Just when I thought this series couldn't get any better - BOOM! Book 20 just comes along with a book that is so complex in its layers but still with the same seamless style of writing making the story flow flawlessly. As well as a murder case to solve, this book sees Kim have many reflective moments as the case revolves around the subject of the powerful relationships between mothers and their children. Obviously this is very poignant for Kim and also other members of her team. A fantastic read.

I can’t get enough of Kim Stone. This detective series is my all time favorite. Book 20 & I don’t feel like this series is stale or uninteresting. This one explores the relationship between mothers and daughters. It has two separate investigations and both are sad. Kim and her team are still at the top of their game. Don’t worry, Kim is still her snarky self! Another excellent investigation from Marsons.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. This is book twenty in the Kim Stone series and once again it is a fabulous read. As is often the case with Angela Marsons' books I found myself learning a great deal about a subject I knew nothing about, that coupled with the great story and brilliant characters makes for perfection in my opinion.

Another brilliant Kim Stone book.

Angela Marsons shows no signs of running out of great plot ideas.

I loved the pageant theme. It made me think of a documentary I watched on JonBenet Ramsey. It's a brutal world with the parents often being the most savage and ambitious.

I enjoyed Tiff getting a bigger role and her own case in this book too. You can't help but like her.

Angie, you're an inspiration to this fellow author!

Yet another brilliant outing for Kim Stone and her team.
It amazes me how Angela Marsons can come up with new groups of people to set her crimes amongst.
Yet again I’ve learned things I didn’t know, I didn’t know.
This series goes from strength to strength

Guilty Mothers is the latest book in the very successful Kim Stone series by Angela Marsons and it's the usual high-standard,high-tempo story with twists,turns and very nasty people doing very nasty things.

Like Michael Connelly ,Angela Marsons' books usually have a theme of a contemporary social issue that make the reader think as well as enjoying the action. This time it's mothers and their often complicated relationships with their children.

When Sheryl Hawne is found dead amongst a scene of bloody carnage with her daughter Katie also covered in blood next to her holding a knife it appears to be a quick "solve" for Stone and her crew. The motive appears to be Sheryl's obsession with Katie's past in child beauty pageants,events notorious for pushy parents more interested in their own egos than their daughter's welfare. When another murder happens ,with the victim similarly linked to the unreal world of pageants , while Katie is in custody it's obvious that she can't be the killer.

This might be the 20th book in the series but Angela Marsons shows no signs of flagging or the series of becoming stale. The plot is clever and thoughtful,various characters ponderings on their relationship with their mother doesn't intrude or slow down the plot and makes for a more intelligent and fulfilling read than the average murder mystery. There's also an insight into what I personally find the quite disturbing world of child beauty pageants that I'd guess would be an eye-opener to most.

A great read that will make you think,excellent twists and of course always good to keep up with the personal lives of Stone and the regular crew.

I have nothing against competitions, whether they are about sports or beauty as long as the person having to compete really wants to do it, has a say in it and enjoys it.

That's of course easy when it's about adults. Where young children are involved, it's a totally different kettle of fish. Some parents know when to stop, others keep on pushing and pushing...

I have seen 'Toddlers and Tiaras' too and often I felt horrified. Why put your child through all of this? Sometimes it's because parents want it more than the children , but have they realised what they are doing??? I don't think so or they just don't care.

Mothers are humans and can make mistakes. There is nothing wrong with that as long as they know when enough is enough and unfortunately that where it all goes awry.

There are so many different kinds of relationships between mother and daughter and not all are toxic or remain toxic...

I already loved Kim Stone, but I love her more and more. I am a big fan of her humor and she makes me laugh out loud. She is one of a kind, that's for sure.

Another excellent (does this surprise you??? ;) ) book in this series where I cannot find any other superlatives to describe how good it is than I already used before. So I will invent my own: excelfanwonderticfullent. 5 stars

Thank you

Kim is called to a gory murder scene, where the killer is easy to identify.
A woman is stabbed repeatedly by her daughter who is still in the house. Katie, the daughter of the murdered woman has amnesia, she cannot remember if she killed her mother.
She is arrested, but while in prison, another murder takes place.
The second murder has something in common with the first. The women both had daughters that were entered into pageants.
Kim has to work fast to identify the killer before they strike again.

Tiff, who will hopefully be a new member of the team, has to go and see a woman whose boyfriend disappeared. His body is found in the water at a fishing spot. Tiff's sixth sense, or her gut feeling tells her there is something very wrong in the household.

Kim Stone is one of my heroes. A strong female lead in a police procedural. Her dry, sarcastic humour appeals to me as well.
I have read every one of this series of books, and can't wait for the next one!
The team works like a well oiled machine, each knowing their own strengths, and putting the hours of work in to solve cases.

Highly recommended, will appeal to readers of Lisa Regan's Josie Quinn series.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

363 pages

5 stars

I rarely give detective stories a five star review. However, Angela Marsons has really outdone herself writing this one. There are many surprises, twists and just very darn good writing! I’ve read several of Ms. Marsons’ books and I judge this one to be the best so far.

I had a particular reason for wanting to read this novel. I am very against child “beauty” pageants. Little girls dressed up to appear way beyond their age upsets me to no end.

The story opens with Detective Kim Stone and her partner, Bryant, responding to a death. The suspect was found to be standing over her mother, knife still in her hand. Kim and Bryant believe it is an open and shut case. However, it isn’t. Soon, another woman is found murdered. The daughter with the knife was institutionalized at the time of the second murder. And then another death occurs.

The women all had one thing in common: they were all mothers of child beauty pageant competitors. While they would turn out to be very different women, they were all killed in the same manner.

Kim and her team interview the daughters, the families, the neighbors as well as some individuals who were associated with the contests in years gone by.

At the same time, a body had been discovered in a local pond. It is estimated to have been in the water for two years. Kim’s team members, Tiffany and Penn, take that case. Right away, Tiff senses something is not right. Penn agrees. So follows a wild and horribly believable story when the two detectives meet the woman who originally reported the man missing.

This book is extremely well written. The story is tight and the plotting is wonderfully done. Ms. Marsons certainly pens an excellent read. This story is much bigger than just little girls and beauty pageants. It is such an original idea and I applaud Ms. Marsons for coming up with it. I was spellbound and read the book in one day.

I want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

Wow! How do these just keep getting better and better.
I absolutely loved this I was gripped from the start.
I adore Kim and the team I’m really hoping they will have a new member soon (Tink)
The crime was shocking crazy and a huge web of lies and craziness couldn’t love it more. I have no idea who the killer was well I was confident I did but I was so wrong again,
I love how easily I fall into a Di Kim stone book it’s like catching up with old friends who fight crime.
This was fast paced intense and a well crafted crime and mystery, not even just one crime they solved 2.
This is one of them books where you can really picture the team you feel like you just know them.
This is a must read!!

Always one of the highlights of the year, opening the first pages (or screen turns) of a new Kim Stone novel from Angela Marsons. She never disappoints (as long as we don't talk about that book) and with Guilty Mothers the author has served up another absolute belter. This time around the team are faced with investigating the brutal murder of a women who, as far as the evidence suggests, was stabbed to death by someone very close to home. But if the case were as simple as that, this would be a very short and possibly anti-climatic book. Thankfully, that's just not Ms Marsons' style. Instead, as the body count starts to increase we see Kim and Bryant pulled into a world which is very alien to the the pair of them. That of beauty pageants and tiger moms. Scary stuff indeed.

This was an absolutely fascinating book, delving into not just the controversial world of Children's Beauty Pageants, but also exploring the very complex relationships that exist between a child and their mother. Now, as we know, there is perhaps no-one better suited to understanding that the bond between a mother and child is not always one of love, and that some mothers would happily harm their child before they would ever come to their aid. As someone who had what could only be called a complicated relationship with my own mother, I found that parts of this story resonated with me and a lot of what was discussed made sense. My own mother never pushed me to the limits that some of these Pageant Mums pushed their daughters, so there is something to be thankful for, but so much of what was discussed, particularly in how the children felt about their mothers and the relationships they had, made sense. The way in which Angela Marsons has explored the impact the case has on the team, and how they struggle to fully understand the impact the women had on the children because of their own personal circumstances rang true, as did the fact that it forced Kim to once again explore her own reaction to the case.

Now, in any circumstances, I think that the whole idea of beauty pageants for children is one that was, and always will be, controversial. If you add in the context of modern life and modern sensibilities, that whole idea of sexualising children and trying to make them fit some outdated idea of perfection, just makes the skin crawl. The author captures this perfectly in the story, highlighting the ways in which the pageant industry remains a bone of contention for the feminist cause. But she quite rightly looks beyond this to the many positives that children are able to take away from these competitions too, and the ways in which the circuit has been modernised and tried to model the right behaviours and expectations from children. It's still far from perfect, as are the people who inhabit that world, and it's not long before the finger of suspicion points in a dozen different directions as to who could be behind the murders. We meet all manner of characters, many nursing secrets and any of whom may have had cause to seek retribution. That back and forth between suspects, as well as the increased sense of threat against the Pageant moms, keeps the story flowing at a cracking pace and kept me completely glued to the kindle screen.

Now, the pageant murders are not the only case on the team's books this time around, and the discovery of a body in a local fishing pool leads to a familiar face joining the team on secondment. Tink is one the first officers on scene when the body is recovered, and when she joins her sergeant to tell the decedent's loved ones of the discovery, she instinctively knows that something is not quite right in the house. Joined by Penn, she sets about trying to uncover what really happened, and to also settle the uneasy feeling she has about the dead man's former partner. It's actually quite a dark park of the story, but a situation that is sadly all to credible. Again, the author handles it delicately, giving readers just enough of the dark deeds for context, without taking us down too traumatic a path. It's good to see Tink really hold her own in the investigation too, and seeing the growth in her confidence and ability since her first appearance in the series, really does bring a smile to the face.

Now, it's not all doom and gloom, and we still get the expected banter between the team, especially Bryant and Kim, so do not fret. Add in the Woody decreed need for one of the team to take part in a talent contest as part of a charity ball, and there are more than the odd moments in the book that will draw out a much needed smile. From Rubik's Cubes to hula Hoops, the team are really dredging the bottom of the barrel when it comes to hidden talents but it definitely adds some of those much needed moments of laughter that the series can be relied upon for.

Another pacy, tense, murder mystery that turns into a race against the clock towards the end as the teams try to prevent any further violence taking place. It kept my attention from start fo finish, delivering the perfect blend of character, plot and humour. And with Tink's confidence going from strength to strength, I cannot wait to see what is next for the whole team. Every bit as strong and compelling as its predecessors, Guilty Mothers is definitely recommended.

Guilty Mothers by Angela Marsons is book 20 in the Detective Kim Stone series and I have just raced through reading this latest offering by Angela Marsons. This book is about beauty pageants and the effects on the children and the parents who participate in these extravagant shows.
There are two separate stories about mothers in this book, and both look at how love for your mother can be widely different and how each person Is affected. All of the usual team are present and all of the characters enhance the stories tremendously.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the latest Detective Kim Stone book and willlookforward to the next in the series.
Highly recommended

It is a sad fact that that some pageant moms can be described as “narcissistic zombie robots”. As this book begins, the question is, did Katie Hawne kill her mother in cold blood? Despite odd, childlike behavior displayed by Katie, D. I. Kim Stone and her team just might have an open-and-shut case with the most recent murder they are investigating. However, there is soon a second victim, and with telling evidence that the cases are connected, Kim quickly becomes sure of Katie’s innocence. Kim and her partner Penn are now beginning to see the sad and unfortunate reality of what can go on with little girls and their mothers in the pageant world.

Is it an oedipus complex, Munchausen by proxy or narcissistic mother/daughter relationships that are the backdrop of an often ongoing part of a toxic world of pageants? While Kim is addressing the brutality behind the murders that tie into past pageants, there is a separate case with Kendrick and Tiff, a Constable making a big imprint on the CID. A body that was discovered proved to be that of a missing man. However, this discovery involves much more when it comes to a deep problem with another type of family dynamic.

Oh. My. Word! Angela Marsons is talented beyond belief. Guilty Mothers ran the gamut when it came to me experiencing a plethora of emotions. Shock. Sadness. Rage. Even brought me to tears more than once. To say I loved this book would be a gross understatement. I loved it so much that I had to stop and go back and reread sections. The draw to this book is indescribable. This stunning book, a one-sitting read, had me holding my breath, grabbing my cheeks, and holding back tears.

It is amazing how Ms. Marsons continues to breathe life into this amazing crime fiction series. And can I reiterate how she makes the reader FEEL? How this mega talented author evokes strong feelings in her readers? Oh my! Now I have to wait for Book 21!

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Sheryl is dead, and her daughter Katie is holding the murder weapon.

An easy one for Kim Stone and the team? No such luck.

With Katie in a catatonic state, she is unable to be questioned, and is held for assessment.

But another woman is found dead while Katie is in custody....

Kim and the team become embroiled in the less than glitzy world of child beauty pageants, with its monstrous mothers and resentful daughters.

Has one of the daughters killed the mothers?

This series never disappoints