When a headmistress is found brutally strangled, the death marks the beginning of a spate of gruesome murders that shock the Black Country.

But as human remains are discovered at a former children’s home, disturbing secrets are also unearthed. D.I. Kim Stone fast realises she’s on the hunt for a twisted individual whose killing spree spans decades.

As the body count rises, Kim needs to stop the murderer before they strike again. But to catch the killer, can Kim confront the demons of her own past – before it’s too late?

My thanks to Bookouture for my review copy which I received through Netgalley.

It is easy to see why Silent Scream has received such a positive reaction and commanded so many great review scores, Angela Marsons has delivered a gripping crime thriller and introduces us to a fabulous lead character in DI Kim Stone.

Former employees of a Children’s Home are being murdered. The Home its-self stands on the site of a proposed archaeological dig and when the ground is finally broken the first ‘find’ it yields is the body of a young girl. However, this is not a discovery that provides any historic value as the girl’s body has been in the ground for less than 10 years. Could there be a connection between the young girl’s death and the recent spate of murders? It is up to DI Kim Stone to find out.

Stone provides great entertainment value – she has no social skills, a love of motorbikes and we learn that her personal history overlaps too closely with the Care Home deaths (a factor that is teased out well throughout the book). I felt the author did a great job with Stone’s dialogue as she comes across as focused, determined, impatient and just plain rude yet still is an engaging figure.

I have mentioned in previous reviews that I enjoy when crime novels feature a strong team that support the lead character. We have the makings of such a team here. Stone works closely with DS Bryant and their respective styles compliment each other well with their classic good cop/bad cop attitudes. There are two other team members, Dawson and Wood, who were largely kept in the background through Silent Scream – I expect they will feature more heavily in future outings.

Reading Silent Scream was a treat. Events tick along at a nice fast pace, the small group of suspects (and potential victims) are well defined and there are some clever plot twists that will make you re assess your early guesses at the identity of the killer.

I would have no qualms recommending Silent Scream to anyone that enjoys a good murder mystery and would score it 4/5.

You can follow Angela Marsons on Twitter: @WriteAngie