sergeant is every bit as fundamental to these stories as Lewis is to Morse, or Watson is to Holmes. He acts as her stabiliser and suffers the frustration of seeing Stone struggling through some investigations, but more significantly her personal life.

DC Stacy Wood, the quiet detective that is really good at information trawling and working on a computer, but not so good on face to face encounters. Watching her develop through the series, as she finds her confidence, and becomes a tour-de-force of a cop, is something that would not ever be achieved this well in a single book, or short series.

DC Kev Dawson, young, handsome, cock-sure, but an integral part of the team. His character changes as much as Woods, but in a totally different way.

Then there’s the fringe characters that keep recurring, Keats the pathologist with his love hate relationship with Stone. The Forensic Teams, and Senior Police Officers

Then there’s reporters. One in particular, that has a strange relationship with Stone, to say they use each other when they want something is an understatement. But they both know they need each other and their fraught working relationship is entertaining throughout the series.

Of course, there’s the criminals. A vast array of them over the ten books, all realistically written, all with back stories to help the reader engage with them. Some of them recurring through several stories; and for every criminal there’s a victim who is equally well portrayed, often eliciting as much empathy as sympathy from the reader.

That brings us back to this book. DEAD MEMORIES finds Stone and the team looking at some of their past investigations as a murderer appears to be using Stone’s history to set their crimes. Is it a message to her, or is it the prelude to an attack on her. Is somebody trying to ruin her reputation, her life, or kill her.

What a book. This series just keeps going from strength to strength.

Angela Marsons has once again written a great crime novel that is a page-turner for page one until the end. I always get very, very happy when I see that a new novel is soon to be released since I've become quite addicted to the series.

Kim Stone is faced with her own terrible experiences all through this book. It's like someone out there knows all the things that have hurt Kim all through her life and tries to break her. And, it all starts with the police finding two teenagers chained to a radiator. Kim can't help seeing how this event is a copy of how she and her twin brother were found years ago. Who hates Kim so much that they would go to this far?

Dead Memories is an absolutely fabulous crime novel and I loved reading the book. Kim is being monitored by profiler Alison Lowe who's side story is also very interesting. I came to really like Alison Lowe and I hope she will show up in more stories. Kim and Alison have a tense relationship. To be honest I can't really remember their previous encounter more than I know which book Alison showed up in previously. Too many books read since then...

Anyhow, this book is great, I loved trying to figure out who was behind it all, especially since the list of people hating Kim is not that short. She even has a fan club, in prison...

She did it again! I have followed the Kim Stone series from the very start and I have laughed and cried along with Kim the entire way. This one was so good because it really delved into Kim's past and why she is the way she is.

DEAD MEMORIES is the is the 10th book in the DI Kim Stone series by author Angela Marsons. She is on a roll. Her novels keep getting better and better! Her books tick all the boxes from strong plot, believable characters operating under a building suspense level.

‘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.

Then the bodies of a middle-aged couple are discovered in a burnt-out car, Kim can’t ignore the similarities to the death of her own parents.

The killer is trying to recreate distressing events from her past, and Kim soon realises that someone wants to hurt her in a brutal way. Profiler Alison Lowe is brought in observe Kim’s behaviour.

The Killer is determined to destroy Kim…which forces Kim to solve this case before she too becomes a victim.

The strength of this novel lies in the characters, Bryant, Stacey, and newest detective member Penn and returning Profiler Alison Lowe and how they are dealing with the loss of one of their own.

If you haven’t read this series, get cracking and get into it! You will not regret it, and will keep coming back for more! Highly recommended!

Many thank to Bookouture via Net Galley for my digital copy.

At this point it is a given that Angela Marsons’ books are always excellent, and it’s an amazing achievement that she has just released the 10th book in the series. DI Kim Stone is one of my favourite characters ever, including her flaws.

The plot itself is a wonderful (but twisted) way to look back at Kim’s past as a killer recreates the worst moments of her life. You will definitely need to read the previous books first to avoid spoilers.

I adore the whole team, and I think this books shows Penn starting to really become one the team. I look forward to seeing his character developing further.

Yet another thrilling story in the series, and as ever I will be counting down to the next instalment!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

I was impressed again by how well developed Kim and her team are. 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 (my first in this series). This novel can work well as a standalone. I confronted, however, 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 storyline. Someone is targeting DI Stone with horrific reenactments of experiences from her childhood forward, each culminating in another gruesome death.

Once again, the crime and police procedural follows a strong and steady pace, investigating each nuance, following up on leads. Kim is damaged. And as long as she's been doing this job, she's created many who would like to see her suffer. 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 documented personality quirks, tells, body language, so she's just a little awkward. Difficult to guess who might be the antagonist, as the obvious is just too obvious.

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. 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. It's a super police procedural and I'll be looking forward to the next.

Every time I pick up another book in the Kim Stone series I think that it can't possibly be better than the last one & each time I am proved wrong. This is the tenth in the series & I have been hooked from the first one. Kim & her team feel like old friends by now.

The book begins with the death & near death of two drug addicts who are found chained to a radiator in a block of flats- just a floor or so down from where Kim & her brother were found when Kim was a child & she lost her brother. When other murders are discovered Kim soon realises that they are decidedly personal, mirroring traumatic events in her life. Being a very private person this is not something she is comfortable sharing with her team especially as they have been told they have to work with Alison, a profiler.

Angela Marsons keeps you gripped to the page & the action does not seem to slow until you finish the last page. I am already looking forward to Book 11 & am I the only one who hopes we haven't seen the last of Alison & the rather eccentric Dr A?

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this terrific book.

Crikey where do I start….I cannot believe this is book ten in D.I Kim Stone series and I must admit this is the only series that I have read each and very single one and ten books is a lot. But this series never gets old in fact it just gets better and better in comparison to some of the detective series that I have read in the past when they get old and dull…..you guys know what I mean! Angela Marsons keeps it all fresh and moving and I cant help but get excited when a new book is out.

Kim Stone is the woman! Angela has created a character that is amazing. Throughout the series we have really got to know her, but in Dead Memories….exactly what the title says! We really get to know her more. Making me feel like I know her has a person. I am just left wondering what surprises the author will throw at us next.

yes lets talk about the plot. We are taken on a white knuckle ride when Kim follows a case that is a mirror of her past with her brother….this is where to learn more about Kim. The killer is fixed on destroying her, the question is can she solve this complex case and save her own life or will she become the final victim?

OMG doesn’t even cut it….. I am absolutely flabbergasted, It is simply perfect. From the writing skills to the plot…..and the opening! Holy freaking hell what a pulse racing jaw dropping read. I couldn’t put it down with each page leaving you wanting more.

This is without a doubt the best series ever, now I am left waiting for the next book.

I would like thank Kim Nash and Angela Marsons for inviting me to take part in this amazing tour.

This is book ten of the Detective Kim Stone series . WOW !! Angela Marsons has nailed it again ! Someone is recreating Kim's most traumatic and horrific events in her life . A vivid riveting story that is chilling , gruesome , dark , emotional , heartbreaking and filled with graphic violence ! A must read that was masterfully done !! Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review ! #Netgalley #Bookouture #DeadMemories