I get just as excited for book number fourteen as I did for book number two. Perhaps even more so. It’s like meeting up with an old friend, reading about Kim Stone again. How Angela Marion’s keeps things so fresh I have no idea. But she does.

This time the team are faced with a massive shock to start with. Kim has to take her nemesis, journalist Tracy Frost, with her for the day. I was hysterical just reading about it! We soon discover that there is an ultimate aim for this ride along however, when they get to speak to the family of murdered Trish Morley, who the police know was murdered by her husband, a human rights lawyer. He has obtained the services of a PR firm to make the case for him as a wonderful, kind, giving man, someone unlikely to have killed their wife. This PR stunt seems to have worked and the public have taken him into their hearts, so he is unlikely to see the insides of a prison. However, this is before Tracy Frost becomes determined to change public opinion with some of her brilliantly written articles about the murdered woman. A great move there DCI “Woody” Woodward.

In another story, Kim comes face to face with a gruesomely tortured murdered man. On meeting the man’s family, however, Kim has a feeling that not everything is right. When the family disappear completely the next day, her fears are proved right. The team face more tortured murdered victims and it is clear they have a serial killer to catch.

I really enjoyed reading the new relationship that develops in this book between Kim and the journalist Tracy Frost. Kim is a fair, morally just person, and as she sees these traits reflected back to her from Tracy Frost, a begrudging respect unfolds. They may never be the best of friends but they have developed a new level of trust.

This might be the first time I guessed the reason behind the family movements, but it didn’t spoil the reveal for me. This was a brilliantly planned book, as usual. It reads quickly, one because you can’t stop reading once you have started and two because of the short chapters that move you quickly along the story. Another brilliant book, I am eagerly looking forward to number fifteen!

What can I say, another finely crafted thriller that has the perfect balance of twists and turns, great character development and decent people trying to make things right.
This book begins with a gory murder and Kim and her team are on the track of a torturer who is trying to get information.
But are the victims all they seem?

Wow. Wow. Wow. This book! If you’ve followed the Kim Stone series from the beginning, then you’ll have exactly the same reaction when you read it, and I can’t believe that ending. Those last few lines of Twisted Lies have left me desperate to get my hands on the next book in the series as soon as possible. It’s going to leave fans in a frenzy when they realise what is coming next! Once you do, you’ll want to discuss it with other fans of the series as soon as possible!

It amazes me how Angela Marsons manages to develop fresh and exciting plots with each new book. She always manages to breathe new life into her characters, and each new book in the series has always left me desperate for more. That’s why every time a new Kim Stone book is published, it shoots straight to the top of my TBR pile.

My heart was in my mouth from the very beginning, right to the very end. Once again, Kim and her team have a very complicated case to solve. One of the elements I really liked about Twisted Lies is that we get to see a different side to reporter Tracy Frost to what we have seen before. At the beginning of the book, Kim is appointed as her chaperone for the day by her boss, something which she isn’t particularly pleased with. It made me smile as I read the early scenes, but Tracy’s day out with Kim is cut short when Kim is called to a particularly gruesome murder scene. From this very moment, I needed to know who could have killed and someone like this. What was their motivation?

Angela Marsons always explores fascinating themes in her books. It’s very difficult to talk more about this without giving details of the plot away, but the subject she covers in Twisted Lies is really interesting. It’s what makes this investigation so difficult for Kim and her team to crack. Once they realise just what is going on here, the realisation of what they’ve now uncovered is horrifying, and the team soon find themselves in a very precarious situation.

It’s also been really good getting to catch up with Kim and her team again. I always like the banter between them, particularly between Penn and Stacey in this book.

As the investigation progresses, Angela Marsons begins to ramp up the tension, and it becomes a race against time for Kim and her team to find the killer before it is too late. As always, with Angela Marsons books, I was never able to guess who was behind the crimes that were taking place. She always manages to surprise me.

I know I’ll probably be saying this when I read the next book, but this is my favourite in the Kim Stone series to date. The books keep getting better and better, and Angela Marsons continues to prove that she is a crime writer at the top of my game. I loved this book!

Twisted Lies (Detective Kim Stone Crime Thriller Book 14) by Angela Marsons The 14th in the series is fast paced with harrowing crime scenes, tension, twists, twists and more twists. The team is involved with solving two diverse crimes.

At the heart of the story are characters. There is more team building between Stacey and Penn. There is the glimmering of mutual respect and liking between the two frenemies, Kim Stone and Tracey Frost Their evolving relationship provides moments of sly humor and levity. Bryant is true to form with his usual banter. Barney is adorable in his quest for treats and scratches.

With a cliff hanger ending, am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series which keeps getting better and better.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

DI Kim Stone is back with her team Bryant, Stacey and Penn. They are trying to catch a killer after finding bodies that have been grotesquely murdered. Yet, there is a link and a shocking truth that is waiting to be revealed.

Twisted Lies is book fourteen in the Detective Kim Stone series and is yet again a fantastic story. Marsons has an addictive and gripping quality to her writing, which will undoubtedly make reading the whole series go quick. This book could be read as a standalone piece as it does feature a new case but there is something remarkable about having read the previous 13 and getting to follow more of Kim Stone. Having read all the previous books in the series I was satisfied to read all the familiar characters that I have learnt to love. In particular the relationship between Stone and Frost, where this book has solidified a respectable foundation between the pair. Marsons has developed this in a welcoming way, and I was pleased to read more about them and their character developments.

Like all the previous thrillers in this series, Twisted Lies is packed full of twists and turns, alluding to the unpredictable nature that readers have learnt to love. With there being a substantial amount of books in this series, Marsons remains true to her tone and maintains the Black Country elements throughout. As I am myself from the Black Country, I found that Marsons successfully conveys the area, especially with the dialogue. For me, it was very easy to visualise the settings being depicted by being local and can confirm the reliability of Marsons’ narration. There is one quote which stood out to me due to being a local:

“She didn’t object to his reference to the Black Country, so-called due to many folks saying ‘Yow am’ instead of you are. It might have been a different story if he’d called her a Brummie.” - Twisted Lies by Angela Marsons, page. 364.

Marsons captures the essence of the Black Country in a brilliant way and when reading the dialogue I could hear the accent vividly. This is one thing I admire the most about the Stone series as stories set locally to me are limited, so these provide a refreshing read.

Once again, Marsons has produced an outstanding thriller that had me gripped right from the start. This also caused me to long for even more with the cliff hanger ending. I will be highly anticipating book fifteen in the series! The suspense captivates the reader in every page and the chapter lengths encourages the pace of the story to be revealed in a perfect way. The description surrounding the murders vividly engrosses the reader and adds to the mysterious quality. Marsons seems to amplify the gruesome territory this time, fully painting a picture in my mind, even if it was unwelcoming. In conjunction to solving the case, Marsons presents a consecutive storyline of a re-trial, which causes for Stone and Frost to cross paths more frequently than what they would like.

Overall, fans of Angela Marsons will not be disappointed and will not want to miss the next chapter in the D.I Kim Stone series. Readers of crime and thriller will relish in Marsons fantastic series and I recommend them all.

This review was posted on my blog 17/4/21: https://fortheliterature.wordpress.com/2021/04/17/book-review-twisted-lies-by-angela-marson/

Well, now to Book 14 in the Detective Kim Stone Crime series and they just keep getting better. Angela Marsons has nailed it yet again and, for anybody who hasn’t read the whole series, I would recommend reading them all in order. Having said that, this can be read as a standalone.

Kim Stone has been instructed to take Tracy Frost, a reporter who has felt the anger of Kim’s comments before, on a ride along as they make their way to see a mother, who has had one of her daughter’s, Trisha Morley, murdered allegedly by the daughter’s husband, Nick. There is to be a retrial and there is a serious doubt that he will be found guilty as, being a barrister himself, he has used the full weight of a public relations company to highlight how wonderful he is.

After this somewhat unsatisfactory meeting, Kim is called to the scene of what is an awful murder. A man was brutally tortured prior to being killed and Kim must advise the wife. Within 24 hours the wife and her two sons have disappeared completely. Then the bodies start to pile up for Kim and her team as Frost decides to go on a one-woman crusade to prove Nick Morley guilty of his wife’s murder.

The murders are brutal and, as usual with this author the twists are unexpected and exceptionally clever. The ending has two aspects which really hit hard, and I just loved it. Leaving on a cliff hanger ready for the next instalment.

I have read some seriously good books this year and this is up there. Do not miss out on this one.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and Angela Marsons for my ARC of Twisted Lies in return for my honest review.

Not to be missed, highly recommended.

An easy 5 stars from me.
I'll admit I do like a good police procedural thriller and I read, and enjoy, a lot of them.
Angela Marsons, however, somehow manages to stand head and shoulders above her contemporaries (with the possible exception of Cara Hunter who is also excellent) in this genre.
I'm not sure if it's the carefully crafted characters of Kim Stone and her team, the cleverly woven back story (although this stands alone as a novel if you haven't read any others), the beautifully executed plot or, in this case, the excellent, final pages twist.
She just nails it. Every single time.
Possibly her best yet.
Many thanks and I look forward to the next one.

A major league suspense written by a master storyteller ! I love this series and highly recommend ! Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book ! #Netgalley #Bookouture #TwistedLies

Book number 14 in the Detective Kim Stone is a gruesome, gory thriller that can also be read as a standalone. Once I started reading I could not put it down, it is an intense and dark read with scenes of medieval torture that hooked me from the first page and didn't let go until the last ......... (what a tease you are Angela, great cliff hanger, hurry up now and get writing).

Highly recommended and an easy 5******

I enjoy this series of books, they are always of high quality, and each one leaves me wanting more. In this book, Kim and her team are investigating a series of brutal killings. The chapters are short and kept me engrossed with the twists and tension. The gruesome scenes of crimes and fast pace left me breathless at times but I highly recommend this series of books, definitely one of my favourites. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Once again Angela Marsons has written an absolute superb addition to the Kim Stone series,with this being book 14 you would think that the series would be getting a bit repetitive but I have to say having read all the previous books that Twisted Lies is in my opinion the best yet,Kim is back with all her usual team to track down a particularly sadistic killer whom seems to revel in torturing his victims.As a side issue it’s great to see Kim’s nemesis the local reporter Frost brought into the storyline and we get to see her good side for once.If you are looking for a police procedural to get your teeth in to then you can’t go wrong with the Kim Stone series,start at book one and you won’t be disappointed.Angela Marsons is once again top of her game in Twisted Lies and for me she can do no wrong, and I can’t wait for book 15!! An absolute 5 star stunner of a book.

Kim Stone and team always deliver! I'm not sure how Angela does it, she's a prolific writer but each outing is original and gripping and keeps the reader on their toes. My only criticism here is it took an unrealistic time to figure out what linked the cases and I felt like yelling at the page at points, can't say much more without drifting into spoiler territory.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the eARC.

This 14th (!) in the DI Kim Stone series is yet another excellent thriller, with a couple of good twists at the end, as usual.
There are 2 main stories, one involving several very gruesome murders that Kim and the team are working on. The other is the upcoming second trial of a well-known and popular man, suspected of killing his wife. Kim's not-so-good friend (read: nemesis) Tracy Frost, has decided that the murdered wife, so tortured, should be focused on in the news, rather than the PR savvy husband she was so terrified of. So Frost writes and publishes articles despite being threatened and attacked. I really liked this Frost, usually so seemingly tough and calculating. And I empathized so much when she wanted to kidnap Kim's sweet dog, Barney...I would too!
It took a few books for me to like Kim; she has a forbidding personality, doesn't suffer fools gladly and says what she thinks, when she thinks it ... not always a good thing! But she's loyal to her core, takes such loving care of Barney and her team loves her and so do I now.
The reason I'm giving the book four stars rather than five is because the violence was a bit too graphic this time, I had to skip those paragraphs (I must be getting soft in my old age). but the read otherwise was great. Angela Margins never disappoints and I definitely recommend this one and eagerly await no. fifteen.

Thank you for my copy of this book to review.

I have read all of the Kim Stone books now and I can’t recommend them enough. This latest one was no exception.

To me, these books are as much about the characters as they are about the story. Although they can be read as stand-alone, I love the familiarity of the characters and their stories. I know I’m going to enjoy the book before I even start it.

I did find some of the murder descriptions a bit gruesome but I thought the storyline was original and really gripping, with a couple of twists I wasn’t expecting too.

I’m happy it finished on a cliffhanger, which means there will be a book 15...it can’t come soon enough!

Oh my gosh! So much I could say about this book but I can't, it would give things away. Another amazing book by Angela Marsons that blew me away. A real heart-thumping adrenaline rush whilst reading. Her internet search history must be eye popping. A very clever story with some horrific descriptions, as you'd expect!
Totally recommended by me.
Many thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the early copy in which I give my honest opinion.

Another superb novel from the great Angela Marsons. The Kim Stone series never disappoints and this is a splendid read, gripping, gruesome, gory and good in every way. The characters are always interesting, the Black Country is like an extra cast member and the plot is fascinating.

It's always such a special treat to have a new Kim Stone novel to read and this series is still going very strong at episode fourteen. They're such a great mix of gritty crime, good police investigation and interesting characters. Kim is the star of course, with her toughness, prickly personality and snarky comments but you know her team, Bryant, Stacey and Penn will always be fiercely loyal to her and she would give everything to protect them.

In this episode Kim and Bryant are faced with a particularly gruesome murder. A man slowly tortured to death in a slow and agonising way. Kim's team face an unusual barrier to finding out who he is, which will make it difficult for them to work out why someone killed him in this way.

In a parallel story, investigative reporter Tracy Frost, is investigating the earth of an abused wife. Since the woman never told anyone that her multiple injuries were caused by her husband, but with his PR team polishing his image it looks as if he'll get away with it. However, Tracy is determined to use her journalistic skills to remind the public of the wife's side of the story and help to get justice for her. It was refreshing to see Tracy pursuing her own investigation and not meddling in one of Kim's current cases.

One of the enjoyable aspects of this series is the development of the characters and especially to see Kim encouraging newly married Stacey to sit for the Sergeant's exam so she could move on with her career. Kim also showed that she had a caring side when Tracy needed it, stunning them both.

With Angela Marsons publishing two books per year in this excellent series, it feels greedy to say I can't wait for the next one, but I will be waiting with eager anticipation for book number fifteen. And I just have to mention that I love the new covers. Much more Kim than the previous ones!

Once again we're back in the world of Kim Stone and her team. The story starts gently with Kim being told by Woody that she has to take Tracy Frost on a ride along. They are going to visit the family of a murder victim. Her husband is going to be retried for her murder, but his money is buying good PR for him and turning him into a saint. Fortunately Frost picks up on Woody's motive and publishes a series of articles on Trisha and her life, which in turn cause problems for Frost.
Meanwhile Stone and her team are called to a hideous murder scene and have trouble with finding anything out about the victim. This murder is followed by equally heinous murders and the race is on to find the killer before he kills again.
The book starts gently, but gathers speed very quickly and stays at that pace. I absolutely loved it. Next please!

I really enjoyed this book and I think it was strong. Is it as strong as her other books I don't know.

I still love Kim Stone and think she is one of the best designed characters I have seen. Yes she has issues and yes she can be abrasive at times she is still a kick ass character.

This story I really don't feel that strongly about but the hints that were dropped I have great expectations they there will be a real kick ass story with a great story.

I am impressed as this series continues to drive me to want to read more. Angela Marsons has some of the greatest writing especially with her villains. I always get the impression that there is so much more to come.

Angela Marsons does it again!!
This had me hooked from the first Chapter.
From the shocking murders, to seeing a totally different side to Frost.
Books 12 & 13 fell a little flat for me......However this totally reignited my love of the Stone series. I felt that every chapter was a page turner and the ending left me with goosebumps. I cant wait to read the next installment