Angela Marsons at her best! This book was fabulous, I loved everything about it. It was tense and suspenseful, fast paced and powerful. This one had me sitting up late into the night because I couldn’t put it down. I’m a big fan of Angie Marsons and this instalment in the Kim Stone series did not disappoint. I highly recommend this book and don’t hesitate in giving it 5 stars.

Another solid instalment in this well established series with the return of several characters and not one but two complex cases for Kim and her team. As always a well written, fast paced plot with a few unexpected twists along the way.

Another good story involving Detective Stone and her Team although DS Penn is taken away to another case. The two cases running side by side felt clunky and didn't really work for me although it did hype up the stress for Stone, being a team member down. .I liked Tink as a new character and hope she reappears in future stories. The murders are rather gory and grim and we are soon into attending an annual tournament for "gifted" children - brilliant at maths, art, chess and the like. Most of the adult characters (excluding the Police) also seem to have suffered through being overly bright, some to an extreme. The writing is taut and absorbing, the characters well-portrayed so a good author for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Our children bloom in a garden not necessarily of our own making.

Angela Marsons switches gears in Child's Play #11 in the DI Kim Stone Series. She veers past Kim's mysterious childhood that drifts into some of her previous offerings and ventures into the widening topic of gifted children this time. We're drawn into the sometimes uneven road of early detection, recognition, and the often ill-planned and complicated servicing of their individual needs.

Marsons takes us into an abandoned children's playground late at night. We hear the eerie creaking of a roundabout slowly spinning under the weight of a middle-aged woman whose eyes no longer view the sky above. A call comes into the West Midlands Police Station and Di Kim Stone and her team are immediately on the scene. Keat, the pathologist, tells Kim that the victim has been tightly wired to the roundabout and an X has been cut into the back of her neck signifying a possible ritualized killing.

The victim is identified as Belinda Evans who lived next door to her sister, Veronica. Veronica is especially tight-lipped in regard to her sister. Belinda's home reflects that of a hoarder who buries secrets within its walls. Belinda was a child progidy with a long trail of questionable life events. As Kim and her team slowly uncover Belinda's secrets, they will be thrust into the world of gifted education and the choices made by doting parents for all the right and all the wrong reasons.

Angela Marsons is extremely creative in her storyline here. She layers this one with a parallel story involving the newer team member., DS Penn, and a previous burglary/murder case from his past. It adds spark to the story and we come to see a different side to Penn. As always, Marsons' chapters are short and extremely crisp moving the storyline along quickly while the reader hangs on to every word. Her research on gifted children is spot-on. With an Angela Marsons' novel, you're gonna get quite the package.......signed, sealed, and delivered.

I received a copy of Child's PLay through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Bookoututre and to the talented Angela Marsons for the opportunity.

So enjoy the ongoing tales of Kim Stone & her colleagues.
This book didn’t grip me quite so much as the previous ones which seemed more intense.
That aside it’s a good read & I’m already looking forward to the next adventures.

I can’t believe we are on book 11 in the Kim Stone series, these just get better every time!
Kim and the team investigate when a woman is found murdered in a children’s park and with an X marked on her back. There is soon another murder where a man is found placed on a hopscotch game. The team are soon involved in the world of child prodigies and going to a convention to try and solve the case. Penn has to go back to his old team in relation to a case that has collapsed and try to find who the guilty person really is.
I have enjoyed reading this and watching all the usual characters grow in their jobs. It has been interesting to see how Penn has dealt going back to his old unit and work alongside them.
This is a well written book, with plenty of twists along the way. I was hooked from the start and thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's good to be back again with DI Kim Stone and her team! After the last two books where Kim lost a member of her team and was then targeted by a criminal recreating traumatic events from her early life, it's especially good to see her back doing what she does best in concentrating on solving crime.

After the gruesome death of children's psychology professor, Belinda Evans, in a playground and a second death with some similar features Kim believes there might be a serial killer at work. Her investigations take her into the world of gifted children and their parents, some of whom will go to any lengths to push and promote their child even if it means denying them a normal childhood.

Penn, the newest member of the team has been seconded back to his old team so he can attend the murder trial of a man he arrested. This second thread unfolds in parallel with Kim's investigation and while it was good to see more of Penn and his history, it felt a bit disjointed in being quite distinct from the main investigation. However, it did have a suspenseful ending and allowed for a new character to be seconded to the team, the bright and bubbly Tiffany, immediately nicknamed 'Tink' (shortened from Tinkerbell) by Kim.

Overall, a suspenseful thriller with Kim back at her best and an insightful look at the world of child prodigies and the way they are treated. I'm already hanging out for the next sequel and hope Ms Marsons has many more nasty crimes for Kim to solve ideas up her sleeve.

As usual anotuer gripping read.

Some interesting characters and dynamics which created interesting crimes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I can’t believe this is the eleventh book in the Kim Stone series. This series of books just keeps getting better.

When the body of a woman in her sixties is found dead in a children’s playground, Kim and her team are called in to investigate. When two other people are murdered in a similar way, Kim has to decide whether they are facing a serial killer. The story follows Kim and her team as they race to discover who the killer is.

Another great book by Angela Marsons. It has a storyline that twists and turns, leaving you gripped until the very end. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

Brilliant! Page-turning! Twisty!
Angela Marsons, and indeed Kim Stone, never fail to deliver a fast-paced, intriguing story line! Loved every page.

The story opens with a death, a horrific one at that. The victim is a retired college professor of Child Psychology. Detective Kim Stone and the Team search her home and find an overnight bag. Her sister, Veronica seems to be keeping things from them and deliberately blocking their way.

Two more bodies are found with the same mark which was on the first and the team wonder if this is the mark of a twisted serial killer. They need to quickly find the link.

DS Penn meanwhile is back with his old force regarding what could be a possible miscarriage of justice when he was SIO so he’s out of the frame. In comes Tiff (or Tink), a pretty annoying young Constable who is in awe of her new placement and of Kim Stone but who comes into her own as the story progresses.

The Team are now investigating attendees of an annual tournament for gifted children which seems to be the link to the victims and the race is on to find out why they’ve been selected for such gruesome deaths and we wonder what Veronica, is hiding. The Team head down to the hotel complex where the tournament is taking place fully expecting the murderer to be there..

As ever, a fast paced and gritty story which I couldn’t put down (and I didn’t have a clue who the killer was which is always the sign of a great read!)

Angela Marsons has done it again, yet another outstanding tale of Kim Stone and her team. (Do I start all my Angela Marsons reviews this way? As each book has just got a little better from the last and this is no exception)
We learn a lot more about Penn in this book and also a new character called Tiff. Both very different characters however enhance Kim’s Team and give extra dynamics.
There are 2 cases in this book which makes for an interesting read.
The main story follows child genius’s. It really is interesting how it is dealt with.
As always if I could give more than 5* I would
Loved it :) xx

I can't believe this is the 11th book in this series. Definitely one of my very favourites. Each of the cases (there are 2) are gripping, page turning events. From child geniuses to bank robbers. We have a new fabulous character that I hope we see more of. I would like to see more of Penn as well. I love Kim, Stacy and Bryant. Another one hit out of the ballpark. Well done Angela Marsons. Thanks to NetGalley, Bookoutre and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book.

This is a really hard review to write.....not because the book was bad in any way. Nope, it's merely I've run out of ways to praise this series! Seriously, eleven books in and it's still not getting boring. This time around the personal life of Kim goes on the back burner and instead it concentrates on the case. For some this could be a problem but for me it's great. Kim's not been tortured for a change, the team banter is back and there's a case to solve. Just brilliant. There's a nice little side story involving Penn which seems unconnected but I can't help but feel it will lead somewhere in future books...I hope!

As always a compelling, thrilling and just bloody fantastic read.

Child’s Play is book eleven in the DI Kim Stone series by Angela Marsons. I’ve read them all and they just get better each time.

We’re back with our favourite Detective and her team of Bryant, Stacey and Penn. We have a woman in her sixties who has been murdered, among her injuries is an X carved into the back of her neck. As Kim and her team begin to investigate two more bodies are found bearing the same distinctive markings.

I finished this book in just over a day. It drew me straight in and I couldn’t put it down. It’s fast paced with twists and turns galore and an absolute joy to read.

I can definitely recommend this book and would rate it 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

Child’s Play is the latest detective thriller involving Kin Stone and her team. This time they are investigating some murders, and pretty grotesque ones at that, which seem to have links to child prodigies either these victims were themselves a prodigy or related to one.
There is another story within this one involving Penn the newest member of Kim’s team, not sure this actually worked would have preferred him to stay within the dynamics of the team as he has fitted in so well.
Whilst I enjoyed this story I felt there was a lack of depth to previous books and something was missing. That said it was good read

When the body of Belinda Evans is found in a playground DI Kim Stone is called to investigate. Meanwhile pressure is being put on the Police not to let officers work too much overtime. Penn has been requested in court for a case with his former team leaving the team shorthanded and the more deaths adding to the pressure.
This is another superb read from Angela Marsons with two investigations (Stone and Penn) running through the book. Very enjoyable.

You know you are in safe hands with DI Kim Stone I have read a number of the books in the series and whilst she is not a character you instantly warm too, she is a character you root for and during the series you understand the layers of her character more and more.

In this instalment, Stone is a team member down with Penn being recalled to a previous court case....fortunately we still see him in the book he is a great new addition....with a serial killer on her hands.

Using her own sometimes questionable methods she get a handle on the case and begins to unravel the crime.

Yet again, another thrilling adventure.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this in my honest opinion.

I have been an avid reader of detective novels for years and in my opinion nobody does it better than Angela Marsons. I was delighted to get the chance to read the newest novel in the series and I was not disappointed! Detective Kim Stone and her team faced one of their most challenging cases to detective that focuses on child prodigies. I love everything about this series of books, the plot lines are always strong and I can never see the conclusion coming. The greatest strength however is the characters themselves, I am extremely fond of the all main characters and each time I read a new book in the series it is like catching up with old friends!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC

Child’s Play is the 11th novel in a series about Detective Kim Stone. It follows as the team races to stop a killer who has been murdering former child prodigies. .

I’ll preface my review by saying that I’ve never read any of the previous books in the series, My perspective is entirely from someone who simply read the blurb and thought it sounded interesting.

I felt that my lack of prior history became a bit of hindrance to understanding all the intricate relationships between the team members. I enjoyed Tink’s character as it added some levity and humor. I enjoyed Kim’s banter with Bryant.

I wasn’t a fan of the secondary storyline with Penn, I just wasn’t emotionally invested in it. I was far more interested in the main killer. I wish there were more chapters like the first one. The first chapter had me all revved up for the book.

I’ve read plenty of crime novels to know this is a good one. It just didn’t have my full attention throughout to garner a higher rating. The novel did interest me enough that I’m going to look into reading Book 1 in the series. Might be unconventional but there’s something about these characters that make me feel like the series overall has probably been very thrilling.

Thank you to Bookouture and #NetGalley for providing me a copy of #ChildsPlay .