When a man, Steven Harte, walks into a Police Station and asks to speak to Detective Inspector Kim Stone, with information about the disappearance of a young girl 25 years ago she initially gives him short shrift.
But when he says she will want to talk to him again soon, just as another little girl goes missing under very similar circumstances , he gets her attention.
Is he building an alibi, does he know something relevant, or is he just playing with Kim’s head.
And, as if one person playing with her head isn’t enough, the Queen of Psychopaths, Kim’s nemesis, Dr Alex Throne is sitting in prison trying to plot her way to freedom.
She knows Kim won’t be able to resist visiting her if she can get a message to her, all she needs is a phone with a number Kim doesn’t recognise. Easy for a functioning, psychotic, sociopath. But somebody will have to suffer.
Meanwhile. Kim’s team are investigating the latest disappearance and Stacy starts to notice a pattern.
The little girl that went missing 25 years ago was never found, but was she the first.
To find the clues that will help the team find the latest girl the team start to dig into historical cases, none of which had been solved.
How can respected business man Steven Harte possibly be linked to all of these cases?
Why is he leading Kim on a merry dance across the Black Country. He seems to anticipate their every move, and ingratiates himself with her team.
Can he possibly be a cold blooded kidnapper, and killer?
All the time the investigation is going on Dr Alex is plotting, should Kim be spending more time making sure she stays locked away, or is she being blindsided.
This is a belter of a story.
I recently watched a live Stream with Angela Marsons talking about how she comes up with stories for this amazing series. The way a little thing will catch her attention, then develops into a plot.
The way she is intrigued by finding out about specialist fields within Criminology and Forensics. The fact that she has bookshelves full of research text books.
It’s not a coincidence that this is the favourite series of so many people, selling millions around the world. Was it Tiger Woods who said “the harder I practice, the luckier I get”
Angela puts the hard miles into her research, often digging deep just to give a short chapter authenticity and realism.
The people, the settings, the stories, are all very realistic.
But there was something she said in the live stream that really resonated with me. Readers don’t need to know the little things, “like how many forms a cop needs to fill out” What they want to read is what they actually expect of a crime book, based on their knowledge from TV series and documentaries.
Nobody does this better than Angela. I work in the forensic field and have been involved in major investigations. I’ve never once thought anything she wrote was unrealistic.
Yet I have an acquaintance who could not be further removed from that life. Who has no experience of the police, or a police investigation, who is absolutely hooked on these books.
If Angela can keep both of us enthralled, and eagerly waiting for each instalment, she is definitely doing something right, very very right.
This year has been a stellar year for Crime Fiction books, but Angela Marsons still sits reading get at the top of my charts and looking at Amazon Chart today, the day after publication for this book, right at the top of most other readers must read list as well.
Pages: 426. Publisher: Bookouture. Available now
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