this was a great mystery novel, the characters were great and I enjoyed the storyline. The story worked perfectly in a mystery setting and the characters were interesting.

I really enjoyed this. I loved the chapters that were from the perspective of the serial killer. Not a lot of books have that so that made it really unique!! I liked the build up to the relationship between Morgan & Fiona but was slightly upset that the book just ended before they got together😫 i’m (im)patiently waiting for the next one(????).
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The one theme i’m seeing in a lot of the LGBT thriller books i’m reading is that one of the individuals is always a lot older than their love interest. I’m not sure why i don’t like that but it’s something that stuck out in this book! I’m really excited to get my hands on a copy of this & am super excited for the next one!

I read this book a while ago, but didn’t get around to writing the review until now. I wanted to like this a lot more than I did.

Overall, the story needs at least one more round of edits and a thorough proofreading. I received an early copy of this book, so hopefully some of these issues have been taken care of.

The main issue I have is the story lacked tension of any kind. The MC is supposed to be a hotshot profiler but she has no idea how relationships work and spends very little time or effort actually profiling. I didn’t feel any time pressure. Morgan is on the trail of an active serial killer who targets women-loving-women. This could have been so much more exciting and emotionally-charged for Morgan. I never felt she had a connection to the case, or even cared much about anything. Apparently she got married and divorced without her partner/“best friend” ever realizing it.

The secondary case is also ho-hum and seems like filler. I liked the inclusion of Fiona, but that really went nowhere. I’m betting she’ll be featured more in the next installment (that I probably won’t read) and her weird hinting about being in a relationship makes me think she’s in a heterosexual marriage that is either fake or on the verge of ending.

The killer gets a POV which is interesting and probably saved the book from being completely boring. I didn’t really understand her motives, and again the lack of tension really shows. She’s written in a weird mixture of low-key normal person and slightly delusional. I never felt she was a real threat to anyone (even though she killed people).

This could have been a super-tense thrill ride of Morgan battling against time to find and eliminate a killer who hits too close to home, but she has lots of free time to drink coffee and go on dates with a random girl she meets (the story also suffers from the “everyone is gay” trope).

Honestly, I’m disappointed and I think this novel had potential but lacks in storytelling technique. At any rate, the cover art is very nice.

FBI Special Agent Morgan Stone has been called in to investigate when women are being found murdered in their homes. A profiler for 20+ years, she suspects the serial killer is a woman .. a woman looking for a home, a family. And when she's disappointed with her new relationship, she kills them and then moves on. She leaves no clues, no DNA, and there doesn't seem to be much of a motive.

But while investigating, Morgan makes a huge mistake and it almost costs her her life ..and her career.

With a unique serial killer front and center, this is a well-paced thriller. There are a few twists and turns along the way to keep the reader's eyes on the pages. I liked the blend of professional long with the personal. Morgan was best 'man' for her partner when he married. She has a crush on another female Homicide Detective, which may or may not go anywhere.

This is the first in a new series. I look forward to seeing what happens next in the life and times of FBI Special Agent Morgan Stone.

Many thanks to the author / Supposed Crimes / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

3.5 Stars

“Stone’s Mistake” is a mystery/thriller crime drama by new-to-me author, Adrian J. Smith. It looks like it’s the first in a new series and I’ll be looking forward to more about FBI Special Agent Morgan Stone. I enjoyed this pretty well overall. There were a few issues but they didn’t lessen my experience too much. I hope most of the issues were taken care of with another round of editing before publication.

I used to read mystery/thrillers a lot before I found WLW romance. So, for me, this was fun to get back to my old genre that also included a pansexual lead. Agent Stone gets a call from her Chicago PD crush about a possible serial killer. Not only is it a new serial killer, there’s a lot of evidence to make them believe it’s a woman and suddenly she’s on a chase across the country.

To be honest, I was really confused about the beginning but after a few chapters everything clicked for me and I was hooked. One of the things I really loved about this was that we have the killer’s POV. I found her thought process to be entertaining and psychotic and it was fun and also disturbing to be in the POV for a bit.

Morgan Stone is the main character and I have to admit, I can see why this is called “Stone’s Mistake” as she seems to make a lot of mistakes. She’s kind of a grouch who is obsessed with coffee and isn’t the easiest person to get along with. She’s got a lot of family drama and seems to be a bit out of sorts in her personal life. However, she’s dedicated to her work and I was interested in her and her cases.

We’re also introduced to Stone’s crush (I hate calling it a crush when Stone is 50), Fiona early in the story and for this book, she really doesn’t feature a whole lot beyond being the person responsible for bringing the case to Stone. She makes a couple appearances towards the end so I’m hoping more might come out of that in future books.

A lot of my issues were editing issues. There were quite a few typos and a victim’s name is changed in the middle of a chapter but it was minor things like that.

In the end I would recommend this if you’re a fan of thrillers with serial killers.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Supposed Crimes in exchange for an honest review.

This was just okay. I’m a huge crime and mystery fan so I was really excited to read this. While there was some good here, there was a lot I just didn’t care for. I like just about any type or mystery I can get, but unfortunately I really struggled to connect to the story. I’m not sure how much of this is first book in a series syndrome, or maybe it was just not for me. The problem is I have so many books to read that when I’m just so-so on a book, I don’t think I can take the time to try a book 2.

I’ll start out on some good. First, I loved the cover. Not sure who the artist is but they need to be making many more covers. Secondly, I thought the “killer” of the book was really well done. This book has two POV’s, one is an FBI agent and the other is the killer. I almost never like being in the heads of killers. It’s not being with a “bad” person that I don’t care for, it is that I think a lot of times it can seem boring, unneeded, or even spoiler-ish since you know what the bad person is doing ahead of time. None of the issues I normally had was an issue in this book. Smith did a good job with this character and their POV, and it honestly –shocker- was the best part of the book for me.

While the killer was so well done, I could not connect at all to the main FBI agent. She is supposed to be this master profiler and all I could do is wonder how she even got the job? Some of her choices were so ridiculous and didn’t make sense for a profiler to fall for, so I just rolled my eyes too many times. Besides not liking her job abilities, I didn’t even really like her. She was grumpy, but not in a cool like Micky Knight way, and other times she just seemed sort of there to take up space. I don’t feel like I knew her or cared about her and that’s not good for a book like this that will have some dangerous action scenes.

The mysteries –there are two- well one was better than the other. I don’t know if one is continuing into the next book but I just wanted it to end so the main mystery would be the big focus. While I did find that storyline interesting, it was really only because of the killer. The agents didn’t follow many clues and it seemed like sloppy detective work at times. I started to feel really bad for the victims since the feds and police sure were not helping them.

In the end this was just okay. It was a fine story but my connection was lacking. I’m such a character drive reader that the book really took a hit when I just didn’t care for the main character. I did read most of the other early reviews and a lot of people enjoyed this more than I did. I would suggest reading multiple reviews to get a feel if this book is for you.

Special Agent Morgan Stone is the FBI’s best profiler. She is in the middle of a human trafficking case when Chicago Homicide Detective Fiona Wexford reaches out for a second opinion on a case. Morgan’s crush on Fiona may have something to do with her willingness to assist, but what she finds blends the personal and professional like no other case has. Morgan must overcome all of it if she is to apprehend her elusive serial killer.

This was one interesting experience. Initially, I thought the first chapter was terrible. It had this woman crashing into another woman’s house in the middle of a blizzard and basically becoming an instant couple. I was so confused I reached out to a fellow reviewer to see if I was missing something. Well, I postponed this book only to try again since it was the last ARC I had. Then, there it was, the craziness was on purpose and tada! Lollie was actually a delusional woman! The rest of the book kept my attention! Yay for perseverance!

‘Stone’s Mistake’ is the first novel in the Agent Morgan Stone’s series. Morgan’s home base is Chicago, although travel is significant in this book. I have always been intrigued by law enforcement and the FBI, so I’m very happy to have found this book. The author did a great job laying the groundwork for future installments. Stone has many siblings with some potential family drama there. The relationship with Fiona was almost a teaser in this book, but got complicated at the end. As a romance reader, I can’t wait to see what book two brings. There is another somewhat complicated relationship with her FBI partner, Pax. And the human trafficking case is just starting. The potential of this series is definitely there, and I will promptly get in line for book two.

The case itself brings us a woman serial killer looking for her perfect match. It starts small and snowballs with Stone getting right in the middle of it. There are some questionable decisions along the way, but once the action started it managed to keep me engaged until the end. Do not expect an intricate thriller or I feel it will be a bit disappointing. Typos on the second half of the book didn’t help.

The cover is stunning. I could not find the designer’s name on the credits, but wow, I loved it.

Overall, a solid start to a new law enforcement series. It definitely left me intrigued and wanting to know what’s next for our main. 4 stars

ARC generously provided to me by Supposed Crimes via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

'Thank you NetGalley and Supposed Crimes LLC for sending me an e-arc in exchange for a honest review.

Stone's Mistake is the story of a cop and a serial killer - it has a mix of tested tropes that we all love with lots of room for characters who don't fit into specific stereotypes.

While the bones of the plot are great, I did have a couple of concerns.
I appreciate the attempt at representation, but in some parts, it comes across a wee bit forced. The story arc is decent but some circumstances are clearly a means to an end, a plot device. I don't like the obviousness of it as a reader. Last but not the least, the writing is awkward in places and the phrasing is repeated. There seems to be a theme of the MCs wanting to lick and bite their lips, we could have entirely done without those details. There is also an element of corniness when it comes to the steamy scenes. I physically cringed at "heated core".

With some polishing and a measure of ruthless editing, Stone's Mistake could be a great story.

'Arc provided by both NetGalley and The Publisher in exchange for a honest review'
I rated this book 3 1/2 stars

This is the first book I have read from Adrain J.Smith and I would of rated it 4 - 41/2 if it wasn't for a few things I couldn't overlook.

Firstly I would like to mention the things I wasn't keen on in the book which spoilt it a little for me.

In the first chapters there was an over use of 'she licked her lips'. I thought this was going to be something key in the book. You know how people have little quirks in books that makes them unique. However it didn't get better as the author used it on a few other characters. Other people might be fine with this but I just couldn't un see it.

Also in the first introduction to our main character Detective Morgan Stone , I felt the author concentrated around her obsession over coffee. All the other chapter from this as a reader we would of understood that she likes her coffee.

Now to be more positive. I didn't feel like this was a bad story at all. Its clear that Smith is a good writer because as the book went on I wanted to know what happens next. The ending of the book left me frustrated but that's not a bad thing because I will be reading the next in the series.

The books was also written from two point of views which I really enjoyed. One was of the detective and the other was of the serial killer. I also liked that the writer did hoover over sensitive subjects to much that at times I was dreading what I was going to read next. Luckily it never got to that point which I'm very thankful for. I will warn though some readers might find some subjects sensitive.

Even though I rated this lower then I liked due to the repetition of the licking of lips , I'm still looking forward to the next book.

Before I start the review I need to mention that there is a part of the book missing in the copy I downloaded from NetGalley. On what is the last chapter in my copy, there is a moment where we clearly jump from what was the present time then to a couple of days in the future. It's easy to guess what happened in that missing part, but I'll definitely check the final copy once it comes out to read that part.

As for the review, I first need to say that I cannot wait to continue with this series. This first book is a very strong novel, with a great structure that made me feel like the author always knew where to go with the story. Therefore, I have high hopes for the rest of the books.
One of the things that I enjoyed the most was that, even though the story was mostly focused on the main plot with Lollie, there were also other subplots that felt equally as entertaining and that I hope get more page time in future books.
Of course, representation is very important. But not only when it comes to sexual orientation. It's so rare to have a strong (older than 30) woman as the main character in any sort of media, that I absolutely adored Morgan and the way she was written. Her age was just a part of her, but not one that defined her in any way. And it definitely wasn't something that made her "worse".

As for the main plot of this book, I also appreciate the way it was done. At first, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to know who the serial killer was from the very beginning, but being in her head for a big part of the book was very interesting. Such a twisted person. If anything, I wished we could have gotten more information about her past. Though I guess that can still happen in future books.
The pace of the book and the mystery were really good. I don't think I would change anything from it. There were a few moments where I felt like maybe it was too early to reveal certain things, but then I was proved wrong. It works the way it is written.

Very good book. I look forward to reading the next instalments in this series and I will be checking out other books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of strong, intelligent, flawed characters dedicated to deciphering puzzles and unraveling unthinable crimes to keep the public safe.

This book is reminiscent of Rizzol & Ilse, of Kate Delafield mysteries.

Morgan Stone is an FBI profiler who loves pulling the details together on what makes a criminal behave the way they do.

She has a work partner, Pax, who she has relied on for twenty years. They are co-workers, friends allies and adversaries at times.

Morgan has few personal relationships but the ones she does have, are well established and built on trust.

While working a sex trafficking case, Morgan is asked about a strange murder case.

Morgan becomes obsessed with the new case - following her instincts that this is the work of a new serial killer.

This book is suspensful, well written and fast paced. While the reader is given closure on this serial killer, I can see so many possibilities on how we can see more of the characters and cases involved. I hope there will be more of Stone Morgan to come.

The opening chapter of Stone’s Mistake threw me for a loop and had me wondering if this would be a DNF read. Instalust following a damsel in distress meeting is not something I enjoy reading. I resent the perception that older lesbians can be lured into bed when some young thing looks at them with adoration. As the story unfolds I gained a better understanding of where the author was leading the reader and settled in for the ride.

On to chapter two and we meet FBI profiler Morgan Stone. She and her partner Pax are working a human trafficking case when Morgan is approached by a Chicago PD detective to help with a murder investigation. One murder follows another and Morgan takes over the hunt for this serial killer who is luring unsuspecting women to their death.

This first book in a series shows potential but without some solid edits before its June release it is an eye rolling read. Morgan takes unprofessionalism to a new level with some of her actions and behaviour. She acts like an amateur sleuth, not an experienced FBI agent with many solved cases to her credit. I did like getting into the mind of the serial killer. It’s a warped and twisted trip. My biggest issue with the case is the amateur detective work; the lack of evidence gathering, phone tracking, credit card tracking and the poor response by local police departments with a serial killer on the loose. Morgan doesn’t seem to have her head in the game. Maybe her attraction to the Chicago detective is the cause, maybe she learned her policing skills watching television. She might be an ace profiler but in this first book in the series, Morgan Stone behaves like a rookie cop.

2.5 stars rolled up to 3 stars for the gorgeous cover art.

ARC received from publisher via Netgalley for review.

3.25 stars. The hunt for a serial killer! That’s a theme that will immediately draw my attention. I liked the storyline, it sucked me in, and I think this series has great potential, but this particular book had some issues making it an okay read in the end.

We follow FBI agent Morgan Stone who is contacted by detective Fiona Wexford (a woman Morgan secretly has a crush on) about a possible serial killer case and not long after Morgan is chasing the serial killer. The book is written in third person from the POV of Morgan and one of the other POVs is in fact the one of the serial killer, I loved this! To be in the head of a villain doesn’t always work for me, they often seem flat and not well thought out, but in this case, I thought Smith did a very good job in portraying a really disturbed person. If I had to pick one favorite thing of the book, this is what I would pick.

We also get to know Morgan, but I’m still making up my mind about her, sometimes I didn’t quite understand/like her behavior and I hope my understanding of her will improve later on in the series as I feel there is more to her. She can be rather rude to people that seem to really care for her (like her family and partner). Often, I didn’t quite get this, but perhaps it’s part of a grumpy agent persona the author wants to create. There are a couple of secondary characters, but with all attention on the serial killer, they were still a bit underdeveloped and I hope they will also grow as the series progresses.

The serial killer case itself was interesting and I really wanted to know how it would end, but there were too many coincidences, things conveniently overlooked, and protocols bend to make me believe this could happen in the real world.

The pace of the book was good, but the writing could use another round of editing. As this was an arc, this might happen before release. Besides typo’s, I also noticed some repetitiveness in wording. Just as an example, the sentences ‘she licked her lips’ and an emotion ‘bubbled up in her belly’ were used so often (and for different people, so it was not a person specific descriptor), that once I noticed I could not unsee them anymore. Oh, and one of the victims changes names, one moment she is called one name and the other moment she is called another……

The storyline was interesting and it is set up to continue. The serial killer case is nicely tied up, but a romance arc is just beginning. The book ends with a bit of a teaser on how this will continue and I’m curious to see what will happen.

There was a lot to like about “Stone’s Mistake” but also a few jarring issues. I think I tried to overlook the issues because I so wanted to enjoy a crime novel with LGBTQ+ protagonists.

It is fairly unusual to write a serial killer as a woman. The chapters narrated through Lollie’s perspective were interesting; I enjoyed Smith’s handling of Lollie’s perception of what was happening. The lack of back story, however, left a huge gap in her characterisation - particularly as the novel starts as Lollie’s actions are escalating. I wanted to know how she got to this point and how she’d been living before her killing spree.

Also, whilst Lollie was sinister and plausible, I didn’t find her victims as believable. The idea that a mature, professionally successful woman would immediately let a complete stranger she’d met on the path by her driveway stay in her home just because there’s snow seems... unlikely. Let alone the idea they’d had *wink wink* within a couple of hours of meeting. It’s like Smith’s depiction of women gives with one hand (a creepy, dangerous female killer) and takes away with the other (weak-willed, easily duped women).

The chapters centred on Morgan Stone (FBI Agent) are also problematic. It’s pleasing that Smith presents a strong woman. Also, the complicated relationship with her cop-partner-best-mate, Pax, offers a thoughtful insight on friendships which endure despite ideological differences. But the over-reliance on Morgan’s coffee drinking as a defining character trait was thin. And some of Stone’s titular mistakes are just ridiculous. Out of the blue, and without any invitation, she kisses a police officer outside a crime scene. Really? As a lead agent and profiler, she doesn’t disclose phone calls she’s received despite the fact she knows the Bureau can trace them. Really, really? I don’t buy it.

Did I finish the book because I needed to see how it ended? Yes. If it was a TV series, would I watch it? Probably. Will I buy the next in the series, I’m not convinced.

Quite a good story. Not exactly a "whodunnit" but kept my interest just the same. From the way it ended there may be a sequel?

I received this book through NetGalley. The description of this book sounded like it would be a great read, exciting and intriguing. I found this wasn’t the case for me. The characters didn’t have much of a description or build so I felt that some of these characters were just names and I couldn’t really like them.

The view of the murder a through the eyes of the serial killer were too graphic for my liking. I think I could have enjoyed the book of the violence wasn’t so descriptive. The author had no issue with being descriptive here yet left her characters flat.

If you enjoy FBI profiler and Serial Killer books then you may enjoy this book.

I wasn't able to fully invest myself in this one. I am starting to think that detective stories just aren't my thing. I wasn't able to connect to the characters the way I would have liked. The premise of the story was interesting, there was just something missing for me.

I am all for gory details, so that part was good for me. When I cringe, it's a sign that something really got to me, and boy did I cringe at times - that's saying a lot.

Overall, I might like the series more if reading straight through.

This is the book I didn't know I needed, I went into it with no idea what the book was about! I came to the conclusion that it's Law and Order SVU but with a lot of LGBTQ mixed into the story. I loved this book from beginning to end.

This book opens with a girl named Lollie that kills her gf when she is done dating her. Then throughout the book it flip flops between Agent Morgan Stone's perspective where she is investigating both a sex ring case and profiling and looking for Lollie, and Lollie's perspective where she is looking for a new lover.

I recommend this book to anyone that loves crime shows, especially for SVU fans! Thank you NetGalley and Supposed Crimes Publishing for the ARC of this book.

Really great read!! Brings up current issues with these types of crime! I work in this field, SVU- Great job showing how manipulation works and gets those in the life.

This is my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it.

Morgan Stone is an FBI agent in the midst of a human trafficking/ (children) sex ring case when she is roped into another investigation by the woman she has had a crush in for over a year. Fiona Wrexler is a detective in Chicago, she has just got a murder case that might be a serial murderer and she needs Morgan’s profiling expertise to see where the investigation goes. When local PD involves FBI the risk losing the case, as it happens with this one, Morgan finds another murder fitting the profile over the state lines. While still working her other gruesome case she works on the serial killer as well. It’s a hard profile to make, aside from being certain it’s a woman in her late twenties there is nothing. She follows the slim leads she has and ends up in Seattle. I’m pursuit of some happiness of her own while working two mentally challenging cases Morgan finds the best lead yet in her serial killer case.

I was hooked from the first page of this book, it just gets right into it. The chapters from the serial killer’s POV (Lollie) are a good addition and bring some extra excitement to the story. They also bring some gruesome details of the killings. Morgan is a bit of an up and down character for me in likability, she comes of as being a bit of a grump and a slob with a coffee addiction, but I feel like there is more to her. Especially how she is with her partner Pax and how she is with her crush Fiona/ how she handles it. Also her family dealing, all over phone calls, seem like there is a lot more to her. I am really interested in getting to know her and even Fiona better in the next book(s).
For a crime story this really delivers and I feel like it’s a good start of a new series.