Deadly Cry (D I Kim Stone) by Angela Marsons

Deadly Cry (D I Kim Stone) by Angela Marsons
Buy Deadly Cry (D I Kim Stone) by Angela Marsons at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: The thirteenth book in the series has an original plot. It's well-written and engaging. Recommended.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 354	Date: November 2020
Publisher: Bookouture
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1838887339
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DI Kim Stone and DS Jim Bryant were on their way back from Diversity Awareness training. The need for coffee overtook Stone - the course had been a complete waste of time for her as she knew that she was equally rude to everyone. It was in the shopping centre that Stone caught sight of a little girl clutching a teddy bear in the absence of her mother. Stone and Bryant didn't realise the extent to which this case was going to occupy their minds as the body of Katrina Nock is discovered some hours later. Her neck had been broken and it had all the hallmarks of a quick, functional kill, but who would do that to a young mother out shopping with her child?

A couple of days later a second body was found in a local park. Louise Webb-Harvey's neck had been broken and her six-year-old son, Archie, was missing.

There'd been something of a lull in CID for a few days and DC Stacey Wood was taking the opportunity to catch up on the cases that are known as the 'shuffles'. They're cases which have remained unsolved at another office and they're reviewed by officers from another station to see if a fresh pair of eyes can shed light on what's happened. Stacey has a rape case. It was one of two cases within a few days of each other: a builder is serving time for the first rape but the investigating officer for the second case admits that they were pretty certain the builder was responsible for the second rape too but they couldn't put the victim on the stand. When Stacey talks to her she finds someone who seems to have sympathy with her attacker: it was almost as though he wasn't in control, wasn't responsible for what he was doing.

DC Penn's mother died recently and he's now solely responsible for his brother, Jasper. Neither is doing well, but Penn is determined to be strong and carry on. Between the four officers, they have to find the killer before Archie comes to harm. Then the killer leaves a letter for Stone: he's relying on her to stop him from killing again. Stone uses a handwriting expert and a profiler to get inside the mind of the killer - with shocking results.

It's book thirteen in the series: many of the earlier books revolved around DI Stone's private life but thankfully recent books have moved away from this aspect. You could read Deadly Cry as a stand-alone but you'll get more out of the story if you have the background from earlier books. Each officer has a history and they bring part of this to the current story with them, so there's a decent back catalogue to delve into if you'd like to know more about the group. They're tightly knit together and - remarkably - seem unworried by Stone's habitual rudeness. Only Bryant has the face to tell her when she's out of order.

The plot is unusual: I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it before so it's probably not worth trying to work out the ending before you get there. I'd never have got it in a month of Sundays although the clues are all there. I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

If this book appeals we think you might also enjoy The Darkest Evening (D I Vera Stanhope) by Ann Cleeves.

Angela Marsons' D I Kim Stone Novels in Chronological Order

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