Play Dead: A gripping serial killer thriller Paperback – 14 May 2016

I've been voraciously reading Angela Marsons's Kim Stone stories, and enjoying them very much. Play Dead however, while enjoyable, felt like it was missing something. And it's a shame, as I felt like it was the first book in the series that lacked coherence and depth.The story concerns a body farm, and the discovery of a body that shouldn't be there. Kim Stone and her team investigate, and Stone also takes on a second murder investigation from a surprising source.Overall, I enjoyed Play Dead but I did think it had some 'stitches missing'. Without spoiling the plot for those who haven't read it yet, there seemed to be a few occasions where conclusions were reached by the investigating team without sufficient explanation, or insight. If you've read it, you might recognise what I mean - they'll decide to interview someone or reach a realisation regarding the case, and as the reader, you'll go 'eh? How'd they work that out?'I also thought that the resolution had a little too much Hammer Horror melodrama. And there was very little satisfying psychological narrative put around the reasons for the perpetrator's actions and complex personality. It was a reasonably clean ending, but it did leave me a little frustrated.Furthermore, some of the secondary characters need development. I think that while the character of Kim Stone is deepening nicely, some of the other regulars risk becoming more cardboardy as the series continues, existing only to shed light on aspects of Stone's personality. So Bryant is simply there for her to trade barbs with. Keats likewise. Woody sits at a desk and squeezes a stress ball.Dawson and Stacey are particularly frustrating. As a character, Dawson is little more than a brief sketch - he's young, a bit vain and goes to the gym a lot, occasionally says misogynistic things and Stone sees him as inconsistent - but by book four I was hoping for a bit more depth. Likewise Stacey - a Black Country accent and a gift with technology and research isn't a character. It's a shame, as there are hints of likeability and interest with both of these characters.It was also frustrating to see the return of smirking, stalkerish man-baby Daniel Bate, who seems to have nothing to do besides hang around winding Kim up. There may or may not be room for romance in Kim's future - to be honest I reckon a good woman would make her happier than any man - but Dr Bate is not it.Oh, and there was not nearly enough motorbike action in this one! Kim spent more time in her car than on her bike, which felt downright odd.

I have read all the Kim Stone series and although moderately entertaining this book was rather too far fetched for me. A promising start that slowly unraveled. I also felt for such supposedly clever and astute detective she should have been more suspicious and probing about certain people earlier on.I like the banter and the character of Kim interests me. However Bryant doesn't get developed and seems to spend much of his time either driving or soothing down Kim's brusque approach with his obvious diplomacy.Stacey is a real star and regularly in all books steering them in the right direction but gets little acknowledgment for all her efforts.Kim is the one that has to shine which gets rather predictable and irritating. Huge life threatening scuffles at the conclusion of each book where Kim is generally on her own gets rather longwinded and tedious. All for dramatic effect.This couldn't happen in real life and her team seems ridiculously small to investigate serial murders.However if you suspend reality it is still an enjoyable read.

Play Dead is the fourth book in an impressive line up of crime thrillers featuring the indomitable DI Kim Stone. This series isn’t just detective fiction, it’s effective fiction. Its gripping opener and the suspense that followed prevented me from stopping until I’d finished. I consumed it in one greedy sitting, it was just SO good!Returning from her ordeal in Lost Girls (book three) DI Kim Stone is restored to her optimum ‘don’t even think of messing with me’ self. She and her team are invited to a hush, hush scientific facility in a remote area of the Black Country for a rare training opportunity. It’s certainly an experience they won’t forget, as the scientists studying the effects of human decay under an assortment of circumstances are faced with a cadaver that they can’t account for.The perpetrator’s signature is particularly brutal and unpleasantly ‘earthy’. As a sickening routine is soon established, we get a sense of their fragile unhinged state from a little voice that raises its head between the main chapters. No one could anticipate just how much their irregular upbringing would influence their twisted ambition in life. I’m not saying any more, as it’s best to allow their peculiar brand of oddness introduce itself!As Stone’s regular team attacks every lead a pattern emerges to reveal that a newshound she’s locked horns with in the past may hold information crucial to their case. But while the Inspector’s character would audibly growl at the anyone who rubs her up the wrong way, she never allows her resentment to get in the way of any investigation – she’s thorough, just don’t expect the pleasantries. And to further complicate matters, a cold case has come to light that isn’t even within her jurisdiction. A little discreet digging later sees not just one skeleton in the cupboard, but a queue is starting to form.What I love about Stone’s character is that despite regularly embracing her anti-social side, her own troubled background allows her to relate easily to the majority of the victims and their families. Every investigation invites us a little further into her life and occasionally a softer side peeks out from behind the protective mask she wears on duty. And is that a hint of romance in the air? A little bit of Bryant’s meddling will see his boss bumping into a colleague from a previous investigation at the most inopportune moments, resulting in close encounters of a VERY brief kind!Well, I’ve discovered three things at the end of this novel: 1. The reasons that prevent our infamous newshound’s ‘Frosty’ exterior from thawing, whose pushy antics are renowned for getting my favourite DI’s hackles up, 2. Barney (Stone’s dog) is quite possibly the canine equivalent of his owner, and 3. Kim Stone once again excels at being her exceptional and impatient best.This series already has the edge over most others in its category but that edge just got a whole lot sharper, as Play Dead is breathtakingly superb. But is it really, you ask? ABSOLUTELY. It’s the only series I pre-order without even reading the book summary.