Friday 20 May 2016

Book Review - Play Dead by Angela Marsons

Amazon UK
Title: Play Dead
Author: Angela Marsons
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 20th May 2016
Rating: 5 Stars


The dead don’t tell secrets… unless you listen.

The girl’s smashed-in face stared unseeing up to the blue sky, soil spilling out of her mouth. A hundred flies hovered above the bloodied mess. 

Westerley research facility is not for the faint-hearted. A ‘body farm’ investigating human decomposition, its inhabitants are corpses in various states of decay. But when Detective Kim Stone and her team discover the fresh body of a young woman, it seems a killer has discovered the perfect cover to bury their crime. 

Then a second girl is attacked and left for dead, her body drugged and mouth filled with soil. It’s clear to Stone and the team that a serial killer is at work – but just how many bodies will they uncover? And who is next? 

As local reporter, Tracy Frost, disappears, the stakes are raised. The past seems to hold the key to the killer’s secrets – but can Kim uncover the truth before a twisted, damaged mind claims another victim …? 

A little over a year ago I read my first ever book by Angela Marsons, and I can't believe perhaps 14 months later we are already on book 4 of this incredible series about DI Kim Stone. I have no idea how this talented author keeps coming up with increasingly more evil villains, and even more gripping stories, but that is what appears to be happening. 

I wasn't that drawn in by the prologue, but the voice from the prologue kept coming up every now and then as separate chapters and i was soon very interested to know just who was writing these missives. However the second chapter 1 started and got going, I was gripped by the book, and at no point did I want to stop reading. 

If you are worried about picking up a series at book 4, then don't be, it can easily be read as a standalone, although I would encourage you to read the whole series, as background about DI Kim Stones past is being drip fed to us, a small amount per book. 

I am finding DI Kim Stone to be a fascinating character, she comes across to the public and her colleagues generally as a hard nosed, uncaring person, but as you delve deeper into her psyche you see she is capable of some other emotions, and her own troubled childhood really does help solve some of her cases. 

I was worried about what a body farm would entail before I started reading this, but after explanations from the professors running the facility, I understand it can be useful and not as disgusting as I thought it would be. That being said the bodies being found on the edge of the facility are in a brutal condition, and the crime when its revealed is even worse than perhaps first imagined. 

I had a few thoughts where I correct killer kind of flicked across my mind, but I never predicted the final outcome, which I'm so pleased about. Much prefer page-turning compulsively until  I find out. 

Not wanting to spoil the story for you , is the reason I'm being deliberately vague about the storyline, however rest assured its a fabulous story, and an excellent addition to the series. If you like books with serial killers and a highly in tune with each police team, then this is definitely worth a read. 

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bookouture for this review copy. This is my honest opinion. 

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