Thank you Bookoutre and Netgalley for another amazing read from Angela.

Angela really is the author who just keeps on giving.

Every book is compulsive and unputdownable and this was no different.

More please Angela is now my favourite author.

Oh wow, this was such a compulsive read. It was such a a thrilling story that I read it in one sitting. I love Angela's books and this one is up there . My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

**TW: Narcissistic Mothers & DV**

From the outset, I would like it known that I love this author's books and I have thoroughly enjoyed the Kim Stone series. However, I was triggered quite a bit by this novel.

Angie Marsons is a wonderful human but she got something major wrong in this story: you CAN be a scapegoat if you are an only child. It is a myth that only children are spoiled and/or are always the Golden Child. When you are an only child with a narcissistic mother, you are being compared, badly, with EVERYONE. Friends kids, cousins, herself as a child, everyone. In my case, as my daughter grew up, SHE became the Golden Child and I continued as the Scapegoat. I will not document here what went on in my childhood, and beyond, but I can absolutely, categorically state that the damage done is lifelong and when my mother passed, when I was 49, it took me 2 years to actually start to relax and realise that no-one was going to treat me so badly again. Unfortunately, in my 20's, I had so little self-esteem because of the systematic dismantling of any kind of voice, that I was ripe for the picking and I ended up with someone who treated me quite similarly. It was all I knew, you see. I did, eventually, get out of that.

Anyway, this book is very well written, other than the above quibble, which most people who haven't been in this position, would probably not even question. I put a trigger warning up because of that. There are a heap of books I have no trouble reading, even if the subject matter is quite dark, because I have not been personally affected. These two topics, however, push my buttons and it might push other people's buttons too. Forewarned is forearmed, right?

The guilty mothers in question are quite something *sarcastic tone of voice* and Kim is right to be suspicious of them. The world of pageants is not something I know anything about but I have watched Toddlers and Tiaras and other programs along those lines and it is pretty disturbing. And that is without the rest of the stuff.

Obviously Kim and her team try to get to the bottom of who is knocking off the mothers but the "why" is not hard to see.....

As always, a well written book, and looking forward to reading the next one!

4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

Kim Stone is back in this release by Angie Marson's which is book 20!!! Yes you read that correctly. 20 books and I can honestly say I am still loving this series. Kim Stone starts off with a scene out of a horror movie! Sheryl Hawne is found lying in a pool of blood when Kim and her team arrive and Sheryl's daughter Katie is found with her Mother covered in blood and clutching a knife. It seems like a simple enough case, but as with any Kim Stone story it's never that simple.

The storyline in this latest instalment involves the world of beauty pageants and as per any other crime story it isn't long before there is more than one victim. The story itself was decent and like any other Marson's book the writing was brilliant. However, for some reason this latest instalment just didn't gel with me. This felt very 'American' and in all honesty if I read this without knowing the author and you changed the characters I may not have guessed this was an Angela Marson's book.

The book itself is paced nicely and there is plenty of action, I just felt like there was something missing in this one and I cannot my finger entirely on why. It may be the fact that beauty pageants are something I associate more with the US, and the reference to 'Mom' kind of grated who knows. This certainly will not deter me and I think this series and the author are still fabulous. This latest storyline just wasn't one that grabbed me. There is still so much life in this series and I will as ever look forward to book 21

Angela Marsons is an auto-read for me, and Guilty Mothers did not disappoint. Very well done and enjoyable!

The books in this series continue to be an enjoyable read. This one explores the relationships between mothers and their daughters alongside the world of pagents. The relationships within the team continue to be an enjoyable aspect of this book but I would reccommend reading from the start.

Firstly I think we all have to take a moment to appreciate just how stunning this book cover is right?! I love the colours, they are so vibrant and really make the cover stand out!

NOW, let’s get down to it!!

Yet again, Marsons has written an incredible edition to the Detective series that we all love so much. The DI Kim Stone series.

In Guilty Mothers we are not just faced with one major murder case, but a second case on the side, which honestly peeked my interest more. Although the major pageant case was highly intriguing, the second case really caught my attention and we got to see a lot more of the lovely Tinks and what she can do along with the amazing Penn!

BUT, what caught my attention in this book was that we didn’t see so much of the hard faced, strong DI that we love so much. Maybe due to the nature of the case I feel we saw a softer side to stone, especially with her words towards the end which honestly brought a little tear to my eyes.

Of course, this case wouldn’t be complete without a little twist to set our jaws hanging right? And WOW!! What a twist it was, this was a twist in the case we NEVER could have seen coming!! It was genius, and shocking in equal measure.

Guilty Mothers was incredibly well written, compelling from the beginning and had enough emotions in there to suit every reader.

As always I cannot wait to see what Marsons comes up with next for our favourite team.

Guilty Mother's is an interesting book in the DI Kim Stone series as it deals quite a bit with child beauty pageants. The ramifications on the child both good and bad. It brought up aspects of this whole area I'd never considered before so in that regard I found it informative too. In our latest story women are being murdered very violently with a direct link to their involvement in past child beauty pageants. It transpires that each woman had entered their daughter in the pageant circuit with varying degrees of success over the years. Some of the mothers were tyrannical in their approach to winning and yet others were more relaxed about it. Kim and the team will have to figure out the motives of the killer in order to catch them. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you NetGalley for my advance copy.

I’ve been reading the Kim Stone series for years, and this was a solid entry. It was nice to get back into it after I had been reading mostly romance. I recommend this author and the whole series.

This is book 20 in the Kim Stone Series by Angela Marsons, and I was overjoyed when I was given a review copy of the book as it has long been one of my favourite series.

This book certainly didn’t disappoint and kept up the same high standard of the series. The book takes on the theme of mother daughter relationships, as well as the world of child pageants. It was clear the author had done a lot of research into this and covers the pageant world, warts and all, and its possible link to the murders Kim was investigating. A range of mother daughter relationships were delved into during the book, for better and worse, and this also led Kim to reflect on the two ‘mothers’ central to her own life.

Alongside the main case Penn and a new potential recruit for the team were also investigating an old murder where there seemed no evidence, other than another strange relationship between a son and his mother.

If anything I was only disappointed there was a bit more of the interesting relationship between Kim and Tracy Frost, the reporter, in this book.

As always this book was eminently readable and it made you not want to put the book down as you found out what happened. It’s always good to spend time with the team and to see a new person bordering on joining the team. I wholeheartedly recommend this book and whilst it is better if you have read the others in the series it still stands up well as a standalone. I personally cannot wait until the next book is published in the series and we find out what the future holds for Kim and her team.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Love hearing about kim stones latest adventures but didn't enjoy this book as much as the others, but i think that maybe as the subject was about kids beauty pageants with i really detest.

Fabulous book, Angela cant write them fast enough for me. Interesting characters who stay in character - they don't suddenly start all acting the same.

Recommended to anyone who loves well written police procedurals. Loved the interplay between Tink and Penn. This time the crimes committed are aimed at mothers that have wronged their daughters and someone is determined to make these women pay. Another highly intense, action packed story, where every new book is as fresh and exciting as the ones that have come before.

Angela Marsons is an undisputed queen of police procedurals that are exemplary examples of edge-of-the- seat thrillers. Through her 20th Kim Stone book "Guilty Mothers", she has cemented herself even further in that position. This book sees Detective Kim Stone and her team of detectives going after a killer who seems to have a problem with mothers. A series of murders of mothers, who were very active in the Children's pageant circuit a while ago, compels the team to wade the competitive, ambitious, neurotic and toxic environment that the pageant circuit is.

With women losing their lives one after the other, Kim leaves no stone unturned in finding out the real culprit. As the team tries to put together what might have happened, the unexpected secrets that come out one after the other, only serve to complicate the investigation. Who killed these women? Why are only mothers being targeted? Had they harmed someone during their children's pageant days?

Marson has once again created an unusual story around circumstances that may rarely occur in reality but that were effective story-telling tools nevertheless. She has the ability to build the tension step by step, all the while throwing unexpected turns at her unsuspecting readers. This book has certain unusual perpetrators and extreme circumstances that in itself can engage the reader's attendiom. Throw in these unexpected twists and turns, many of which I never saw coning, and you have got the most intriguing page-turner ever.

I couldn't recommend this book for lovers of thrillers; trust me, you do not want to miss this

It's really hard to believe that next year marks the tenth anniversary of the first Kim Stone book. And that this is book 20. 20! Count them! Now imagine writing 2 of these fantastic books a year without the quality slipping. I can't write that many shopping list without messing them up. So pray silence for a moment of quiet gratitude for Angie Marsons....

OK, so this book is my favourite for a while. Not only do we get our usual mystery (pagent moms being made unalive - see, I'm down with the kids!)we also get our dose of the teams' backstories and interactions. They're more than supporting characters. They're truly integral to the series. But what's really affecting about this is their reflections on their relationships with their mothers. Good or bad, the importance of that first relationship is recognised and considered. Regular readers know Kim's history, and her inability to understand those relationships is emotional.

A great story brilliantly told as always.

I'll sit here and patiently wait for 21....sigh...is it nearly here yet??

Quick paced procedural detective series. Mothers of young women are being murdered, the link seems to be that all the women were taking part in beauty pageants as children. AS the investigation gets going, the realities of how the girls were treated is revealed gradually and it does not always make for easy reading. The team look at various people involved in the pageants in the past but there is no obvious suspect. At the same time another mother-child relationship is under scrutiny, Olivia is being abused by her son. Olivia had made friends with a man after her husband died, but he has since disappeared. There is more to this than meets the eye and the detectives feelings that something is off when they look into the death after the body is found in a fishing lake . Tiffany and Penn lead this investigation and they are determined to speak to Olivia without her son being present.
A great read , thanks to Net Galley for the ARC

Twentieth book in the Detective Kim Stone series
And just as good as the first one
These books don’t disappoint
This series is a really good one and especially if you want to start a new series
Thanks NetGalley

#GuiltyMothers #NetGalley I love this series with DI Kim Stone. Although book 20 in the series it can be read as a standalone but it is helpful to have more of the background about Kim. This installment was another excellent crime mystery covering the more unusual storyline regarding the competitiveness of child beauty pageants, especially in relation to the mothers. Lots of action and plenty of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I also enjoyed the side story with Penn and Tiff (Tink) and it was good to see Tiff playing a more substantial part n this book. I look forward to more in this series.

This time Kim Stone is in the middle of the world of child beauty pageants and what drives people to take part.
The usual brilliant characters, just the right amount of peril and a plot that is believable but not guessable
Great

The 20th book in the exciting Kim Stone series by author Angela Marsons. This is an exciting addition to the Kim Stone series that seems to go from strength to strength and still seems as fresh as the very first book.

Sheryl Hawne lies dead in a pool of blood with her daughter Katie by her side holding the murder weapon. Katie is unable to verbally communicate due to shock. The case appears to be straightforward with little for Detective Kim Stone to do but Katie’s inability to talk means that Kim and her team will need to dig deeper into the Hawne family’s troubled past to find the answers to their questions.

It appears that Katie was a child beauty pageant participant, and her mother maintained a shrine to her daughter’s successes. This causes Kim to consider the darker details of these pageants and their possible impact on Katie, who may have been pushed too far by her mother’s nonstop ambitions.

Another mother of a pageant competitor is found dead with a broken tiara forced down her throat and the tension is raised again. It appears that the killer is targeting pageant mothers and is determined to hand their own brutal punishment. Kim Stone who has her own memories of a traumatic childhood making her even more determined to catch the killer.

Kim Stone is an excellent character and the more books I read in this series the stronger the character becomes. Angela Marsons writes an atmospheric thriller that delves into the competitive world of child beauty pageants where appearances are of great importance with mothers often pushing their daughters to the limit to obtain success.

Kim Stone faces a race against time to uncover the secrets and motives behind the killings before there are further murders.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Bookouture for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Love this series and catching up with Kim Stone and the other detectives. I enjoyed the main story plot and reading about how beauty pageants work but I really liked the sub plot more with Tiff who is becoming one of my favourite characters. Not one of my favourite reads by this author but I am looking forward to reading the next one in the series, Thanks to NetGalley for my ARC.