As such a massive fan of this series, the minute the 17th installment of the Detective Kim Stone series fell into my inbox I had a little jig, punched the air and then pressed the big red stop button on the world. When Kim discovers that he’s forced Stacey to stop investigating the apparent suicide of a young man, she can’t help but get involved, introducing her to the murky world of sexual reorientation clinics.

There are some developments on a personal level in Hidden Scars, but thankfully nothing with a negative impact this time around. As Kim, along with Alan Bryant, Stacey and Penn, dug deeply into the apparent suicide of a young Jamie Mills, she could see things didn't add up. Then the body of a young woman is found dead by suffocation and Kim learns that the victim spent time at the clinic too, and her death was also staged to look like a suicide. One thing that does happen exactly as we expect is the camaraderie and the team spirit between our main characters. It’s clear to Stone and the team that a serial killer is at work – but just how many bodies will they uncover?She has a big heart, and it shows in her interactions with Bryant and a young man named River in this book. However, Marsons handled them very well, with a lot of sensitivity, while still being very forthright. Kim's replacement, Burns was happy to move on to the next case even when Stacy shares her thoughts that there is more to his death. Given how the lead case evolves, you would easily think that anything was possible, so be prepared for misdirection and sleight of hand. We also touch base with Kim’s boss, DCI Woodward, Alison Lowe, the behaviorist, Keats, the local pathologist, and Mitch, the lead forensic technician and …and who could forget Kim’s faithful dog, Barney.

It’s worth more than the Audible credit I give up to let Jan Cramer tell me the story in her most talented way. The clinic Jamie was sent to is run by the Gardner family, who appear to run the business by fear as those that attended the clinic are afraid to speak of what happens there.Another apparent suicide is found to be murder and they learn that both of the young victims has been patients at the Change - a facility that promises to cure people of being gay. Kim and team members discover that participants in the therapy were forced to undergo horrendous treatment in an attempt to eliminate homosexual thoughts and behaviour. This book highlights the dangers and utter pointlessness of gay conversion therapy and the incredible damage it can cause.

But a visit to Samantha’s parents rings alarm bells for Kim – there’s something they’re not telling her.

The loathsome DI Ian Burns has been heading the unit in her absence and has made a hash of everything he touched. Can Kim put aside her own demons, save Grace and the other missing girls before more innocent lives are lost? But this is a Kim Stone story, and whether seemingly innocent or not, something has to be a miss for it to have caught Stacey’s attention. I felt like I was being educated along with the main characters, and I simply couldn’t believe how far those conversion treatments would go… Utterly appalling, and it’s shocking that this can actually happen even today. I probably shouldn’t have read it as I have 6 more books to catch up, so now I have spoiled the last book a bit, but I will still listen and enjoy this series as I work my way through it.

But with nothing to link the two victims except the cold, calculated nature of their death, this could be her most difficult case yet. But, as more vengeful killings come to light, it soon becomes clear that there is someone far more sinister at work. Sending one of her own undercover into Unity Farm is high risk but it’s Kim’s only hope if she is to catch a killer – someone Kim is convinced the victims knew and trusted. And YES, I will keep using quotation marks for "conversion camp" because it's a bunch of nonsense and I don't believe it in PERIODTTT. So I learned Spanish (I actually have a degree in Spanish philology), went to study in Madrid, Spain when I was 20.So I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as Kim and her team are concerned but things were definitely off and it was unsettling. Just another layer added to the multitudes the author already has laid out for us readers and somehow she’s always able to tug at my emotions while reading a thriller, which is not an easy task. Kim's character continues to grow in Hidden Scars and the title of the book reflects Kim's circumstances as accurately as several of the other characters who feature. Firstly I would like to thank netgalley, and Bookouture,and the Brilliant author Angela marsons for an early copy of her book. The glistening richness of the liquid is caught in the lamplight as it escapes like lava from a volcano and runs down the line of her hair.