Kim and her team are looking for a missing child. Eight year old Grace Lennard was taken from outside her preschool after the fire alarm sounded. Unexpectedly dapper Steven Harte steps into the station claiming to have information about the abduction of Grace, but it quickly becomes clear that Harte has his own agenda, which includes playing a mind game with Kim. Meanwhile, Alex Thorne's parole hearing is approaching, and she has several plans to ensure that she will be out of jail. One of those plans involves getting in contact with Kim.

Stolen Ones is another great addition to the DI Kim Stone series. Many familiar characters appear in the story, and we get another peek into their lives outside the station. As always, Marsons offers several clues and red herrings that bring the reader along on the journey as the team looks into the disappearance of Grace and several other young girls over the period of at least 25 years. The reappearance of Alex Thorne adds another level of suspense to the story. Overall, Stolen Ones is an engaging mystery that kept me guessing right up to the end of the book. ( )

This is the fifteenth in the D.I. Kim Stone series and the first one I have read. I am sorry that I haven’t read any of the others because I think I would have enjoyed this one more had I. The characters are well known to fans of this series, but I didn’t feel they were at all developed reading it as a standalone. I have read a number of other singletons from a series and felt they worked well as a standalones; this one did not.

Although the plot was decent and it is a solid police procedural, I felt I missed a lot by not knowing the background or personalities of the main players. I did not like the main character, Kim, at all and, again, feel that might be because I didn’t have much knowledge of her. I thought the analysis of body language during interviewing a suspect very interesting. There are two story lines, the second one involving sociopath Dr. Alex Thorne, it seems, sets itself up for the next in the series. I did not like this story line as much as the main one and don’t look forward to reading more about it!

I did find it amusing that Noelle Holten, a well known blogger in the UK and author herself, was the name given to a very minor character in jail for murder! ( )

Stolen Ones by Angela Marsons is the 15th A Detective Kim Stone Crime Thriller. While you can read each book as a standalone, I recommend reading the series in order. It will allow you to understand the characters and what they have endured. I cannot believe this is the fifteenth tale. It seems like it was just last year that I discovered Silent Scream. Stolen Ones is different from the other novels in this series. In this case, the guilty party is known. He walks into the police station and asks to speak with Kim Stone. He claims to have information. We get to interact with the guilty party and discover the motive. It is about the psychology behind the person’s motives as well as analyzing body language, eye movements, etc. Kim and her team are also dealing with a missing little girl. To find her, Kim must play a sophisticated game of cat and mouse. Kim must modify her behavior if she is to find the missing girl and put the guilty party behind bars. Kim’s arch nemesis, Dr. Alex Thorne is bothering her once again despite being locked up behind bars. Alex has a plan, and she has spent time preparing it as well as obtaining what she needs to enact it. Alex has uncovered a secret that she knows Kim would like to learn. If Kim wants the information, she must do something for Alex in return. Stolen Ones is well written with developed, realistic characters. I have enjoyed getting to know Kim and her team. Kim is the focus of Stolen Ones. The team is present busily doing their work and we get small snippets of Barney as well. The author captures the setting of Halesowen. She provides good descriptions of the various areas without being overly detailed. I find the pace a little slower in the beginning with it picking up as the story progresses. The mystery was fascinating. I could feel Kim’s frustration in dealing with the bad guy. He will only speak with Kim, and he has done his research. Kim must alter her behavior and questioning style if she is to succeed. It depends on how many mysteries you have read on whether or not you see the plot twist coming. I wanted to let you know that there is a significant amount of foul language in the story. Stolen Ones is a compelling novel that will have you staying up late to see how it turns out. I am eager for the next Detective Kim Stone Crime Thriller. Stolen Ones is a captivating crime novel with a missing moppet, a cold case, a wily wrongdoer, a true-blue team, a slippery psychiatrist, and a dedicated detective inspector. ( )