Child’s Play
Angela Marsons
More miserable children
Child's Play is the eleventh novel in Angela Marsons's DI Kim Stone series of mystery thrillers about maltreated children. OK, that was slightly inaccurate. Sprinkled in there are a few mysteries in which badly treated children don't play a prominent role. However, the large majority have badly treated children at the core of the story. What's more, our hero, Kim Stone, is a survivor of horrific abuse suffered when she was a girl.
Granted, it's a great hook! Who could be a more sympathetic victim than a young girl? But it came to feel repetitive, and also, after a while, exploitative.
At first, even despite the title, Child's Play seemed like it might be different. Our first murder victim is a professionally successful late-middle-aged woman. But then, at 27%, I read these words about her, "Belinda was particularly expert on the long-term repercussions of early mental cruelty." When I read that, I thought, "I've had it. This is the end of the series for me."
I'm sorry about this, because they really are well-written mysteries. Kim is an appealing hero. Her team of investigators are all well-drawn and interesting. The mysteries are tricky and require some cleverness to solve, usually from Kim herself, but her team members also have their chances to shine.
But, hey! there are an awful lot of really good novels by an awful lot of really great authors waiting out there to be read. Too many to keep reading what feels like the same novel over and over again. The series is 22 novels and a prequel. I've read the first eleven novels now (and I'll probably finish up with the prequel). I think I've given Kim Stone more than a fair chance.