Read this in a day. What I love about the Kim Stone novels is by the end of the first chapter I'm fully invested.

This is possibly the most grisly crime Kim and her trusty team have had to solve yet, with not one but a few horrific crime scenes.

When Kim informs the wife of one of the victims things start to get even stranger, is the victim even who they think he is?

There is also a nice side plot involving the journalist Tracy Frost and showed a different side to her relationship with Kim.

This really is a plot that gets you thinking, I don't want to give any spoilers away but it does make you think about certain situations and actually what justice is.

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

First of all, I love Kim Stone series. I should admit it is one of my favorite series. It’s been 6 years and 14 books, but I’ve lost i interest in this series. Over the years , I’ve grown so close to the characters. This is my comfort read. Whenever a book in this series comes out, I’d push all my TBR pile apart.

In twisted lies , Kim and her team are chasing a serial killer who tortures and kills the victims in the most gruesome ways. The case gets confusing when the family of the first victim goes into hiding. With information hard to get and more bodies turning up, Kim and her team are up to a challenge.

I don’t want to get too much into the story but this, like any other Kim Stone books is a page turner. Enough tension and twists to keep you reading through the end. The team feels more like a family as Stacey and Penn are building a rapport and as usual banter between Kim and Bryant is hilarious. This book also brings in Tracey Frost with her own side investigation and I loved that part. And the cliff hanger at the end ? Is Alex coming back ? If she is, I can’t wait for the next one ..


I’m not sure how this book would feel as a stand-alone novel as there is so much history in the characters. So for all my bookstsgram community, if you want a new series recommendation, I highly recommend Kim Stone series.
Silent Scream is the first installment in this series.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

SPOILERS

I have been reading these from the beginning, so I don't know how well this would stand on its own for a reader who starts the series here. My favourite part is usually the relationship between Kim and Bryant, and that was as good here as ever.

There were two strands to the story: a series of victims horrifically and creatively tortured to death, and the upcoming retrial of a man who had been violent to, and then killed, his wife. The latter was being covered by Kim's frenemy the reporter Tracy Frost, and I thought this was the stronger thread for most of the book. It went a bit haywire towards the end though - would a PR company really carry out an assault and a home invasion for a client? Then there was the very end of that strand, which was over the top, I think (also nauseating to imagine).

The whole of the other strand was over the top really. I know we were given an explanation for why the murderer used such lengthy and unusual forms of torture, but it didn't really make sense to me. The anger seemed to be directed at the wrong persons, and If the aim was to extract information, it should have been pretty quickly clear that the victims had no information to give up. Why did the murderer choose now to go on the rampage? Was his place of employment a coincidence?

My other issue was with the repeated lengthy infodumps. I think in an early one (at the first autopsy) a character even said something like "Let me explain" and then proceeded to do so, at length. There was one paragraph about procedures at the witness protection service that was so dull and technical as to be unreadable.

However, I read to the end, and will continue on with this series.

Another day, another dead body for Kim Stone. But neither her nor the team have ever seen anything like it before.

Nor have they seen a family's reaction to a death knock like it either. Within 24 hours, the family have vanished without trace.

Meanwhile, arch nemesis Tracy Frost is busy undoing a slick PR job on a man about to face a retrial for killing his wife...

The most gripping, complicated, compelling and exciting outing for Kim Stone yet. You really won't be able to put it down.

Wow! Absolutely brilliant, great plot, believable twists and a completely shocking ending. Kim Stone and her team at their best. Highly recommended.

In this latest installment of the Detective Kim Stone series, she and her team are hunting for a killer who is torturing his victims in the most gruesome ways. As if that wasn't bad enough, the family of the first victim vanishes. When Kim's team finally discovers why, it deals a huge blow to their investigation. It's harder than ever to dig up information on the victims, especially why they'd be killed so viciously. They do receive some specialized assistance, but like with most people, Kim doesn't take to the woman, and the stress in the incident room is cranked up even higher.

They aren't the only ones investigating, however - Tracy Frost is allowed to tag along on a visit to a murder victim's family and she quickly becomes engrossed in the case. The first trial ended with a hung jury and the abusive husband has actually hired a PR firm leading up to the second trial! Tracy bonds with the victim's sister and the more she hears about the deceased woman, the more she realizes that the focus in the media needs to be about the victim not the accused killer. And for once, Kim and her team aren't sidelined by Tracy, but are impressed by her determination to assist the victim's family amid dangerous threats.

As with every other book in this series, I was hooked as soon as I started. I even stayed up late and overslept the next morning because I couldn't stop reading! I just had to keep going! These stories are just incredible, never outlandish, and always with new and intriguing premises. I don't know how the author does it, but I'm just so glad she keeps going!

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book, and what a book it was, I read it in one sitting. Each time I read a book featuring Detective Kim Stone I believe it to be the best in the series but this one will definitely take some beating. The methods of death in this book are original and horrific but not gratuitous, I cannot wait for the next one.

It has to be difficult to keep coming up with the inspiration for novels in long running series but Angela Marsons has raised the bar yet again.
The methods of death used in this book are original and horrific, the plot is stunning, or should I say the plots are stunning.
In this book it’s not just Stone and her team that are on the hunt for Justice. Somehow one of my favourite recurring characters, the pain-in-the-butt journalist Tracy Frost, grows a conscience, finds some empathy, and goes after a wife beater who looks like he’s going to get away with murder.
Meanwhile Kim Stone is trying to find a murderer who is using modern versions of old fashioned torture techniques to ensure that the victims have very slow painful deaths
As far as crime thriller series are concerned this is the best, and as I’ve said the bar has been raised yet again.
A brilliant book in a brilliant series

You know that moment when you pick up a book and start reading and you know, with all certainty, that nothing else is getting done that evening? That's what happened to me the moment I started reading Twisted Lies, and aside from a quick stint on the exercise bike (where I continued reading the book, obviously), from the moment I finished work, to the moment I went to bed, my whole focus was on Kim Stone and the team and the latest, very twisted and enthralling offering from Angela Marsons. Yes, i love the series - losing myself in the books is not hard. But this one is probably one of my favourites, a perfect blend of intoxicating investigation, absorbing and intriguing mystery and the damned fine humour that this series is renowned for. All of your favourite characters are back, but be prepared to see one of two of them in an entirely new light. Angela Marsons still has surprises up those sleeves of hers and is using them to absolutely brilliant effect.

Now without going into too much detail about the story, it is fair to say that Ms Marsons has been particularly cruel to the victims in her story this time around. Very inventive murders that, for me at least, were a combination of plenty of 'ewww' and a teeny bit of 'cool'. Maybe the occasional bit of gruesome appreciation too, which says more about me than I should probably admit on the internet ... I like my stories on the dark side, and the perpetrator in this book has a very twisted imagination. It's not just the murders which will get your stomach churning though. There is an element to the story which is very much a case of 'ripped from the headlines' and the reveal, at a very crucial moment in the story, halted the laughter, even if only temporarily, as the implications and the stark reality sinks in.

And that's what I like about this series. The fact that in amongst the investigations and the camaraderie and banter between the team, Angela Marsons explores subjects which are sometimes very relevant, very much grounded in the harsh reality of modern life. Always with care and respect, and always with enough humour to keep me hooked and invested in. the outcome of the book. There is nothing gratuitous in the story, in spite of the manner of dispatch, but there is enough for the very clear picture to be revealed. If you are of a weak disposition, then brace yourself. This is possibly one of the most grizzly yet.

Character is key in these novels and from the victims, to their families to the investigative team, Angela Marsons once again excels at bringing us a whole array of folk to love, loathe, mistrust and wonder over. The team are on top form as ever, the banter between Bryant and Kim balanced perfectly against the sombre nature of the case, as is the humour between Stacey and Penn. It's a team that has really bonded and whilst I'm still not forgiving Angela Marsons for that book, I am liking the dynamic that is developing. I am also liking that in this book we get to see a very different side to the relationship between Tracy Frost and Ki. For once Frost isn't dogging their every step, trying to get a scoop on the investigation. Her focus takes her in a very different direction, with a sub story that is very, very pertinent in the current climate. i'll say no more about it, but it is fair to say that the author is right on the money when is comes to this story, sensitively handled and in a way that surprises and really drives the story onward.

The pacing is spot on, the tension palpable, the shocks and surprises coming thick and fast. Yes, I twigged part of the story before the team did - benefit of being a voyeur with a suspicious mind, who knows they are reading a crime novel and is looking to expect the unexpected. But is genuinely doesn't matter, not in this case. It actually just pushed me to read more quickly, even more intrigued as to the who and the why. And there are some red herrings thrown in here and there, little structured details which will have you looking in one direction whilst the truth is scurrying off in another just out of your line of sight. And just when you think there are no surprises left to be delivered ... Never underestimate this author. She delivers every single time.

So, in case you haven't twigged, I loved this book. Finished it in one night. Am both happy and sad about this as it means I have longer to wait for the next book, but by 'eck, it was a brilliant bloody read. Highly recommended to fans of the series.