Shalini Boland is a USA Today bestselling author of psychological thrillers The Girl from the Sea, The Best Friend, The Millionaire's Wife, and The Child Next Door. She lives in Dorset, England with her husband, two children, and their cheeky terrier mix.Boland's The Secret Mother is now out in the US.
At CrimeReads she tagged five of today's savviest, toughest female protagonists in crime fiction, including:
The Detective Kim Stone Series, by Angela MarsonsRead about the other entries on the list.
Book 1 in the series, Silent Scream, is a crime mystery that draws you in straight away. This is in part due to the unconventional and abrasive main character, DI Kim Stone, whose own story is emotionally tangled up with her latest case. With an abruptmanner that often borders on downright rude, I really shouldn’t have liked Stone, but I found that I absolutely loved her, rooting for her every step of the way, my heart in my mouth as the body count rose. The plot is intricate, and fast-moving, the writing deft and smooth. I also laughed out loud on more than one occasion which balanced out the darker and more grisly aspects.
Stone is a complex woman, who has virtually no filter and isn’t afraid to says it like it is. She’s suffered trauma in her past, but instead of holding her back, it spurs her on. Stone’s character arc deepens through the series and far from sliding into predictability, author Angela Marsons builds on the foundation of book 1 to create a character—along with an outstanding supporting cast—that readers will truly care about.
--Marshal Zeringue
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