The boy keeps walking, his curl-covered head down and his arms folded protectively across his body. The arcade is full of happy families but he is all alone. It’s the last time he is ever seen… Can Kim bring him home again?

Twelve-year-old Lewis Stevens disappeared from a seafront arcade. Eleven-year-old Noah Reid vanished from the pier stretching out over the beach.

Detective Kim Stone doesn’t play well with others… but as the investigation into the missing children stalls, she is sent halfway across the country to join the hunt. When she knocks on the door of Lewis’s house, she’s expecting to meet a desperate, hopeful mother, and to promise she’ll do everything in her power to bring Lewis home.

Instead she finds a woman who won’t meet her eyes, who insists her son ran away. What is she hiding, and why is she so frightened? Faced with a hostile local team, few clues, and a refusal to believe the kidnappings are linked, Kim must draw on all her determination and skill to solve the case.

And when another boy turns up dead back home, his body bruised and broken, Kim learns that the killers she’s hunting are worse than she could have ever imagined. She and the team must track them down before more children are taken. But the closer they get, the greater the danger – and they cannot trust a single soul…

A completely gripping page-turning crime thriller from no.1 multi-million-copy bestseller Angela Marsons. Perfect for fans of Val McDermid, Karin Slaughter and Robert Dugoni.

Can be read as a standalone.

See what everyone is saying about the Detective Kim Stone series: 

‘OMG!!! SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO US ANGELA!!!! JUST WOW!!!! Seriously love, love LOVED this book!!!!… I was on the edge of my seat, biting my nails whilst feeling my heart pounding into the silly hours of the morning… one of the best books I have ever read!!!! An absolute MUST READ!!!’ Bookworm86, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘WHY DO I DO IT TO MYSELF EVERY TIME????? Why can’t I just be a sensible reader and savour every sentence, why do I have to halt the universe, sit in a quiet room, mute the kids and hubby and devour it in one sitting???’ Bookreviewercakemaker, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘OMG! OMG! OMG! Angela Marsons what on earth have you done to me?!… I’m completely out of words to describe this. Just OMG! Wow! Speechless!… Utterly amazing.’ Rachel’s Random Reads, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“WOW HOLY MOLY!!!!… God, this woman knows how to write!… I stayed up way too late reading since I couldn’t put down this addictive read.” Book Review Café, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘OH. MY. GOD!!!!!!… It hits you right in the face from the first page to the last, bang! – cliff-hanger; bang! – twist; BANG!! – ANOTHER jaw-dropping moment… fast, chilling and thrilling… quite simply perfect.’ Emma the Little Book Worm, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I love Kim Stone!!… I must admit I did make a little squeak of excitement when I read it!… gripping, thrilling… I was hooked from the very first page! The Queen of Crime has done it again! Fab, fab, fab!!!’ Stardust Book Reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Absolutely BRILLIANT!!!… Love, love, love this book!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐