Evil Games (Detective Kim Stone, #2) (Detective Kim Stone Crime Thriller)

by Angela Marsons

[Leah]

Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man. This is why I've put off reading Evil Games for so long - because Angela Marsons makes you read her books in one sitting, with some kind of wizardry I've rarely encountered. I genuinely started this book at 6pm (after watching Pointless - they won the jackpot!) and finished it at 9.30pm. THE SAME NIGHT. I barely put the book down, except to go to the bathroom. Honestly, I just got so sucked in to the story, and being back in Kim Stone's life that I had to finish it. And do you know the worst part? Lost Girls is now staring at me demanding I get started on it IMMEDIATELY. I may not sleep tonight, or forever.

Evil Games is book two of the D.I. Kim Stone series and is just as good as book one. If not better, because we learn more about Kim Stone, our enigmatic leader. I love her, actually. Sure, she's a bit unemotional, and socially inept but so am I, so who am I to judge or complain? And she takes in a rescue dog so in my opinion she's literally the best, and dogs are much better companions than humans. This time around, Kim is tackling more murders, random murders, that all seem to lead back to the same psychiatrist, Alex Thorne and Kim being Kim, she has her suspicions and I tell you what, she has the best instincts of any fictional copper I've ever met. Not content with murders, she's also tackling a child paedophile ring, and you will never in a million years see that conclusion coming, I'm telling ya.

What I love most about these books, is the sense of family within Kim's department. I said in my review of Silent Scream that Kim is well-respected, and that's true once again - as the coppers stay late, come in early, do whatever Kim asks of them, all in the name of catching the bad guys. And the group they've got is amazing. Bryant is still top dog, like, second only to Kim naturally. But I'm looking forward to learning more about Dawson, Stacey, etc. It felt like Dawson's story was leading somewhere, this time around, but there was no resolution or answer, so we'll see where that one goes. For what it's worth, I don't think it's all as it seems.

Angela Marsons is such a fine writer. I am kicking myself for not reading this sooner because it was amazing. The push and pull between Kim and Alex Thorne is so worth reading about, because you're just never sure who'll have the upper hand, but you always want Kim to come out on top, naturally. Kim Stone is such a feisty character, and I feel like we've barely scratched the surface of her so far, and that there's SO MUCH MORE to come. I honestly cannot praise these books enough, they're so reminiscent of the Rizzoli/Isles books, which makes my heart happy because I adore the Rizzoli/Isles books, and Marsons is similar to Gerritsen in which they both write with scalpel-like precision. The kind of writing that keeps you reading for three and a half hours in a row! If that's not high praise, I don't know what is!