Book Review: Broken Bones by Angela Marsons

Broken Bones

by

Angela Marsons

Publisher: Bookouture
Publication date: 3rd November 2017
Series: D.I. Kim Stone #7
Genre: Crime / Mystery
Pages: 366
Format read: eBook
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley 

The murder of a young prostitute and a baby found abandoned on the same winter night signals the start of a disturbing investigation for Detective Kim Stone – one which brings her face to face with someone from her own horrific childhood.

As three more sex workers are murdered in quick succession, each death more violent than the last, Kim and her team realise that the initial killing was no one-off frenzied attack, but a twisted serial killer preying on the vulnerable.

At the same time, the search begins for the desperate woman who left her newborn baby at the station – but what looks like a tragic abandonment turns even more sinister when a case of modern slavery is uncovered.

The two investigations bring the team into a terrifying world of human exploitation and cruelty – and a showdown that puts Kim’s life at risk as shocking secrets from her own past come to light. 

A young prostitute is found murdered. A baby is left outside the police station, abandoned by its mother. Broken Bones, the seventh D.I. Kim Stone novel, runs along a dual plot line.

Kim splits the team up with Dawson and Stacey covering the abandoned baby case. Stacey is ready to come out from behind the desk, after a previous trauma, and prove herself in the field.

Stone and Bryant are partnered on the murder case. I loved their natural banter and ribbing and how their personalities complement each other. Kim, headstrong and impulsive matches well with Bryant’s calm manner.

Broken Bones has themes of manipulation and abuse. The abandoned baby case brings us face to face with illegal immigrants. How they are used for cheap labour and what they have to endure for a chance at a new life.

The murder of the prostitute is handled with compassion. A story of online grooming and coercion, Marsons goes behind the act to show us vulnerable girls and how they become entrapped.

We are reminded occasionally of Kim’s past, fully explained in previous books, which keeps the reader on track as to why Kim is like she is. Her motivation.

Broken Bones is a gripping and utterly addictive serial killer thriller. I was hooked from the start.

                      🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

My rating  5/5

 

Angela is the author of the Kim Stone Crime series. She discovered a love of writing at Primary School when a short piece on the rocks and the sea gained her the only merit point she ever got.
Angela 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 used the Amazon KDP program to publish two of her earlier works before concentrating on her true passion - Crime.