Kim knew she had a reputation for being cold, socially inept and emotionless. This perception deflected banal small talk and that was fine by her.
Her expectations of her team are high:
The shift didn’t start until eight a.m. but she liked them all in early for a briefing, especially at the beginning of a new case. Kim didn’t like to stick to a roster and people who did lasted a very short time on her team.
Stone has had a hard life.
She works in the Black Country area in the West Midlands near Birmingham, England.
Teresa Wyatt, forty seven, is killed in her bathtub by being pushed under the water. A fire is set outside her home moments after the murder.
Wyatt was single with no children. She was the “highly respected principal of a private boys’ school in Stourbridge”.
All but one interview at the school portray her as “a real-life saint”. English teacher, Joanna Wade, describes Wyatt as rigid and out-dated in her approach to education.
As they explore Wyatt’s interest in an archeaological dig they find Professor Milton, the archaeologist, has been missing for over 48 hours.
Professor Milton believed there might be a trove of ancient coins to rival the Staffordshire hoard of over three and half thousand pieces of gold worth over three million pounds.
There is more murder.
The dig is the former site of the Crestwood Children’s Home. Someone wants no digging done.
Stone’s impatience and disregard for protocol is legendary. When a magnetometer finds anomalies she starts digging without authorization. She finds a body.
A psychopath lurks reflecting on childhood:
The death of three animals brought an embargo on pets …. My condition was not a curse, but a blessing. The sacrifice of my sister finally set me free. Since that day I have been liberated to take what I want and destroy what I don’t, without the restraints of guilt or remorse.
Her supervisor, DCI Woodward, “Woody”, is furious. He is concerned over defending her actions in court. He warns her that “when the day comes that your reckless actions endanger the career or even the life of those around you, it won’t be me or even the police force to which you will have to answer”.
Stone clashes with everyone. Her bluntness and intelligence and wit keep all on edge.
The dialogue is remarkable, direct and credible. Social niceties are an irritation to Stone. Her only vulnerability appears to be another woman whose childhood was in government care.
Stone can recognize anguish. A young girl is sitting on a wall outside a crematorium. She is ill-dressed for the cold. It is her nan being cremated. Stone asks why she is still sitting there:
The girl looked up at the chimney of the crematorium. Thick smoke funnelled out and dispersed. “I don’t want to leave her until …. I don’t want her to be alone.”
There is more murder.
The psychopath recounts how he or she (we do not know) killed in brutal detail.
Stone’s team member, Bryant, beyond being unaffected by her caustic tongue, is usually with her to provide an alternative in her aggressive interviews. She recalls:
“.... a valuable piece of advice offered to her by Woody. If you can’t play nice … let Bryant do it.”
Bodies keep coming and Stone’s frustration level is stratospheric.
Those treated cruelly as children can be just as cruel or even more cruel as they mature.
The psychopath observes the investigation and adds comments reflecting a deeply deeply disturbed mind with a total absence of empathy. When will the psychopath intervene for self-protection?
It is a rare ending that is both predictable and unpredictable. As I neared the end of the book I was feeling a touch smug about figuring out the killer when Masons turned me upside down. I can see why Silent Scream has been a bestseller and appreciate Marian at Sleuth of Baker Street for recommending it to me.
I think Kim Stone is a very interesting character, Bill. As you say, she's much impacted by her childhood, but at the same time, she doesn't wallow in it and her character has some interesting dimensions. I was surprised, too, at the ending, and I think that was done effectively. It's a very sad story, too, or that's how it struck me. It's not one to read when you want a lighthearted whodunit.
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