For some time now I have noticed that the D.I. Kim Stone series has been highly praised by my fellow book bloggers. Therefore, I decided that despite my lengthy TBR, I would read the series in its entirety, one title every month. What a wise decision I made!

D.I. Kim Stone – An acerbic, brusque, and driven young woman who works as a Detective Inspector for the West Midlands Police. She has been known to break the rules, as well as to disregard instructions and protocols in her search for justice. She is fueled by nervous energy, and is beautiful, but she works hard to hide it. She is 34 years old, brilliant, hot-headed, and damaged.  As a child, she suffered horribly, and was shunted from foster home to foster home. Only once did she experience a nurturing, loving relationship – and that was very short lived….  Now, when not working, her favourite thing to do is work at restoring a vintage Triumph Thunderbird motorbike. Bikes are her passion, and she uses a Kawasaki Ninja as her regular form of transport.

Police team

• D.S. Bryant is Kim’s partner and dearest friend. He is married and the father of daughters.
• D.S. Kevin Dawson, a good copper, but young, vain, and not yet mature.
• Constable Stacy Wood, a diligent and hard-working local girl.
• D.C.I. Woodward (Woody) is Kim’s long-suffering superior. Like the rest of her team, he is loyal and stands up for her when the higher-ups would have her removed from the case.

Kim and her team are tasked with solving two recent murders. The linking factor between the two is that both victims were former staff at Crestwood, a home for abandoned, unwanted, and troubled children.  A university professor has been persistently seeking permission to dig up the grounds of Crestwood in order to search for antique coins.  He is thwarted at every turn and even threatened…

“Someone did not want that ground excavated.”

Kim realizes that the grounds surrounding Crestwood must hold the key to solving the murders and she arranges for the grounds to be scoured by forensic experts. What they find there will chill the blood…

Now, more former staff members of Crestwood are being murdered… Where will it end? What horrific crime is being hidden here?

Seldom have I ever read a novel with a protagonist who worked so hard at being unlikable. D.I. Kim Stone is brusque, taciturn, and often outright rude…. yet, I loved her.  As the reader is slowly made aware of her background, and the dire circumstances of her youth, it becomes impossible not to feel a deep empathy for her.  Not pity, because she would not abide that.

I enjoyed the camaraderie between Kim and her police partner, Bryant. They worked perfectly together and thoroughly understood each other. I liked that despite this, they were platonic friends only. I enjoyed reading about how Kim and her ‘team’ worked together in their collective aim to find the villain.

I loved the way the author describes people: “The wrinkles in his forehead did not revert to a resting position and judging by their depth she guessed this guy had been born pissed off.”

I feel it only fair to warn prospective readers that there were scenes in this novel that were VERY disturbing – the stuff of nightmares. The horrific child abuse described will remain in my memory for some time. Yet, you must know these things to fully understand Kim Stone.

This novel can be accurately termed a ‘page-turner’. The fast pace and riveting subject matter consumes the reader and provides an intense reading experience.

By the time I finished the novel, I was left with the feeling that I wanted MORE Kim Stone. Lucky for me that I purchased the entire series in order that I might read one installment every month for my “Marsons of the Month” blog series.  I look forward to reading the second book, “Evil Games” in February.  Oh, and in case you didn’t already guess… “Silent Scream” is highly recommended by me.

I purchased “Silent Scream” in Kindle format.Angela Marsons discovered her love of writing at Primary School. She 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 self-published two of her earlier works before concentrating on her true passion – Crime.
After many, many submissions she signed an eight book deal with Bookouture as their first crime author. Her D.I. Kim Stone novels have sold 3 million copies.

Angela Marsons is from Brierley Hill in the West Midlands and is a former security guard at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre. She continues to live in the Black Country with her partner and their bouncy Labrador and potty-mouthed parrot.

Follow Angela Marsons on Twitter.