If I wasn’t already a massive fan of this series I would have been hooked in the first few pages.
DI Kim Stone is back at work, freshly out of the plaster that protected the leg she broke in the previous book. Her leg may be healing but her emotions, and that of her tight knit team, are still in tatters.
When a body is found in a park, not 2 miles from Kim’s Police she is stunned to find that it is that of a man that was so closely linked to her last investigation.
As more bodies pile there seems to be a link to Russell’s Hall Hospital, but what has this hospital and Heathcrest School got in common?
Is it just a coincidence that the team are investigating a crime that is linked to the place where none of them really want to be, back where one of their friends, a colleague died so recently.
The story looks at the secrets kept by groups and families, and how loyalties can forged on the most ridiculous of assumptions or beliefs.
It looks at how feelings can fester and cause hidden harm.
But as good as the plot of the crimes and the investigations of them are, this book is about much more.
This book is a rollercoaster of a ride through the investigation of some startlingly believable crimes, which is being carried out by a team that is struggling with the loss of a close friend.
If you have read the other books in this series, you will know the cast of characters well. You will understand what they are going through, and you will empathise that they each do it in their own particular ways. Just like in real life this team is trying to pull together in a time of grief, whilst almost self-destructing in their self-imposed isolation.
Then there was always going to be the question of how Angela Marsons would replace one of her main characters that has been an integral part of the previous 8 books.
Well she found a very interesting character that had appeared a couple of times in the previous stories and dropped him into the team.
It was never going to be easy for the team to accept him and the awkwardness in the office is captured beautifully.
Will the team ever accept a replacement, is this the right guy.
Will his eccentricity help him, or hinder his integration?
When book 8 was published social media was full of reviews saying they were in tears at the end, I might have had a bit of dust in my eyes myself.
For me the end of this book is even more emotional. A conversation between 2 of the main characters wrung so many bells for me it left me with a handful of dust in my eyes.
Every time a new book in this series becomes available I review it and say that it’s the best one yet.
Well its happened again, this is the best one yet.
If you are new to the series this book could be read as a stand-alone, but I would suggest reading the previous book , The Dying Truth, first.
In fact if you are new to the series I would suggest reading them all in order. I can’t think of a better way of recommending 8 fantastic Crime Thriller books.