it’s crazy to me how consistently good this series is, considering angela marsons is already twenty books in (and hopefully doesn’t plan on stopping). i definitely prefer standalones, but kim stone and her team have become my comfort blanket that it truly feels like catching up with friends whenever a new book comes out.

what i appreciate most about angela’s work is that none of the team members act out of character and it’s always been easy to connect with them because they’re consistently behaving in accordance with how they’ve been described when they first appeared. whereas other authors may fall into a trap of completely changing their characters’ personalities for the sake of a plot twist, rendering them unrealistic, angela marsons has done a fantastic job of crafting such strong and unwavering characters that i can confidently say they’re the biggest reason why i’m still reading and enjoying this series. as always, the banter was super fun and i loved getting to know some of the side characters better, which makes me think they’ll have even bigger and more important roles in the upcoming releases.

the story of child beauty pageants was thoroughly researched and, as was the case with all her previous books, it was clear that angela marsons chose yet another theme to write about based on her personal interest in it and not just because it’d be convenient for the writing process. once again, i chose to overlook the plain writing because i don’t pick up this genre in general for exceptional literary quality or vocabulary, thus i cannot be disappointed by something i didn’t expect in the first place. the structure of the plot and its pacing were good, but i do wish there’d been more moments between the old members of the team as they get me quite emotional and build the tense atmosphere when one of them is in danger. however, that’s just my preference and the only reason i rated this four stars.

the side story that relied heavily on tink’s instincts was gripping and i enjoyed it slightly more than the main plot. not only did it showcase tink’s potential, but it also portrayed a disturbingly abusive relationship between a mother and her son. if this book is anything to go by, i believe tink’s future as a police officer is bright and that she’ll experience immense growth, both personally and professionally. the main plot was interesting enough and depicted complex mother-daughter relationships well, especially combined with the pressure of pageants. the only think missing for me was the excitement of chasing a suspect and someone from the team being in danger - the villain wasn’t even a villain in true sense of the word, hence why the reveal was a little bit underwhelming. still a strong installment, but it’s not among my favorites in the series.

Kim and the team investigate when they realise that the women who have been murdered, all used to be involved in the child beauty pageant world.

Who would want to kill these mothers and why? The team are in a race to try and ensure no one else dies.

Oh goodness! What a fast-paced and enthralling read. I was on the edge of my seat often with this story.

The clues were going through my brain constantly, trying to see if I could solve the case. As usual, and quite rightly, Kim and the team solve the murders before me.

There were a vast array of characters, some were infuriating and it makes you think about what does go on in the world of children beauty pageants; demanding parents, constant practising for the children, money spent on costumes. You can tell the author has done a lot of research into this.

My thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Usual warning inbound.. The first thing you need to do when you pick up a book from this Publisher is sneak a look at the contents page and whizz to the end to see where the actual story finishes. This Publisher is renown for back stuffing their books with ads for pretty much every other book the author has written (and there are a LOT) and often other authors from their stable. It still annoys me that they do it, but I now just do this and roll my eyes...
So... here we are - book 20 - and, to be honest, not quite as strong as I was expecting. I also experienced quite a few niggles, one of which really irked me, especially as it was wholly unnecessary. But there you go... Can't win them all, and this in no way puts me off grabbing the next in series as soon as I can get my grubby mitts on it!
Oh I do sound a bit of a Debbie Downer... sorry...
So... step into the world of Beauty Pageants. For children. As young as, well, babies really. And overbearing tiger mums. We start with one such "child star" Katie, all grown up now, standing over her dead mum. She's in shock, but to Kim and her crew, the case seems like a slam dunk. The only question being why? But with Katie in a cell, the strongest alibi ever, there's another brutal murder. And the glaringly obvious connection between the two being they were both Pageant Mums! Kim feels that the killer has more to say, what with the messages they have already delivered with the bodies, and so it becomes a race against time to catch and stop them before the body count rises further.
What I really did like about this book was that Kim's team came out pretty much unscathed. That is one of the things that I usually roll my eyes at, but nope, it was mostly centred on the case in question. And yay, Tink is back! Hopefully for good this time... With her own case to work on... But who can say with this author as she is very much not afraid to do the necessary to keep the series fresh. Actually, to be honest, I preferred this case to the main one!
Another thing that shone, as usual, were the characters. And in this book, we meet some very strange people, mostly with connections - current and past - to the pageant world. A world that I now know far too much about. I kinda find them creepy. But yeah, some of the oddballs (can I still say that in 2024?) were delightful.
There were the usual twists and turns, secrets, lies and dysfunctional behaviour, served up with a healthy dollop of obfuscation, as you would expect. All delivered in a no nonsense, no waffle or padding way, so the book got on with itself very well indeed. And ended very strongly, leaving me satisfied. And if it wasn't for my niggles, it would have got the full 5 stars. But, although I can't explain here - spoilers - that's probably more a me thing...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Guilty Mothers is book 20 in the consistently excellent DI Kim Marsons series about a Black Country detective and her devoted team who keep uncovering serial killers. Despite this improbability, the plotting, characters and writing are so good that I really don’t mind how far fetched they are. This one explores the world of childhood beauty pageants - I didn’t know these were a thing in the UK, but apparently so.

When a middle aged woman is found stabbed to death, with her daughter Katie sitting by her side holding the knife, Kim’s only wants to know why - but then another pageant mother is killed and it’s clear that Katie must be innocent. The case brings back memories of Kim’s own horrendous childhood, but there are other ways for mothers to abuse their daughters. Meanwhile Penn encounters a son who seems almost too devoted to his mother…

I liked that this instalment puts the focus back onto the crimes being investigated, rather than inflicting more trauma on the members of Kim’s beleaguered team. Happily, lovely Stacy is back to herself, and it was great to see lovable Tink return too. There are plenty of potential suspects and the usual red herrings and misdirection, so as usual I didn’t guess who the baddie would turn out to be. One strange note was the frequent use of Mom rather than Mum, a jarring Americanism that I haven’t noticed in the previous books.

As ever, Marsons has clearly done plenty of research on her chosen topic so I learned some things about the child pageant world - she/Kim is not as negative about it as I would’ve expected. There’s also discussion about the effects of parental narcissism, which touched some nerves with me because it was so accurate - this might be triggering for some:
‘Shame, blame, guilt, desperation. There’s a fear of failure, even a fear of success. You accept bad behaviour in others. You’re constantly seeking approval, validation, by being a people pleaser and being afraid to say no. You take on other people’s problems and think you have to fix them. You’ll try and control the uncontrollable. There’ll be chronic worry and anxiety. You’ll believe it’s selfish to put yourself first as your own desires don’t matter. You have no sense of self or what you want. You’ll have weak or non-existent boundaries, and you’ll be afraid to speak your truth.’

The darkness is balanced by moments of levity: “She sighed heavily and stepped aside. Okay, that took more words than if Kim had just knocked her out of the way to gain entry, but it was far less likely to result in a formal complaint. Go, Bryant.” Also the team’s attempts to muster an entry for the force’s variety show was an amusing subplot.

Overall, while not my favourite, this is another great read which should satisfy Kim’s legions of fans - remind me when we get to see the TV adaptation?
Thanks to Bookouture for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Guilty Mothers is published on May 30th.

Guilty mothers is another triumph of a book in this long running series. As ever we get to see the further development of characters this book was “tink” and as always Stone coming to terms with another part of herself- this time I found her discovery very emotional and poignant. The cases in this book were intriguing as always, I enjoyed the psychology behind the killers motives and guessing the way the story would move next. I will continue to recommend this series to everyone I meet/know and wait with baited breath for the next one.

Guilty Mothers is the 20th DI Kim Stone novel and like all the 19 predecessors it’s a fantastic read so much so I read it in a day. I love opening a novel and instantly being hooked as the familiar characters lift from the pages like old friends you’ve not seen in a while. In guilty mothers DI Stone and her team are looking for a murderer who’s targeting mothers of pageant beauties, only these mothers and daughters are grown and no longer part of that world. Brutal murders that make the whole team reflect on their own parentage, not a topic Kim wishes to focus on. Once again this small but effective team work through the information and begin to piece together what the connections are and who their killer might be. If that weren’t enough, Penn is tasked with supporting a new PC as she has concerns over an unexplained death of a hobby fisherman missing for quite sometime.
Once again Angela Marsons has written an incredible psychological thriller that has you on the edge of your seat. Roll on novel 21.

Kim Stone and her team have another mystery to solve in this 20th book,as mothers are being killed. What is the link? Fast paced and engrossing.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed the previous 19 books in the Kim Stone series, I was keen to get my hands on this latest instalment, after all, spending time with Kim & Co is like spending time with friends. As with the aforementioned books, we have a strong cast of well-developed and well-loved main characters, and I was thrilled that Tiff (Tink) was back with the team, investigating the sub-story with Penn, a combination I thought worked really well. I was also pleased that there was not too much time spent dealing with the personal lives of the team, this book was more about the murders.

I will admit that I struggled with the main storyline – how relationships between daughters and their mothers are affected by the sometimes-toxic world of child beauty pageants. The author had undoubtedly researched the topic thoroughly – but it just didn’t grab me, and I was grateful for the sub-story, which was both fascinating, and disturbing in equal measures. I also struggled with the constant use of the word Mom; this is not a series that has embraced American terms in the past, so it felt displaced and unnecessary to me.

Whilst not my favourite book in the series, I read it over two days and am now impatiently awaiting book 21.

I really couldn’t wait to read this I can’t believe it’s the 20th book and I still love them. There are two cases to solve Kim and her team have their work cut out firstly a mother is found brutally murdered and it looks to all intense and purposes that her daughter has done it but it’s not all it seems as another body was found who died in the same way they were both mothers of children that were in beauty pageants.

The next case is a man who died some years ago and was reported missing Tiff paid a visit to the family and felt very uneasy and wants to investigate more.

I can’t praise this book enough it’s one of her best and a real page turner can’t wait for No. 21

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for ARC

Oh no, this book is absolutely brilliant and wonderful! I want to read it again and again. The story is amazing.

I love the cover of this book!

This was an enjoyable read and one that i will recommend. This book explores the relationship and what can happen between a mother and a child and how things can go so wrong when they arent expecting it. I always wondered about pageants but this definitely tells what can go wrong in the aspects of pageants and how competitive they are.

This book also has domestic violence which is def a trigger warning for some. The twists and turns keep you wanting more. When a Main Character is likable that makes the story even better so this was not a hard follow read. This book did not disappoint and i will recommend this to other readers.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

GUILTY MOTHERS is the 20th book in the D.I. Kim Stone crime-thriller series by best-selling author Angela Marsons. This novel can be read as a standalone. Angela Marsons remains one of my favorite mystery authors, and her publisher, Bookouture, always publishes the very best novels. I have read all of her books…and she keeps getting better. I don’t want this series to end!

It was so refreshing to touch base with Kim’s CID team again: DS Bryant, DS Penn, and DC Stacey Wood. Her team are driven and compassionate in their work. The characters keep getting stronger and stronger. We also touch base with Kim’s boss, DCI Woodward (Woody), Keats, the local pathologist, and Tiff Vera, in training for CID and currently working with Penn on a case…and who could forget Kim’s faithful dog, Barney. Love that dog!

This novel explores the world of child pageantry and their controlling mothers.

Detective Kim Stone and her colleague, DS Bryant are called to a crime scene, by the local pathologist, Keats. The victim, forty-eight-year-old Sheryl Hawne had been brutally murdered in her suburban home, with multiple stab wounds and a flipper forced down her throat. Her twenty-five-year-old daughter, Katie was found at the scene clutching the murder weapon and was taken into custody. Katie was in shock and was unable to be questioned.

After further investigation, the Kim learns that Katie participated in beauty pageants as a child.

But then there was a second victim, forty-seven-year-old Andrea Shaw who was also violently stabbed multiple times in her home, with a broken tiara forced down her throat. Her twenty-two-year-old daughter, Toyah had been out at the time. The second victim also entered her daughter in pageants.

And with Katie safely locked up, she cannot be the killer.

Then a third victim, Sally-Ann Davis, married had been found stabbed twice in the back while out in the open, and an object had been forced down her throat. She had a twenty-six-year-old daughter, Lottie, who also had been in pageants.

But what was the connection between all three victims? Kim and her team must discover the truth before there is another victim.

This was a fast-paced crime thriller, with relatable characters, and short chapters that kept the suspense level high. The book ends with a reveal you will never see coming. Another brilliant read that gripped you from beginning to the end. Another winner!

My thanks to the author, Bookouture and Netgalley for my digital copy.

Alright y'all i love me some Kim stone! I've read almost all of them and I love her 😭 I'm literally still freaking out that I got an arc!

This one was all about the pageants , kids pageants and the show moms. I personally can't stand this stuff but my opinion doesn't really matter.

When it comes to moms and trauma this book takes the cake. I loved the way you got to see how the case affects each of the investigators based on their life experiences and their own trauma.

I don't think this is totally my favorite one of the Kim stone novels but I definitely enjoyed it! I cannot wait for the next one!

Every single book in this series is a corker, this was no exception, I spend half my time reading holding my breath, fast paced and well written story, brilliant addition.

So disappointed … because i have to wait now for the next book by Angela Marsons! This is the 20th book of the series and it still continues to be such a joy and thrill to read. Once more Kim and the team have been the centre of an amazing story which is rich in details and depth. With the focus on mothers, reading it on Mother’s day in Australia, was perfect timing. The main supporting characters continue to grow and feel like extended family at this point, and the cast of potential suspects were all rich with the detail provided. I’m suffering a sense of book grief now that i’ve finished because the wait for the next book is hard. Thanks so much to Angela Marsons for another fabulous story; and to Netgalley and Bookouture for letting me read an advanced copy.

A very enjoyable read. We delve into many brave but strangely fascinating worlds. The relationship between mother and child is deeply explored and the ways in which this can go wrong with high expectations from both sides. There is also a trip into the intense and competitive world of pageants for young girls and the dedication and unnatural lengths some will go to when competing or living the process vicariously through a child. There are also some dark scenes of coercive control and domestic abuse and this is all before we mention the murders…..
The plot unravels at an intriguing and compelling pace with plenty of twists and turns and sub plots to keep me thoroughly enthralled. I was engaged with the main detective character and she was very likeable which always helps too. I have enjoyed previous books by this author and certainly wasn’t disappointed this time. I’m off to polish my tiara and to find a new read that remotely lives up to this one. Recommend.

Guilty Mothers is book 20 in the DI Kim Stone series from Angela Marsons.

“Several suspicious deaths cause Kim and her team to look closely at the pageant world. Someone is killing pageant moms - ones that went too far in pushing their young daughters to compete. But no one deserves that. Kim and her team must work to find the killer quickly.”

Marsons will often center a motive around a topic - here it’s pageant moms. (Stage moms, tiger moms) She veers close at times to over-explaining. The newest character, Tiff, shows up more in this story. And Stone has to deal with her own Mommy issues. Another good crime fiction story from Marsons.

Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture and Angela Marsons for allowing me to read the ARC of "Guilty Mothers" in exchange for an honest review.


I can't believe that I only NOW learn about Angela Marsons, on the 20th book of the Detective Kim Stone series. This is outragous and I plan to redeem myself as soon as possible, because I just need more from her. Her being Kim Stone and her team as well as Angela Marsons.

Anyway, let us focus on the review of this book in particular.

The case starts off simple at first, a dead mother and a daughter who seems to have taken her own mothers life. Quickly however, we discover that this is not the case at all and Kim Stone and her team are diving into the world of Beauty pageant for children, which happens to be a lions den behind the shiny and glamourous facade. Now it is on Kim Stone and her team to uncover whether this is the revenge of traumatised daughters who never recovered from their time at those pageants or something else entirely. After all, many have a reason, because as already mentioned, behind the scenes it was a bloodbath, figuratively speaking. (It has only later become one literally.)

HOWEVER, as exciting, as captivating and mind blowing the case of the death mothers was, what caught my attention moreso was the case of Olivia, a grieving mother and her son Logan, who seems to be ever so protective and caring about his mother when the news is broken about the death of Olivia's boyfriend. But is he really as caring and protective? Well, that is for the reader to find out, but let me tell you, nothing is as it seems.

I just DEVOURED this. 10/10 if you love thriller would recommend.

Will this author ever run out of ideas? I highly doubt it!!
This is yet another fabulously gripping instalment to the Kim Stone series which covers the dark side of Pageants.
I will never tire of raving about these books as they are just so addictive and I just love getting back involved with the whole team!

Absolutely fascinating crime thriller around the theme of mothers.
This is a multifaceted investigation that focuses on maternal relationships and is very thought provoking. The added dimension of the pageant is intriguing and somehow Marsons manages to keep the reader off balance as our sympathies sway from character to character.
Tense, brooding, thought provoking and compelling