Review: Dead Memories by Angela Marsons

Dead Memories (D.I. Kim Stone, Book #10)

by Angela Marsons

Release Date: February 22, 2019

2019 Bookouture

Ebook Copy; 459 Pages

ISBN: 978-1786817723

ASIN: B07KYS8SPF

Audiobook: B07NGVZBBB

Genre: Fiction / Mystery

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

3.5 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

She ruined their lives. Now they’re going to destroy hers.

Faced with a killer who is recreating traumatic events from her past, Kim must face the brutal truth that someone wants to hurt her in the worst way possible. Desperate to stay on the case, she is forced to work with profiler Alison Lowe who has been called in to observe and monitor Kim’s behaviour.

Kim has spent years catching dangerous criminals and protecting the innocent. But with a killer firmly fixed on destroying Kim, can she solve this complex case and save her own life or will she become the final victim?

 

My Thoughts

Dead Memories is the next book in the D.I. Kim Stone mystery series, and this series continues to deliver on multiple levels.  This one is personal to Kim as the murders mimic traumatic events in her past and she not only has to work on solving the cases, but has to relive the memories and cope with the onslaught of emotions she thought long buried.  Personally, I really enjoyed the psychological aspects of this novel much more than the mystery although the mystery was fascinating as well.  I did have some difficulties with this book though that lowered my overall rating.

 

First of all, while I really enjoyed the psychological aspect of this novel, I still don't think it went far enough and explored it enough, almost as if the author was afraid to take it to the next level. I mean, Kim was being forced to relive extremely traumatic moments in her life, things that she had kept quiet and locked away, and not only were they being ripped out of her, they were being done in a way that was very, very public.  It is fine to have this emotionally stunted person who is leading a team of investigators, but do her a bit more credit when everything goes pots up. My biggest concern however wasn't with Kim's development, but more with the secondary characters. Gosh, the development in the first eight books was fantastic, and then we arrive in this book and then it seems like the secondary characters are just there to do...what? I don't know. I absolutely loved Stacy in previous books, but in this one she just seemed to be on the side, the token LGBTQ character. Personally, I felt like the author wasn't sure which character to follow, but to a reader it is clear the MC is Kim and the rest of the story needs to revolve around this character or it simply won't work.  So, when I mention we need more of Stacy, we need more of her in her job, working with the team. I don't necessarily need more of their personal lives, especially if it veers way off the story line and has nothing to do with what is happening.

 

The plot itself was interesting and while I liked the mystery, I did think the execution was a bit erratic and some of the dialogue was silly, especially the visits to the prison and the discussions with the prisoners.  I mean, these are dangerous people that Kim put away and some of the dialogue just felt so stilted and unconvincing, relying a lot on sexual innuendo and threats.  The POV also switched to some of the characters in the prisons and I personally thought those were useless and distracting.  I think a lot of what works really well in these books is when most of the POV is Kim's.  While the plot moved along rather quickly and I always like the investigating side of things, I wasn't convinced when the killer was revealed nor did the motives seem completely believable. I thought it might go in a different direction, at least I was hoping it would, but it didn't. I think I wanted to be shocked, horrified, like in previous novels, but this one was a bit of a letdown.

 

Verdict

Dead Memories definitely had some strong moments that I enjoyed quite a bit and I was glad to see the focus on Kim and her secretive past.  And while the psychological aspect was good, I did think the author could have gone a bit deeper and darker with Kim and the trauma from what she was experiencing.  The plot moved along rather quickly, but some of the POVs were fillers and unnecessary, and I thought some of the dialogue, especially the scenes in the prison were trite and silly, relying more on threats and sexual innuendos. I would also like to see the development of the secondary characters in their roles and utilized a bit better than in this book. Also, why do authors continuously have their DIs go alone on dangerous missions because they don't want to jeopardize the rest of their team? Sounds stupid to me because isn't that why you have backup?