On the first day of her new assignment, Detective Inspector Kim Stone makes her way to her new Detective Chief Inspector’s office with no expectations. Having been transferred everywhere in her district, never staying anywhere long, she’s never worked with him. This assignment, she reasons, won’t be much different from her previous ones. Short.
Unknown to DI Stone, DCI Woodward has monitored her career from Day One and requested the unmanageable, rule-bending, taciturn detective be assigned to his Halesowen division. He’s determined she never finds out why. Or that he’s a ghost of her past.
She’s barely had time to meet her new team—Detective Sergeant Kevin Dawson, Detective Constable Stacey Wood, and Detective Sergeant Bryant—when they catch a case. Grabbing their unfinished first coffees of the morning, they’re summoned to the scene of a vicious murder.
In a wooded area, the victim is found staked out, genitals mutilated, and his decapitated head re-positioned neatly back in place. She assesses her team’s reaction. Welcome to CID.
Searching the victim's home, Stone finds a little girl’s bedroom and a hidden laptop. Who and where is the child? Stone is surprised by the victim’s sister’s relief that her brother is dead—and her violent reaction while identifying the body. Their search for the girl leads Stone to a local women’s shelter, one of several operated by a wealthy, well-respected philanthropist. The victim’s girlfriend is no longer there, and the child’s been taken into the foster care system.
Stone’s team, navigating their demanding new boss, a gruesome murder, and figuring out each other’s strengths, see a troubling resemblance to the recent murder of another man. Their digging leads them to the discovery of mounting, seemingly meaningless clues of which they must make sense.
Dark secrets surround both dead men. Stone discovers a second link to the women’s shelter as the killer takes another victim. As a haunting childhood tragedy victim, Stone isn’t about to go easy on the owner or her employees until she gets answers. But is she looking in the right place?
Chasing down a killer about to strike again, Stone is forced to trust and rely on her new, unproven team. Will they be able to come through before the knife comes down—on one of them?
Angela Marsons’ First Blood is the 12th novel in her fantastic DI Kim Stone Series. The fast-moving, tautly written story has more twists and turns than a roundabout. Kim Stone fans will be delighted with First Blood, as the author takes them back to where Stone’s journey began and how she forged her trusted and talented team. This precursor to the series is the perfect place for those new to DI Stone to start.
To learn more about USA Today Bestselling Author Angela Marsons, go to www.angelamarsons-books.com, Facebook: angelamarsonsauthor, and Twitter: WriteAngie