At first I wasn’t sure what to make of this latest book in a marvellous series. Dead Memories starts with the discovery of two teenagers chained to a radiator in a block of flats, one of whom dies.
Regular readers of the series and those closest to Di Kim Stone know this is a recreation of a scene from her own traumatic childhood. Unwilling to believe someone is out to destroy her psychologically by making her relive past pain and unearth repressed memories, Kim initially refuses to counter this crime is about her. But when more murders that uncannily echo other scenes from her terrible upbringing occur, Kim is forced to acknowledge that someone is not only out to get her, but break her in the cruelest possible way. The question then becomes can she and her team discover who that might be before they succeed?
I love this series. Stone is a canny, tough cop who is also smart and rarely makes a wrong move. The writing is tight and the plots generally plausible. When I first began reading this installment, however, I found it hard to suspend my disbelief based on previous knowledge of the main character. Why would Stone be so vehement in denying what everyone around her knew to be fact: that this was a copycat crime designed to inflict deep psychological pain on her? I found her denial, her refusal to include members of her trusted team, who’ve done nothing but blindly and loyally follow her, frustrating to say the least. Fortunately, at some point in the novel, some of the more far-fetched elements (eg. interviewing anyone who might ‘hate’ her – it was very “high school” but I am not sure how else it could have been achieved) and Stone’s stubbornness receded into a good, solid procedural with well drawn characters and a believable finale.
I also enjoyed reading Marson’s author notes and her explanation for writing this particular novel.
Already looking forward to the next installment.