Finally we’re playing a game. A game that I have chosen. I give one last push of the roundabout and stand back. ‘You really should have played with me,’ I tell her again although I know she can no longer hear.
Late one summer evening, Detective Kim Stone arrives at Haden Hill Park to the scene of a horrific crime: a woman in her sixties tied to a swing with barbed wire and an X carved into the back of her neck.
The victim, Belinda Evans, was a retired college Professor of Child Psychology. As Kim and her team search her home, they find an overnight bag packed and begin to unravel a complex relationship between Belinda and her sister Veronica.
Then two more bodies are found bearing the same distinctive markings, and Kim knows she is on the hunt for a ritualistic serial killer. Linking the victims, Kim discovers they were involved in annual tournaments for gifted children and were on their way to the next event.
With DS Penn immersed in the murder case of a young man, Kim and her team are already stretched and up against one of the most ruthless killers they’ve ever encountered. The clues lie in investigating every child who attended the tournaments, dating back decades.
Faced with hundreds of potential leads and a bereaved sister who is refusing to talk, can Kim get inside the mind of a killer and stop another murder before it’s too late?
***
***
Review
Book 11 in this fabulous series. Aren’t you the lucky one I hear you say. You still have so many books to look forward too. Well, no. Somehow I missed this one and found him on my Kindle. I decided to read it because in a couple of weeks a new one will be published. This story will help me pass the time, counting down to the next instalment. 😊
DI Kim Stone. She really is something. She is very straightforward, although some will call it rude. She is funny, while some might call it sarcastic. She loves her team, though she does not always show it and she is driven. Very driven.
She has shortcomings, but hey who does not? You just have to love her.
The book has very short chapters and all of them end on a small cliff hanger. If you think you will know what’s happening in the next chapter, is mistaken. The author alternates two cases and by doing this she makes you wait a bit longer. One case is dealt with by Kim, Bryant, Stacey and Tiff. Tiff being a new temporary member of the team, because Penn is busy trying to solve a murder, together with his old colleagues.
The first chapter was quiet brutal. I was happy I was not reading it on a full stomach. 😉
Every parent is happy when their children are good at something. It might be maths or history, or they can be very good at playing an instrument or be very sporty. There is nothing wrong with being proud. Some parents though push the boat a bit too far out. They forget to let their children be children in stead of becoming robots or they forget they have other children who need attention too.
Stimulation: yes. Being pushy: no!
A great book with some shocking revelations. 5 stars
Thank you
***
About the author
Angela Marsons is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of the DI Kim Stone series and her books have sold more than 4 million in 5 years.
She lives in Worcestershire with her partner and their 2 cheeky Golden Retrievers.
She first discovered her love of writing at Junior School when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read “Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people’s”.
After years of writing relationship based stories (The Forgotten Woman and Dear Mother) Angela turned to Crime, fictionally speaking of course, and developed a character that refused to go away.
She is signed to Bookouture.com for a total of 28 books in the Kim Stone series and her books have been translated into more than 27 languages.
Many of her books, including Blood Lines, Dead Souls, Broken Bones, Fatal Promise and Dead Memories reached the #1 spot on Amazon on pre-orders alone and the translation of Dead Souls, La Verita Sepolte, recently won the prestigious Primo Bancarella award.
***
Author Links
***
***
Book Link
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Childs-Play-unputdownable-thriller-Detective-ebook/dp/B07QPKB7N7/
B for Bookreview 