Dying Truth

by Angela Marsons

Bookouture

Publication Date : May 18, 2018

Pages : 399 (ebook format)

Synopsis  from Publisher:

When teenager Sadie Winter jumps from the roof of her school, her death is ruled as suicide – a final devastating act from a troubled girl. But then the broken body of a young boy is discovered at the same school and it’s clear to Detective Kim Stone that these deaths are not tragic accidents. 

As Kim and her team begin to unravel a dark web of secrets, one of the teachers could hold the key to the truth. Yet just as she is about to break her silence, she is found dead. 

With more children’s lives at risk, Kim has to consider the unthinkable - whether a fellow pupil could be responsible for the murders. Investigating the psychology of children that kill brings the detective into contact with her former adversary, Dr Alex Thorne – the sociopath who has made it her life’s work to destroy Kim. 

Desperate to catch the killer, Kim finds a link between the recent murders and an initiation prank that happened at the school decades earlier. But saving these innocent lives comes at a cost – and one of Kim’s own might pay the ultimate price. 

My discovery of the Detective Inspector Kim Stone series was completely accidental. The series popped up on my Amazon account as a recommendation.  After reading the synopsis and a few reviews on Goodreads, I knew I had to give the series a try. Once I got about a quarter of the way through Silent Scream, the first book in the series, I knew I had just been introduced to one of my favorite protagonists of all time, Detective Inspector Kim Stone. 

At the Heathcrest Academy, children are dying. Heathcrest is an elite boarding school which has produced some of the Midland’s finest residents. Doctors, politicians, star athletes, successful business men and women, the list goes on. Beneath all of the schools affluence and wealth lies a hidden darkness, which can be linked to the death of each child. Detective Inspector Kim Stone must cut through loads of political influence to uncover the truth, find a killer, and save the life of a child. 

The Detective Inspector Kim Stone series is what I call a “feel good read”. The main characters are likable, endearing, and relatable. The stories are not lacking in dark content but for the most part there is always a happy ending. Dying Truth continues this tradition with plenty of laugh out loud moments and plenty of friendly/not friendly banter between Stone and her long suffering partner Detective Sergeant Bryant. 

I have always been fascinated by boarding schools. The exclusivity and privilege I associate with boarding schools does not necessarily apply to Heathcrest. To me Heathcrest is worse than a public or day school. Bullying, gossiping, and belittling run rampant in any school. The difference being in a public school, the children get to go home, they can find some solace at home with their families and familiar surroundings. The bullying, gossiping, and belittling continue long after school is over at Heathcrest. This created a sense of isolation which made the story even more compelling. 

In order to understand the murders taking place within the school, Stone reaches out to her arch enemy. A true sociopath and one of the most dangerous villains I have ever read, Alex Thorne. I am not sure what this says about me, but I really like her. She is completely aware of who she is and makes no apologies for it. Alex’s skills of manipulation are terrifying yet masterful. The relationship between the two is thrilling to read. They are both each others greatest enemy but they are also intrigued with each other. I am so glad Marsons chose to revive Alex. I am hoping this will not be the last we read of her. 

If I did not have a day job, I would have read Dying Truth in one day. When I begrudgingly stopped reading, I was still thinking about the story. I was left trying to figure out how the story was going to end; impatiently waiting to dig back in. Dying Truth can be read as a standalone, but I am sure new readers to the series will go back to the beginning of the series. In Dying Truth Marsons gives new to the series readers background info so they are not lost, but also enough to leave them wanting more of Stone. Fans of M.J. Arlidge should add Dying Truth and the entire Detective Inspector Kim Stone series to their list of must reads. 

** Thanks to Netgally and Bookouture for my free download of Dying Truth**

Murder and Moore Rating : 

5 out of 5 Stars