You know those books that are all consuming type of reads, the ones where when something or someone from your real life interrupts you it takes a second for you to renter the real world and leave the fictional one behind? That was this sort of book for me, I am so attached to the world of Kim Stone and company that once I started this one I was truly absorbed and had a difficult time switching my mind off when I had to set it down. I found myself making dinner or folding laundry and thinking about the case the team was trying to solve. So I guess you could say this one got in my head and under my skin!

Marsons raised the stakes here, this is one of her darker, grittier and more disturbing books in the series and is a contender for one of my favorites. As always there was a fresh and intriguing new angle here, I swear the plot lines in this series just keep getting better and more fascinating and once again, I learned something new. So you have a tense and exciting plot and then as always you have the characters themselves, and just when I think they’ve been developed just about as far as they can be there’s another layer to them that gets peeled back revealing something new. Kim’s old nemesis Tracy Frost plays a large role here, mostly as a subplot and the repartee between these two cracks me up. Surprisingly I loved learning more about Frost and her personal life as well and will be interested to see what kind of role she will have in future books. The case was wrapped up in the end but the ending left me desperate for the next book, sort of a mini cliffhanger. Once again highly recommended by me, this series never lets me down and is always a guaranteed five star, heart pounding, twisty, intense must read.

I always get massively excited when a new Kim Stone appears and this latest one certainly didn't disappoint! When a man is found dead and has been tortured in the most horrific manner, Kim and her team are brought in to investigate. When the man's family then disappear without a trace, it seems the trail has gone cold. This is a real page turner which will keep you guessing to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Kim Stone is not thrilled when she is told that she has to spend the day being shadowed by her nemesis journalist Tracy Frost. They visit the sister of a murdered woman trying to explain that the retrial of the victim's ex will return the right verdict- even though he has been running a PR campaign painting his as a saint! As they leave a call comes in & Kim & Bryant drop her off to investigate a body whose death is particularly gory. The victim proves to be a bit of a mystery & his sister in law is also an enigma. Meanwhile Tracy decides to give publicity to the woman who died.

As always this was a book that refused to be put down- even if it is probably the goriest read for a while. I love the way the characters have developed through the series. It was interesting to see a thaw in Kim's relationship with Tracy. It was also good for the story not to pile anguish on Kim- goodness knows she's had enough! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book- can't wait for the next one!

I couldn’t wait to pick up book 14 to read what new crimes wait for Kim Stone and I was not disappointed.

The murders in this book are dark and quite gruesome and at the beginning it is very unclear what is even going on. I really enjoyed when the general direction of the investigation became clear and things slowly started to make sense.
As usual, the relationship of Kim and her team was fun to read about and even Frost had a nice mission in this one. The interactions between Kim and Frost were especially entertaining.

Overall, book 14 definitely fulfilled my expectations, the plot was exiting, the characters fantastic and until the very end I did not know who the killer would be – a great read!

I would like to thank NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Book 14 & this series is still great. The characters & the mystery is still exciting. I really can’t find fault with these books. Once I start, I can’t put them down. By far, one of my favorite series.

Another excellent book in the DI Kim Stone series! Loved it and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this series to crime lovers! Keep them coming Angela Marsons!

EXCERPT: I am disappointed that she didn't stay as long today. A light drizzle forced her from the bench earlier than normal.

She has no idea that she is my rock, that I get comfort from watching her absently throw crusts to the ducks. She comes, she sits, she stares, and for some reason that simple constant in my life gives me the strength to go on.

I take the few short steps into the bathroom and pause. I look in the mirror and am again confronted with everything I have lost: my friends; family; stability;familiarity; and, in some ways, even myself.

The person who stares back at me is not vision of myself I have in my mind. When I close my eyes my face is plumper; it has more colour. I am younger and without the dark circles under my eyes. My hair is longer, a different colour. Many days I have trouble imprinting the new me on top of the old one. It sounds ridiculous to say that I miss myself, but I do.

ABOUT 'TWISTED LIES': When the lifeless body of a man is found on an industrial estate, Detective Kim Stone arrives on the scene and discovers he’s been tortured in the worst way imaginable.

But as she breaks the devastating news to the victim’s wife, Diane Phipps, Kim can’t help feeling that something isn’t quite right about the woman's reaction.

Twenty-four hours later, the victim’s family disappears into thin air.

Then a second body is found staked to the ground in a local nature reserve.

Desperate to crack the case open quickly, Kim and her team unravel a vital clue – a fiercely guarded secret that links both victims and could cost even more lives.

A secret that some police officers are also protecting.

Faced with deceit from those she should be able to trust, family members who won’t talk, and local reporter, Tracy Frost, opening a can of worms on the case of a woman murdered by her husband a year ago – Kim is in deep water like never before.

Kim must find the motive if she is to find the killer who is systematically targeting and torturing his victims. But can she unlock the shocking truth and stop him before he strikes again?

MY THOUGHTS: #14 of the DI Kim Stone series, in which several people are tortured to death and Kim almost makes a friend.

#14, and my heart still skips a beat, and my breath catches as I open the cover.

#14, and I still can't get enough. I stay up most of the night reading. Yes, even at 410 pages, it's a one sitting read.

#14, and the characters are as fresh and intriguing as they were in Silent Scream, only now they are more like old friends.

#14, and the plot is fresh, tight, twisty and suspenseful.

#14, and Marsons still has the ability to shock me on multiple fronts - the innovative killings; the twist at the end; the amount of information she is able to impart on her subject and the subtlety with which she does it.

#15? Bring it on!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#TwistedLies #NetGalley

I: @angelamarsonsauthor @bookouture

T: @WriteAngie @Bookouture

#contemporaryfiction #crime #detectivefiction #fivestarread #murdermystery #mystery #suspense #thriller

THE AUTHOR: Angela is the author of the Kim Stone Crime series. She discovered a love of writing at Primary School when a short piece on the rocks and the sea gained her the only merit point she ever got.
Angela wrote the stories that burned inside and then stored them safely in a desk drawer.
After much urging from her partner she began to enter short story competitions in Writer's News resulting in a win and three short listed entries.
She used the Amazon KDP program to publish two of her earlier works before concentrating on her true passion - Crime.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Twisted Lies by Angela Marsons for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

As ever I could not put this book down once I had started. I have a soft spot for Detective Kim Stone and her team and enjoy seeing them at work. The series of murders were particularly gruesome and the story behind them particularly hard. It was positive to see Tracy Frost on the side of the angels.

Both story lines were gripping and kept me guessing.

This series just continues to get better!

Wow, wow wow! Angela Marsons can't do wrong in my opinion. I love catching up with Kim and the crew, this installment is as amazing as ever and I can't wait for the next one.

WOW! I don`t know how this author can manage to make each book more exciting than the one that went before.
This the 14th in the series has everything needed for anyone who loves a fast paced gritty crime thriller.
The usual team of Kim, Bryant, Stacy and Penn are this time joined by Kim`s nemesis the journalist Tracey Frost.
Woody, Kim`s boss has decided that Frost can accompany the team for a day.
Their first call to the family of a woman killed by her husband.is cut short by the discovery of a body.
Frost finds herself in the pursuit of evidence to change the outcome of a murder trial , the man accused of killing his wife looks set to go free. Powerful and affluent he has set in motion his PR machine to ensure he goes free.
Frost determined to sway public opinion sets out to show that his wife ( the victim ) was a person who`d suffered beatings along with mental cruelty for years .
Will she succeed where the police have failed?
Kim and the team meanwhile are looking into what has become a series of brutal murders where the victims have been slowly tortured to death.
When they discover that they were all in witness protection information becomes even harder to unearth..
The team find themselves doubting even the people tasked to protect the victims.
This is a real twisty tale, trying to catch this serial killer, their reasons for inflicting such horrific torture only become clear at the end.
A tense engrossing read I didn`t want to put down and of course the cliffhanger ending that leaves you hoping number 15 wont be long in coming..
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for sending me this as an ARC, absolutely brilliant read!

Angela Marsons has hit it out of the park. Again! She’s back with her team and her dog, Barney. I love that dog!

So I was pretty proud of myself as I thought I had it all figured out pretty early on and alas, I had one teeny tiny piece and really wasn’t all that clever. While I am usually pretty good at figuring things out, Marsons stumps me more than she doesn’t.

Kim Stone and her team are taken to the scene of a horrific death, where a man was tortured. As they work through the clues, they are taken to a sensitive issue, which if you’ve read any of the previous books in the series, you know that secrets and tact aren’t part of her attributes. I always connect with Kim, because I am often misunderstood for being blunt. It takes time and effort to sugarcoat things and there isn’t always the time and energy.

I really like the misdirection and twist in this book. I also really liked the side story with the reporter Frost. While they dislike each other, they are forced to work together. And through it all Kim realizes that Frost serves a purpose to her.

As always, the books are written so that you can pick any book in the series up and know what you need to, but why wouldn’t you want to read them all? I haven’t read one that I wouldn't recommend.

OMG wow, absolutely brilliant once again the 14 book about Kim stone. I held my breath in many places. You are in for a whirlwind of a ride, with twist and turns just keep coming, heart racing novel that I wanted to put the brakes on to yry to make the book last longer,. I read it in one go. I can not wait fir book 15 seriously it’s the best series thsts ever been written. I think it should definitely jbr come. A series on tv. & must start from the very beginning of when they found Kim chained to the radiator and her her twin brother had just died as they were found. Affecting Kins. For the rest of her life. A must must must read ver

What another brilliant book! Book number 14 for the Kim Stone series and it did not disappoint. This is really the only series books I read and they never fail to keep me wanting more!

I love the dynamics between the team and how they never fail to make me laugh! I loved the flow of this book, the short chapters and the fact it didn’t just focus on the one main crime investigation there was another storyline alongside it!

Twisted lies was a brilliant heading as there was a few brilliant twists, with one big one at the end I didn’t see coming. Along with the ending which already has me hooked waiting for the next one!

Thank you to bookouture & NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

Reading the new Kim Stone book is always one of my bookish highlights of the year. I drop everything to read them and i am never let down. The writing is impeccable, the plot is gripping and the characters are like old friends. I loved the character development, especially between Kim and Tracy. When i started the series i never imagined them reaching this level of begrudging friendship. I can't recommend this series enough.

In this outing Kim and Bryant find themselves babysitting their least favourite person, Frost, a reporter on the local newspaper. When they are called to a murder scene where a body has been slowly tortured and burnt Frost quickly leaves them to it. She had previously accompanied them to the family of a local dignitary who is awaiting retrial for the murder of his wife. Frost decides to write a series of articles on domestic abuse and violence. The family in question then disappear without a trace and the investigation gets more tricky. With further ritualistic killings the team soon have their hands full..
Kim ,Bryant, Penn and Stacey as well as Frost combine their efforts on this enquiry. Short chapters make this an easy page turner and fans of Kim Stone and her team will want them to succeed. A great addition to this series. I loved it.

I was really excited to get a copy of this book, as Angela Marsons is one of my favourite authors and I really love her books. This is a fantastic book and I was so happy to be back with my police family of Kim, Bryant, Stacy and Penn, as well as the extra team member Frost the journalist. Every time I read one of Angela's Kim Stone books, I feel like I am revisiting family members and every book has me engrossed, as if I am actually inside the story and part of the action. I love all of the characters so much and I always like to see what is going on in their personal lives and how they grow in each book.

The storylines were very good and I loved that this book was a bit different this time and more shocking. It reminded me of the gory thrillers that Chris Carter and Karin Slaughter create. I enjoyed the fact that there were two storylines running alongside each other, as it was like being on two adventures at once.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this awesome book and I can't wait for the next one in the series!

Many thanks to Angela Marsons, Net Galley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DI Kim Stone is back 🎉 I get so excited for a new instalment and the latest didn’t disappoint 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

14 books in, and Angela Marsons still manages to keep it all so fresh. A new engrossing case that will just have you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out all the pieces 🧩 and our usual fun, quirky team at the centre of it all. I just LOVE all the characters!

If I had to sum up in 3 words: Twisted, Thrilling and Fast paced!

Review up sat

Wow wow Wow every time I think this author can't get any better she does. Everyone I think she cannot surprise me she does. Every time I think I can't love these characters in this series any more than I already do, well, I do. This series and author keep getting stronger, better, improving on perfection every time. Raising the bar every time. Wow what an incredible author and what an awesome series. Loved loved loved and as always was bereft when it was over and just cannot wait for the next.

When the family of a brutally murdered man disappeared within hours of being notified of his death, Detective Inspector Kim Stone had a gut feeling that something was off. As she and her partner, Bryant followed the clues, Penn and Stacey did the same on their computers. Another body, again brutally murdered, turned up and the connections saw Kim have a light-bulb moment. From then on things became much worse. Who could she trust when the police were also involved in the messy web of horror?

Meantime Tracey Frost, intrepid reporter and Kim’s nemesis, found herself involved in a case where it looked like a murderer would go free. She was determined to show the victim as a person who was loved by her mother and sister; a person who didn’t deserve what she’d received. But could Tracey change what was inevitable?

Wow! Another ripper of a thriller by Angela Marsons, Twisted Lies is the 14th in the DI Kim Stone series, and I had trouble putting it down! Twists and turns, horrors and depravity, the usual repartee between Kim and her team, who complement each other perfectly – Twisted Lies was exactly that! An excellent and chilling thriller, Ms Marsons' 14th is one I highly recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Book number 14 in the fantastic DI Kim Stone series and by god Angela Marsons has another absolute page turning cracker of a novel for her avid fans.
In this book we follow Kim and her team as they investigate the world of people who are in witness protection and those that protect them. There are many twists and gory turns and the team are stretched to their limit to find a serial killer who is acting out killings with such pain staking torture that their meaning only becomes clear at the end of the novel.
In this book Kim’s nemesis, reporter Tracy Frost, plays a pivotal role and we see how the two are initially forced to spend the working day together and then how this becomes an almost grudging mutual respect, as Frost helps uncover truths connected with the police case. This relationship shift is really well written and the sarcastic barbed comments between them show the reader some light relief among the seriousness of the police drama.
The characters of the whole team are built on again as we find out that Stacey has married and looks set for promotion; will this mean a change in Kim’s squad again?
Excellent writing and great tension throughout. Some graphic descriptions of the torture make hard but engrossing reading and the series, if possible, just gets better and better.
Thank you to Netgalley, to Bookouture and to the author Angela Marsons for the absolute pleasure of being able to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.