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Lost Girls is a 2017 mystery and thriller novel by British author Angela Marsons. It was published in 2015 by Bookouture. The paberback version was published by Zaffre Publishing in 2017. This is the third book in the D.I. Kim Stone series.

Plot
In the prologue, two girls are being kidnapped: Emily and Suzie. The book starts a year later of the prologue with D.I. Kim Stone confronting a reporter Tracy Frost for the murder of one of her cases, Dewain Wright. Kim is requested to lead the case of two abducted children (Amy and Charlie) by her former friend Karen Timmins. Both of the kids parents have received a message from the kidnappers. Kim pleads to be assigned on the case with her team: DS Bryant, DS Dawson and DC Stacey Wood. D.I. Kim Stone hires a Family Liaison Officer, named Helen Barton, to take care of the families in the meanwhile, who also worked on the case the previous year. The children were taken from a leisure centre, so Kim and Bryant head there to look at the CCTV and the manager lets them in. They bring the manager in since he is a witness and possibly in danger. From the CCTV's they learn that a man had played a copper to get the girls. They learn that the kids knew the woman who had been the distraction so the girls could be taken. They show the photo of the woman to the parents who identify her as Amy's ex-nanny: Inga Bauer. In the meanwhile, the kidnappers (Will Carter and Symes) are planning another text message to send.

The next day, Kim learns the manager has been murdered after being released. Inga returns to her home to find the place trashed. Karen tells Kim that Robert (her husband) is not Charlie's father and it is a man named Lee Darby, instead, who they go way back with. Bryant and Kim go visit Lee Darby in the prison he's in and learn that he's not involved in the kidnappings. Doctor Alison Lowe and Matt Ward join the team. They receive another text message, asking who is willing to pay more for their girls. Kim asks the kidnappers for proof of life. A woman named Eloise Austen, a psychic, appears and tells them to look out for number 278. Kim asks Dawson to look into the case of Dewain Wright. They think there to be a Subject Three. Karen Timmins receives a text message and they find the children's clothes outside. They visit Jenny Cotton, Suzie's mother and she believes Emily's parents paid the ransom. Symes kills Inga Bauer. Jenny Cotton gets a text asking if she wants to play again. They pay Emily Truman's family a visit. Kim notices a bus with the number 278 and goes to visit Eloise, only to find her wounded but alive. Emily Trueman runs away and sees the man who took her, driving in a blue-booted car. They take Emily to see a hypnotist and find new information and that the kidnappers planned to take her again. The abductors send a text that they want fifty thousand for the freedom of the girls.

Kim and Bryant head to find the girls and take the route Emily had directed them at. At the same time, the girls plan their escape. Charlie attacks Symes and bites him in his left forearm. Amy runs off and catches up to Kim and Bryant as Will chases her, Kim tackles him to the ground. Kim gets locked in the basement with Charlie and Symes who then attacks her. Kim and Charlie are rescued by Bryant. They also find Suzie, alive, in one of the rooms. Dawson discovers who gave up Dewain Wright and goes to his family home where he arrests his father. Subject Three is found to be Helen Barton who had been the boss all this time. The book ends with all the children being rescued and reunited with their families as Kim Stone visits Eloise Austen at the hospital.

Characters
D.I. Kim Stone: The lead Detective Inspector on the case. Kim is very brusque and sharp, black-haired. She doesn't let anyone to tell her what to do.

D.S. Bryant: A forty-five-year-old team member, Kim's partner. Bryant is a married man and a father.

D.S. Kevin Dawson: Another member of the team. He has a fiancée. Dawson can be stubborn, but has a good heart and is not yet mature.

D.C. Stacey Wood: A member of Kim's team. Stacey is very hard-working and always dressed appropriately.

D.C.I Woodward: Kim's superior who has a lot of faith in her. But she makes him use his stress ball a lot.

Emily Trueman: The abducted girl from thirteen months ago who survived.

Karen Timmins/Holt: Charlie's mother, Robert Timmins' wife and Kim's old friend. A dyed blonde-haired woman.

Robert Timmins: Charlie's known father, Karen's husband who is twice her age.

Lee Darby: Charlie's real father who Karen had a one-night-stand with and is now in prison.

Elizabeth Hanson: An auburn-haired sweet woman, Amy's and Nicholas' mother. The wife of Stephen Hanson, a friend of Karen.

Stephen Hanson: A very aggressive, abusive and stubborn, black-haired man. Amy's and Nicholas' father, Elizabeth's husband.

Tracy Frost: A news reporter who Kim believes to be responsible for Dewain Wright's death.

Dewain Wright: A killed boy who used to be a part of a gang.

Charlie Timmins: Karen's and Robert's daughter, one of the abducted girls. Charlie is strong and takes care of Amy.

Amy Hanson: Elizabeth's and Stephen's daughter, Nicholas' sister.

Helen Barton: A family Liasion Officer. Subject Three, the boss. Helen has ash-blonde hair, middle-aged, overweight.

Matt Ward: A trained negotiator. Matt is in his late thirties, curt and sharp, alike with Kim. He has dark hair and tanned, warn golden brown skin.

Alison Lowe: A Consulting Behaviourist.

Reception

 * 'DI Kim Stone is the most fascinating character to arrive on the scene since Val McDermid gave us Tony Hill' by Mail on Sunday
 * 'I'm a little bit speechless to be honest at just how incredible this book was… one of the best new crime authors of 2015, maybe even the decade.' by Book Addict Shaun.