It’s hard to believe that Dead Memories is the tenth Kim Stone novel, I can remember the first time I read Silent Scream and I finished it with so much excitement for what was to come from this series. It is easily one of the best crime series currently being written and I don’t think I could ever tire of reading about Kim and her team.

Dead Memories sees a killer recreating every traumatic moment of Kim Stone’s life, and those that have followed the series so far will know something of how traumatic that life has been. It is a hugely emotional and involving read for those of us that have read each and every book and feel that we know all of these characters that we have spent so much time with. Kim’s emotions, when she occasionally loses the battle to hide them from everybody else, are palpable and once again we see more layers of this truly fascinating character begin to be unravelled and can only marvel at the type of woman and detective that she has become.

Kim has plenty of people who could want to harm her in this way, and given the nature of the case and how closely it involves Kim, we see the return of Alison Lowe who is a profiler brought back to keep an eye on Kim, offer insights and ultimately report back to Kim’s boss. Alison offers great depth to the story and has something of a journey to go on herself as the journey progresses. As for the rest of the characters, this is a team that is far and away one of my favourites that I’ve ever read about. Bryant and Stacey are as fantastic as ever and any doubts that I had about Penn in the past have long since been forgotten. Here we have three characters who want answers and justice almost as much as Kim and there’s some wonderfully satisfying scenes throughout with all of these characters.

What Angie has always done well with this series is inject it with just the right amount of humour. So, whilst this series contains some of the most brutal and twisted storylines you can find in the genre, there’s still plenty of humour and genuine laugh out loud moments laced throughout the story. But what has always stood out to me most in this series is the effect it has on me as a reader. I feel completely involved and immersed in what I am reading. I am totally invested in and believe in these characters and so just become completely consumed by what I am reading. I read close to 200 books a year and since reading Silent Scream at the start of 2015 this series has been right at the top of my favourite reads of each year. Dead Memories is another memorable instalment into what is one of my favourite crime series and without doubt one of the best ever. I cannot wait for the next one.

This is one of the best series in contemporary crime fiction. Both characters and locations are well drawn and the plots are always engrossing. DI Kim Stone has faced some terrifying situations in the course of her career but the current case is the most testing and the most personal, as a series of crimes have links to her own life. Brilliant!

Arguably the book I've been waiting for without even knowing that I was. This is the instalment that digs a bit deeper into Kim Stone's past, while at the same time also is a great starting point for anyone new to the series.

I say that as there are references to most of the main cases that have been involved in the previous nine books of the series, and it was I want to say great, but I'm not sure its the right word, that we got to meed up with some of the villains from the previous books - apart from my favourite psychopath.

We also get to meet up with Alison Lowe again, and get to know a bit more about her, and I found as I was warming to her more and more as the story progressed. I also think that after perhaps one more book I will really start liking Penn, the newest member of the team, I'm starting to get to grips with him, and can see he has useful qualities.

What I couldn't work out or even get a theory on myself was just who and why was recreating Kim's past, one traumatic incident at a time.

What I do know is that I couldn't put the book down and read the majority of it in one sitting, with little awareness of the world around me. It is completely addictive and easily my new favourite in this series, I have a feeling I've said that before, but what can I say Angela Marsons seems to out do herself each and every time.

I was completely engaged with the crimes, and just wanted to know who was causing D.I. Kim Stone to go on an unwanted trip down memory lane.

Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily,

As always another brilliant book by Angela Marsons featuring Detective Kim Stone and her team. This book was much more gritty than previous ones, as Kim is having to deal with deaths that are recreations of traumatic events in her life. Fast paced and dark it kept me gripped from the first page to the last. Utterly superb.

'Dead Memories' is the 10th book in the DI Kim Stone series by author Angela Marsons, I can't believe she's already written so many. My reviews for Angela Marsons books are getting a bit repetitive but I suppose that's what you should expect when the author writes to such a consistently high level. Yet again, gripping plot line, strong characters and a well paced story that builds to a crescendo. If you haven't already tried this author do yourself a favour and start reading now.

Two teenagers are found chained to a radiator on the fourth floor of Chaucer House. The boy is dead but the girl clings to life. For DI Kim Stone the scene is to familiar and personal and this crime mirrors her own frightening experiences with her brother Mikey, when they lived in the same tower block thirty years ago. Later the bodies of a middle-aged couple are found in a burnt out car and Kim can’t ignore the similarity of the deaths to her own parents.

The killer is recreating traumatic events from Kim's past and she has to face that someone is out to hurt her. Profiler Alison Lowe is introduced on to the case to work with Kim in order to monitor Kim's behaviour and enable her to remain on the case herself. But the threat is there for Kim, a killer who is determined to make her suffer and ultimately destroy her.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Bookouture for supplying me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

once again she delivers a fast paced action packed nail.biting roller coaster ride of a book . Even though this is book 10 nothing is lost , this is one series that just gets better with each book

BOOK BLURB

She ruined lives. Now they are going to destroy hers.

'Someone is recreating every traumatic point in your life. They are doing this to make you suffer. In order 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 girl lives but the boy is dead. Similar circumstances to Kim's early life. When a middle-aged couple are found in a burnt out car Kim knows these incidents are not random but aimed directly at her.

Faced with a killer who know all the intimate details of her life Kim is faced with the brutal truth someone wants to hurt her in the worst possible way.



BOOK REVIEW

Reading this instalment of Kim's life is like catching up with an old friend. Having not read the books in series order does not affect the relationship I have with Kim. Each book gives you some insight into her past. So just like catching up with a friend you get more information, just sometimes its might be more focused on one particular aspect of that life and a little bit out of synch with current affairs.

Angela gives to us yet another riveting, gritty, chilling insight into Kim's world. Kim's character while it comes across as hard and unfeeling is deep , deep , deep down just a fragile little girl and the author lets this shine through more in this book. Yes we know someone is making her relive her early years and that is the main focus of the plotline but the other books allowed you glimpses of this fragility too. It's like Kim is now in this book at the best time in her life to deal with her past and Angela knows this. This gives you a great sense of understanding between writer and their creation.

While the plot is tense and tight you are not allowed to forget Kim's softer side as one scene in the book moved me to tears. It's a great writer who can amongst all the dark and tense action in the plot give you such a tender moment that gives you tears yet also hope. Hope that Kim will come out the other side yes with slightly more damage but still the Kim we know and love.

Wow so now we know lots more about who Kim really is and why she is the way she is lets hope we get chance to meet her on many more adventures in the future.

STAR RATING 5

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This is book ten of the Detective Kim Stone series and they just keep getting better. This cannot be read as a stand-alone as you need the history of Kim Stone and her team.
Someone is killing people to mirror the horror of Kim’s childhood. I loved getting further into Kim’s psyche and learning more about her which only makes you like the character more. Bring on book eleven!
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC.
#NetGalley #DeadMemories

This is another series that merits reading from the start, in order. Especially with this book, the 10th in series, as it heavily features on Kim's past, some of which has already been disclosed in previous outings. Yes, there's enough included to play catch-up to a certain extent but, to get the very best from the complex character that is Kim Stone, you'd be better off starting from book one. To be honest, they are all cracking reads so - why wouldn't you?!
So, Kim is called to the scene of a crime. On arrival, Bryant tries to stop her entering but she pushes him away, What she is faced with shocks her to her very core. Two teenagers are chained to a radiator, the boy dead, the girl barely alive. She flashes back to her own childhood. Same tower block, radiator, dead brother. A connection is cemented when certain other evidence is found. Woody wants her to sit this one out, for obvious reasons, especially when she reveals that she will not be explaining said connection to Stacy and Penn. But they compromise and, old adversary, Alison is called in to observe Kim as she investigates. The stakes are raised when other incidents from her past are reenacted and it becomes obvious that someone is out for revenge. But who, and why, and more importantly, can they stop them before even worse happens?
I blooming love this series. I love Kim, her vulnerability and tenacity, I love the interaction and banter between the characters. I love the juicy stories they act out, the horrible murders they try and solve, and above all, the humour that is interspersed throughout, restoring the balance and keeping the book from getting too dark. In fact, I'd be hard pushed to say anything I didn't like about the series, apart from the length of time I have to wait between instalments!
In this book we have an added extra as we revisit some of the stars of Kim's previous triumphs as she and her team try to work out who has it in for her. All of whom have reasons to hate her for what she did, but who has enough hatred and enough smarts to carry all this out? After all, her childhood, although an open book to some, is still a mystery to others. There are still things that have never been disclosed.
All in all, another cracking addition to an already brilliant and well established series. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This instalment features crimes that are horrific re-enactments of events from Kim's childhood, and which lead to her reviewing recent cases where she got convictions, to discover who would hate her that much. I initially thought that it might serve as the conclusion of the Kim Stone series, but I see that there are more instalments planned.

I have read each of the previous novels in this series, but must confess to having forgotten most of the details. I think this novel would have an added dimension for readers who could remember past cases, but nevertheless I found it engrossing. At first Kim doesn't tell Penn and Stacey about the link to her personal life, but they instinctively feel that the first murders are "off" or staged in some way. This didn't really ring true for me, and thankfully Kim fills them in on the full picture fairly soon afterwards.

There was the usual humour, especially between Kim and Bryant, and a side-plot involving a completely separate case of Alison's - she being the profiler tasked with keeping an eye on Kim. This added a bit of variation.

Recommended as usual.

This the first book of this series I read and I really enjoy this book. I definitely going to get ot her nine books in this series.

Getting to know Detective Kim Stone was breath fresh air to know she is flaw and had suffer a major invent in her past.

When a young couple is murder it's similar to something that happen to Kim in her childhood and though she doesn't want her colleague's to know about her past she doesn't want to believe it's connect to her.

As she and her team dig deeper someone want hers to relieve the pain she once suffer it's tip of iceberg to make matter worse a profiler name Alison that she doesn't really get along with is there to observe her behavior.

I love that this is a police procedural that can easily be on screen.

I ARC received via NetGalley and in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, every single book in this series possesses phenomenal grit only this one has immense guts too, most of which originate from the tenacious DI Kim Stone.

Just when I’m not expecting to learn any more about the quirks of my favourite DI, "Dead Memories" winded me with a plot that drags her fiercely guarded past out into the spotlight.

An enthusiastic crime spree appears to be replicating Stone’s tragic childhood to tauntingly fatal effect. Why? Well, the combative personality of our DI has amassed quite a queue of haters, which makes narrowing down the ‘who’ an impossible task. Still, the sheer level of loathing creates an interesting list of old adversaries for Kim to hound (again!).

Through this escalating pattern of frighteningly significant events you catch glimpses of Kim’s formative years. Every one of these incidents reinforces her natural affinity and empathy for the victims of the most heinous offences. And maybe why her frosty façade turns positively glacial toward a profiler whose job it is to observe her emotional reactions, or mainly the lack of them.

"Dead Memories" is fully charged with emotional electricity. The impeccably-timed verbal sparring, featured in all Kim Stone books, helps raise the team from the lowest of depths and underpin their already flawless camaraderie.

A ruthless and effortlessly bold read seeking to pour salt on every unhealed wound.

I was thrilled to be approved by NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of Angela Marson’s latest book. The past ties in with the present in this one and Kim is faced with a decision. To either accept the truth or deny it.

A young couple found chained to a radiator bring back a host of memories, mirroring a dark time in Kim’s childhood. Although the case has startling similarities, it becomes very clear that someone wants her to relive the pain she once suffered, Kim is not unduly phased overall. The traumatic events of her childhood—a haunting theme throughout the series—has been summarized in this tenth installment. But even though someone is ‘picking at the closed boxes in her mind,’ she is one of those exceptional people who takes strength in weakness. Tough, hard-wearing and deliciously assertive, she’s certainly not immune to emotion.

There are former felons stoking hatred from behind prison walls and other cases to be investigated. With seamlessly thick, complex plots and a crime team to die for, you can’t help loving these books for the way they’re written. I like Alison for her bottle, Woody, who appears to get more devious by the minute and, of course, tolerant and unflappable Bryant. With a cast of capable characters returning with every ‘episode’, the uber-sharp Kim Stone has to be one of the best detectives out there. A twisty, fast-paced plot stocked with red herrings, Marsons aficionados will be very happy to add this book to their bookshelves alongside other Kim Stone novels.

BIG thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. This is an honest review for a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I always get excited when I see there is a new Kim Stone book to read, and this one didn't disappoint.They never do, I love the main character,and I love her team.I also enjoy the peripheral characters, they are all so well written, and real.The story was good, plenty going on with several threads happening at the same time and an exciting finish.No spoilers from me so can't say much more apart from I can't wait for the next book.Thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for an ARC.

Number 10 in the series and possibly the best one yet. I love a good series. One of the reasons for this is that I buy into the subplots and characters and enjoy “meeting” them again very time there is a new book released and seeing their stories and personalities develop. This is what makes this so good as the subplot becomes the main plot. A clever, sometimes complex, twisty, turny read that is just bloody brilliant
#DeadMemories #Netgalley

Angela Marsons is fast becoming one of the best crime fiction authors going around. Whilst I love characters such as Jack Reacher, Harry Bosch, Myron Bolitar and Elvis Cole who we have come to love over the years due to the excellent writing of their fantastic authors, Kim Stone is the only character who, after finishing each book, always leaves me feeling so many different emotions. Anger, hate, disbelief, sadness and so much empathy and pride. Over the first 9 books we have learnt a bit about the awful childhood that she endured. However, book 10 sums them all up and adds in a few more horrors. For someone to have gone through so many traumatic events in her life, it is a surprise that Kim is not in a padded cell. Instead, she is a wonderful, strong willed, law abiding citizen who is a police officer determined to put away the bad guys. She is somewhat aloof at times, which is fair enough, but I think her team and Barney are her family and she will do, and does do, anything she can to help or save them.

If Kim Stone was a real person I would love to meet her and shake her hand and tell her how much I respect and admire her and how proud I am that she has turned out the way that she has and that she should be proud of herself too. I suspect she'd probably shake my hand back and tell me to "f**k off!"

Book ten of this fantastic series gets 10 out 10 from me! I was thrilled to be approved by NetGalley for the latest Kim Stone thriller, and have been greedily reading at every opportunity since, thwarted only by those pesky annoyances like work and sleep. I had hoped to write the first review here, but my new friend Janet got there first. Now I can't wait to read everyone else's.

When a young couple are found chained to a radiator in the same run down block of flats that Kim was rescued from at age six, Bryant immediately sees the similarities to her own history, but Kim refuses to acknowledge it. Then another couple is killed in the same way that her foster parents died, and she can no longer deny the truth - someone is recreating the most traumatic moments of her life to cause her maximum pain, but who hates her enough to do so? All the clues point to the prison where perpetrators of crimes from earlier in her career are locked up, but how are they managing it?

I do not know how Ms Marsons manages to keep coming up with such elaborate yet lucid plot lines, covering new material each time, but keeping all the elements we love in each story. This series is all about the characters, although the mysteries are tricksy enough to keep me guessing each time too. Frustratingly single-minded Kim, patient teddy bear Bryant, determined and brilliant Stacey, and the new chap Penn, an intuitive and resourceful detective who does more for the team than they realise. I also love the recurring characters - thoughtful Ted, sparky Tracy, crafty Woody, and loveable Barney (please don't let anything bad happen to him.) I particularly enjoyed seeing the duel between Kim and returning profiler Alison evolve into mutual respect and even liking.

It was even satisfying to catch up with some of the earlier books' villains, giving us a large cast of potential suspects, but I still didn't guess who before the reveal. I also like it when more than one case is being investigated and they don't always have to connect, Alison's determination to find the real criminal behind her previous case by trusting her profiling abilities making her a worthy member of our favourite crime-fighting team, and I hope she gets to stay with them. The writing is seamless as ever, I can't find anything to criticise.
I don't know how she does it - but I'm very glad she does!

Huge thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Dead Memories is published on February 22nd.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this arc.

I was thrilled to receive this as Angela Marson is a MUST read for me. Dead Memories only confirmed that. I raced through this book. Even though the team had more suspects than they knew what to do with in the beginning, they winnowed it down, but as more and more crimes happened, they ran into brick walls and had to constantly shift their thinking. Easy to feel their frustration. The current crimes were all re-staging of very traumatic events of Kim's past and left her feel particularly off-balanced. We all got to know Kim a little better and in my opinion, her team is so much better for the knowledge. Hopefully Kim will find some peace with her past. Enter Alison, set up by Kim's boss to keep an eye on her. But Alison has her own stuff going on and the team that she was supposed to observe gets involved in that, too. Hope to see more of Alison in the future.

Great characters and a very complex and convoluted story!

I’m a huge fan of Angela Marson’s Kim Stone thrillers so it was a massive privilege for me to be given the opportunity to read this instalment before publication. Thank you so much NetGalley.

Wow! just wow.
I knew I would be engrossed in this book so cleared my schedule today to read it cover to cover. I’m so glad so did!
Dead memories is a wee trip down memory lane through Kim’s past,
Each crime screen is linked to an upsetting memory for her, so her boss brings in Alice, a profiler from another station, , not to help with the current situation, but to keep an on Kim - allowing her to continue to work the case.
Alice is still reeling from being removed from a previous case in her own station and continues to investigate against their wishes.
The book switches easily between both threads as everyone works together to support Kim and solve the cases. Normally I have guessed who the culprit is long before they are revealed, but not this time.
Yet another great offering from Angela Marson, but now I’m sad that I have to wait for the next instalment