Title:	Child’s Play
	Author:	Angela Marsons
	Published:	July 8, 2019, Bookouture
	No. of Pages:	350
	Cover Price:	$11.99 Paperback, $4.99 Kindle

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Everybody, it seems, is fascinated by child prodigies, since most of us don’t know one and it seems so foreign to us. Detective Kim Stone, in the eleventh installment of the Detective Kim Stone Thriller series, Child’s Play investigates the murder of Belinda Evans, a retired college professor in child psychology, now in her 60s, who was found on a swing with an x carved in the back of her neck. More bodies with the same markings begin to show up, and when Kim ties the murders to an annual child prodigy conference where prodigies meet and perform, she finds that she and others are in grave danger. Belinda’s sister, Veronica isn’t forthcoming, even though Kim is sure she can help, and Belinda and Veronica have a strange relationship that throws Kim off the trail.

Kim Stone is a viable detective, and does a good job. Marsons has developed her character well over the course of the series of novels. Stone has her own demons to work through, and in this case, her right hand man is working on a murder in another precinct, so Kim is virtually on her own. Readers will be able to relate, but still won’t be able to guess who the murderer is or the reasons for the murder until the dénouement at the very end of the novel. Marsons does her research when writing this series, and the facts related to the child prodigy phenomenon are not only fascinating, but ring true.

Marsons’ books are well-written, and keep readers on the edges of their seats. Child’s Play is fascinating and will keep readers in suspense throughout

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.