A Distant Grave, the second in a new series by Sarah Stewart Taylor, is most excellent follow-up to The Mountains Wild! Ms. Taylor does a wonderful job - you can feel Maggie's conflict as she juggles her job, the D.A. who has it in for her, her daughter Lilly, and her boyfriend in Ireland. I thought it started a little slow and although there are quite a number of references to happenings from Wild, it doesn't require reading the first in the series. When an Irish national visits Long Island and is murdered, the connections to Maggie's hometown run deep. Ms. Taylor brings it together fabulously, and there are some truly eerie and breathtaking moments, including a seemingly unrelated episode in Afghanistan. SO well done, and highly, highly recommend!

P. S. Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC.

Sarah Stewart Taylor has done it again! This atmospheric mystery had me feeling like I was truly on the scene in Ireland and Long Island. And talk about suspense! This had me on the edge of my seat as I was trying to figure out whodunnit. I really like this series and the characters and will definitely keep reading! I'm excited to see what happens next.

I listened to book one in this series to get prepared but I don't think it was necessary because not only are things explained where needed, but I had a hard time sinking into the characters in book one and remembering who was who. The characters seemed to blend together for me and didn't really stand out as unique.

I finally started to get into Maggie's life as a working mom in this book and found it a little more interesting than the investigation. She's not the most unique lead I've read sadly, but I did feel drawn to her more. The case is a murder in Long Island but the victim just happens to be an Irish national which takes Maggy right back to Ireland like in book one. I'm not sure how this dual setting will continue in future books because it's not very realistic that a cop or detective would be in this situation but I do love the Irish setting. I see the author leading Maggy to a move to Ireland but police work there is done quite differently so that would not be like a transplant situation.

Regardless, the writing is good and if you like procedural mysteries this one is developed well. I would recommend it to fans of Tana French although her characters are not as hefty or twisted.

4 stars / This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com today.

Having enjoyed getting to know Maggie D’Arcy and all in the first novel in this series, I couldn’t wait to tackle the next adventure in Detective Lt D’Arcy’s life.

This time around, Maggie is tasked with finding the murderer of an Irish national on the shores of Long Island. Gabriel Treacy was in the US for unknown reasons, alone on a beach, the night he was killed. Maggie and her partner Dave are called to the scene, and begin the job of looking for clues as to why someone would want to kill this man.

Because Maggie has a trip to Ireland planned anyway, her superior asks her to look into the background of Treacy while she is there. It gives Maggie a chance to reconnect with her Irish counterparts in the Garda, Roly and Griz. Although Maggie’s trip is supposed to be a vacation with her significant other, Conor and his son, Adrien, Maggie hopes that this trip will allow her to get some work done as well.

As Maggie learns more about Treacy and his history, the threads of his life weave an interesting story but don’t give exact clues into why he would have been in America. However, crimes are then committed in Ireland that lead right back to Treacy, connecting his murder with the crimes in Ireland. Could somehow all of this be connected?

Taylor once again gives us a brilliant crime novel with plenty of questions to be answered. Maggie D’Arcy is such a fine detective, but her personal life is one to enjoy learning about as well. I love Taylor’s ability to put us on both shores of the world - the US and Ireland - teach us about life over there as well as police work in both places. With deft skill and writing, her novels are so much fun to read.

A Distant Grave picks up right where The Mountains Wild left off. Maggie D'Arcy is back in New York working as a detective with the Suffolk County police department when a man is found shot on the beach. The story takes her back to Ireland. Can she solve the case and patch up her family life at the same time?

I was so happy to be able to dive back into the world of Maggie D'Arcy. She is one of my favorite fictional characters to read! This mystery was riveting and so perfectly planned. It was not what I was expecting at all. In a way, this was great because I was so intrigued by where the mystery took me. On the other hand, it was very outside my usual realm and I found it hard to relate. One thing that I loved most about this story was the emphasis put on storytelling and what it means to tell a story. I loved the emphasis put on others being apart of your story once you share it. It was just amazing and I loved it so much. This was a solid story and I loved the Irish elements included in this one.

A Distant Grave by Sarah Stewart Taylor is a distinctive police procedural taking place on both Long Island and Ireland. Maggie D'Arcy is a police detective on Long Island with strong roots in Ireland: a previous investigation and a long-lost love, Conor. Her two-week vacation in Ireland was scheduled to begin in just a couple of days. He daughter, who had been depressed over the death of her father, was looking forward to it and if this murder interfered, it would be a harsh judgment on their relationship. Yet, what was this murder? A random robbery? An M13 initiation? Things couldn't be murkier than they were at this point. Then, they discovered the name of the dead man: Gabriel Treacy, and he was Irish. Coincidence? While Maggie and Lilly were in Ireland when a small-town lawyer was killed. Not a huge deal except one of his clients was Gabriel Treacy. Maggie left Lilly with Conor and went to join the investigation. All kinds of strings to pull. Which one is going to lead to a solution?

This is a terrific book, primarily because of all the relationships and occurrences outside the actual crimes. It is such a powerful read that it grips the reader and almost forces one into the story. Maggie's life has been full of challenges, as well as all the good things. Deciding which Conor was took up much of her spare brainpower. Either of them moving to a new country encompassed a lot of changes: career, home, family. Long distance between Ireland and New York was obviously not a long-term solution, either. She lived he job. She still had things to accomplish, despite the antagonism she faced from a local politician and even from members of her own department. She is a complicated woman dealing with a complicated life and, in this case, a complicated crime. Maggie is an excellent detective and she chased down the clues she needed to solve the crime, nearly dying in the effort. It is a good book, one definitely worth the read.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of A Distant Grave, the second in this series by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #adistantgrave

The second in Stewart Taylor’s Maggie D’Arcy series follows her elegiac first outing, The Mountains Wild, my favorite read of 2020. Maggie is a Long Island homicide cop, but as the first novel explored, she has deep roots in Ireland. In the first novel she searches for her long lost cousin’s killer; in the second novel, the crime occurs up the street from her home, but the roots of the story again take her back to Ireland.

She’s left behind a new-old flame in Ireland and has been planning a long vacation there with her daughter to visit him, but she catches a homicide case two days before they plan to leave. When it turns out the victim was Irish, she figures she can combine business and pleasure, and her boss gives her leave to take off.

Stewart Taylor’s books are thoughtful slow burns, and they are also expertly plotted. She very much reminds me of writers like Deborah Crombie and Peter Robinson, combining a police novel with a sense of place and a deep dive into character. In this book her dive takes her into Maggie’s personal life as she struggles with the balance of raising a teenager as a single mother and hoping for some kind of a relationship in Ireland with her old flame. The problem is a knotty, complicated and adult one, and Maggie’s struggles will not be easily resolved.

It’s also a look at the life of the dead man, Gabriel Treacy, a high echelon aid worker who had, it turned out, spent time in troubled areas all over the world. As the threads of the story are unraveled, it becomes clear that Gabriel was held captive in Afghanistan and, while he was released, he bears the scars (literally) of being kidnapped.

In Ireland, Maggie is forced to split her time between work and time with her boyfriend (to his and her daughter’s dismay). She’s drawn in further when the dead man’s lawyer is also discovered murdered in the Irish village where Gabriel grew up. Some of the threads of the story tie back to the States, as Gabriel had died there and had been there to meet someone – the question is who.

Stewart Taylor manages to balance Maggie’s possible new life in Ireland with her work as a police detective, someone who is good at her job but who is also torn in the way any mother is between the pull of family and the pull of work. The more Gabriel’s life is examined and discovered, the sadder the story becomes as it’s obvious he was a kind person who was only trying to do good in the world.

The characters in the book, from Maggie herself, to the dead man, to Maggie’s fellow cops, to Maggie’s daughter, uncle and boyfriend, are all incisively and vividly drawn, and as in all the best books, the characters determine the story. The mystery elements exist because of the characters and the choices they’ve made in life.

The prose is lovely and as the plot begins to accelerate towards the end of the book, when all the plot threads come together, it really explodes – it’s hard to put down. This is another spectacular read from an extremely gifted writer.

A Distant Grave is the follow up to The Mountains Wild - both featuring Detective Maggie D’Arcy investigating cases that occur in NY and Ireland. While you could jump in here, I recommend reading them in order and think it adds to the experience to have all the backstory.

Maggie and her daughter are home in Long Island and getting ready to return to Ireland on vacation when an unidentified body is found on the beach. From there, Maggie is pulled into a new case that will pull her in many directions.

One of my favorite things in both books in the series is how completely I found myself pulled into the world of the book. There are a lot of twists and turns and I kept needing to see what would happen next. There are a few moments where I found myself holding my breath.

I listened to the audiobook which was great - with one exception being the narrator’s Long Island accent was sometimes a little too much and pulled me out of the story. This may just be a case of my own knowledge - the Irish accents could be off too but I would never know so that wouldn’t bother me. I still loved the audio experience as a way to get really lost in the story.

Thank you to Minotaur, Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the advance reading/listening copies.

Maggie Again Solves a Trans-National Case Between the US and Ireland

Suffolk County, Long Island Detective Maggie D’arcy is taking her daughter Lily to Ireland for a much anticipated reunion with Conor, her boyfriend. She’s ready to leave until a body unexpectedly turns up near the marina in Bay Shore. The body is rapidly identified as an Irish international aid worker. Maggie hopes for a rapid conclusion to the case so she and Lily can be on the plane to Ireland.

Clues seem to point to the victim’s background in Ireland. Reluctantly, her supervisor, Marty, decides that looking for evidence in Ireland will be beneficial. Maggie is torn between her desire to solve the case and an equally strong desire to see Conor and find out whether their mutual attraction has a future.

This is the second book in the series. I loved the first book and wondered how Conor and Maggie would manage to get back together. This book is the perfect solution. The case is complex, clues are spread throughout the book, so you keep reading to find out what really happened and why. The story is told primarily in the first person from Maggie’s point-of-view. However, sections from the victim are cleverly slipped in at intervals. I thought they were are great addition to the novel.

Although this is the second book in the series, it can be read as a standalone. However, I recommend reading the first book before you tackle this one. Maggie and Conor are wonderful characters and getting to know them from the beginning is a treat. I highly recommend this book.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

Last year, I got an early copy of Sarah Stewart Taylor's The Mountains Wild and enjoyed it, but it felt, at first, like an uphill trudge then got so good I read til wee hours of the night. I got an email that Taylor had a new book coming out this week and would I like a copy to read? Why yes, yes I would.

I downloaded A Distant Grave, Maggie D'Arcy #2, and went on essentially the same rollercoaster. I'm wondering if this is the style of the author since this is only the second book of hers I've read. I'm definitely not arguing with the style (maybe the wee hours in the night thing should stop. I'm getting old.)

Maggie is back in Long Island, investigating a homicide of a man shot to death on a beach. We find his name is Gabriel Treacy and he's from Ireland. Which, coincidentally is the same place Maggie and her daughter Lilly are heading to for vacation. In the first book, Maggie reunites with Conor and, in this book, they are a full on, very long distance couple. Conor doesn't seem thrilled with Maggie's career choice and is concerned this murder might make her miss her vacation. Maggie mixes vacation with work and, while in Dublin, continues investigating Treacy's past.

Treacy's past is a doozy, to be honest. The investigation is nicely intermixed with stories from Gabriel himself about what happened to him when he was kidnapped as an aid worker in Afghanistan. When another murder happens in Ireland that appears related to Treacy's murder, things get a bit twisted up. The American murder throws in some twist with the murder weapon that confuses matters but eventually Maggie puts all the pieces together, while everything around her is really falling apart. She's a pretty stellar detective and honestly, I hope she ignores that boyfriend of hers enough to keep going on her path.

There were just a few pieces that confused me but it's possible I skipped something in the first book. The DA Jay Cooney was incredibly hostile to Maggie in this book and I had a hard time figuring out why. Even with the reveals at the end, his hostility was, hmmm, extreme. Otherwise, this is a really good book, and most likely will be a good series. I really enjoy the America and Ireland connections and the fact that Maggie works well in both.

The lovely thing about these two Maggie D'Arcy books (2020's The Mountains Wild and the new A Distant Grave) is that they can't be neatly boxed up and categorized. You'd be justified in calling them high-octane mysteries or even thrillers; solid police procedurals; deeply-felt women's fiction, or cross-cultural explorations. None of those categories fully do these books justice.

The lead character is a middle-aged woman. She is fiercely smart and fit and strong, physically and emotionally. The reader sees her a mother, as a lover, and as a high-ranking police detective -- and none of those roles eclipses the others.

I like the authenticity and immediacy of the topical bases of each book -- in this case, there were 1) the gritty connections between altruistic international aid workers and cruelly mercenary military contractors; and 2) the tragic outcomes of forced adoptions of Irish babies born in the Magdalen Homes of the 20th century.

Yet somehow, author Sarah Stewart Taylor uses these as -- as pontoons to lift the plot, and not anchors to weigh it down. She writes beautifully. It's not often one could find, in a book picked up purely for entertainment, the admonition: "He told the children that if you have something to give, something the world needs, it's your duty as a human being to give it."

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance reader's copy.

This is the second in Sarah Stewart Taylor's Maggie D'Arcy series. This book follows just a few months after the events in The Mountains Wild. Lilly is still coming to terms with the death of her father and Maggie and Conor are trying to forge a successful long distance relationship. When the body of an Irish National is found on a beach on Long Island Maggie is called in on the case which ultimately takes her back across the ocean to Ireland. She and Lilly had planned on a vacation there anyway so she combines vacation time with her investigation. These books are excellent police procedurals/mysteries but what I really love is the sense of place...the descriptions of Ireland and her people. Ms. Taylor gives us well developed characters that feel just like old friends. I adore Conor's parents and look forward to hopefully getting to know them better in future books.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Maggie D’arcy is back in the A Distant Grave. This is the sequel to the 2020 release The Mountains Wild which I loved last year. Detective mystery series are my bread and butter. When I’m stuck in a reading rut, they’re my go too, so I was very excited when my friends over at Minotaur Books, sent me a copy of A Distant Grave.

In Taylor’s newest installment, we pick back up where we left off. Detective Maggie D’arcy and her daughter Lilly are still recovering from the events of book 1. In an effort to get away from it all, D’arcy and Lilly are set to vacation back in Ireland, that is until a Irish national is found murdered on a Long Island Beach. The case may take D’arcy away from vacation but it’s putting her right in the middle of another murder that has taken place across the pond, in Ireland. As she follows the case, D’arcy stumbles the hidden adoption of Irish children and begins to understand the dangers humanitarian aid workers can sometimes face.

Once again I really enjoy this series and just like the first book, this is a great atmospheric novel. The research that Taylor must do to prepare for these stories is intense and it really make me interested in looking more into a few different areas.

The characters in these books are rich and deeply human. I enjoy the relationships that D’arcy builds not only with her family and partners but also to the victims. Her compassion is really a stand out quality for the character. She’s determined, smart, and has all the realistic struggles of a single parent.

This books has a ton of layers and while murder is the central plot point, I really enjoyed how Taylor tied everything together while also educating the readers on some lesser known topics.

I highly recommend this series to my fellow mystery lovers and I can’t wait for the next book!

A Distant Grave is out now. Huge thank you to Minotaur books for my advanced copy for my honest review. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof_books.

Det. Maggie D'arcy is planning a two week vacation to Ireland with daughter Lilly to visit boyfriend Conor when she catches a murder case in Long Island. An Irish National (later identified as Gabriel Traecy) is shot on the beach leading to a mysterious, convoluted case that will have Maggie working with Garda Detectives in Ireland during her vacation. The deeper the investigation goes, the more frustrated they become. While readers are privy to Gabriel's point of view through snippets of past episodes in his life, Maggie is left with random tidbits of information to try to piece together. When the investigation draws her into the bullseye of a killer, Maggie finds herself trying to juggle both her professional and personal life in a complex, highly entertaining story. The clock is ticking and time is running out for Maggie in both her professional and personal lives. If she can't solve the case soon, she may not have a job to go home to.

A Distant Grave is a complex, highly atmospheric story delivered through lyrical prose that intricately weaves several plot lines together leading to an explosive ending. Taylor's characterizations lend an air of authenticity to a cast from two cultures, two countries with detailed characters who keep you guessing. She excels at setting an ominous tone through setting, characters and multiple plots driving the pace forward with increasing speed and urgency. While plot lines and characters can seem murky at times, Taylor spins and pulls all threads together by the end. A Distant Grave is a well-written, intimate story that links past, present and future together in a story that fans of mystery and suspense will enjoy. It's a fantastic follow-up to book one which I highly recommend.

A Distant Grave is another great police procedural from Taylor. I enjoy seeing the differences and similarities between a New York cop and an Irish Guarda. Maggie is is a great tough cookie. I sometimes was annoyed by her insistence that her job come before her own happiness but I guess that is why I’m not a detective! The case itself was very convoluted but it made sense in the end. My stomach was in knots many times.

I was very excited to receive „A Distant Grave“ as both an ARC and an ALC. I enjoyed the first Maggy D’Arcy mystery „The Mountains Wild“ in 2020 a lot- and this one is a fabulous follow up, that can be enjoyed on ist own. Reading the first one after the second may be a tad less enjoyable since the final twist in the first book has of course already happened in book 2 and is referenced back to. I highly recommend just reading both and reading them in order.
Stewart Taylor’s books are thoughtful slow burns, and they are also expertly plotted. She combines a police procedural with a very real sense of place (in both books Long Island and Ireland and the connections between the two are explored) and a deep dive into the characters.
In this book her dive takes her into Maggie’s personal life as she struggles with the balance of raising a teenager as a single mother after a traumatic event and hoping for some kind of (maybe long distance) relationship in Ireland with her old/new flame. These issues are complex and they are told in a real and relatable way – they do not just dissolve into thin air because that just does not tend to happen.

As for the case, this time the murder happens almost right on Maggy’s doorstep in Long Island but the victim is an Irish national, Gabriel Tracy, a foreign aid worker who had, it turned out, spent time in different troubled areas all over the world. Maggy gets to investigate in Ireland because a possibly related murder happens there and back on Long Island with her colleagues as well.
Stewart Taylor manages to balance Maggie’s struggles as a career mom invested in her job and a sense of purpose in her job as a police detective with a possible new life in Ireland.
The characters in the book, from Maggie herself, to the dead man, to Maggie’s fellow police officers, to Maggie’s daughter, uncle and boyfriend, are all vividly drawn, and they determine the story. The mystery elements exist because of the characters and the choices they’ve made in life.

The prose is lovely and as the plot begins to accelerate towards the end of the book, when all the plot threads come together, it really explodes – it’s hard to put down. This is another spectacular read from an extremely gifted writer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review !!

I really enjoyed The Mountains Wild book #1 in this series so I was excited to see the next book come out. While I did enjoy this one it was not as fast paced as the first.

I really like Maggie D'arcy's character who is trying to be the best officer and mother she can. Her daughter is still reeling from her father's sudden death, but Maggie is hoping that their Ireland vacation will help take her mind off things. I was glad to see that her and Conor are still going strong even with the distance between them, and that Roly is back! I loved him in the first book, and I still love him.

With that said I thought the case dragged. The mystery surrounding her missing cousin in the first book was suspenseful, but I didn't think this one was. There were also a few "whoa" moments in the first that I was waiting for in the second. Unfortunately those never came for me. With that said I would still recommend this one if you have read the first, and I will keep reading this series.

Book Rating: 3/5

Wine Pairing: Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon

I was so excited to get an advanced copy of A Distant Grave. I read and loved The Mountains Wild last summer so I was looking forward to the second book in the Maggie D'arcy series!

I love police detective mysteries and to combine that with an intriguing trans-Atlantic mystery between Long Island and Ireland you know I'm interested!

The second book picks up a few months after the first book and when a body of an Irish man turns up on the beach a few days prior to Maggie going on holiday to see her boyfriend in Irelan. She able to combines a little work on her trip to try to solve the mystery but she's forced to cut her trip short.

I love Maggie's character, the descriptions the author has of Ireland that makes me want to hop on a plane and it's a book full of twists!

I do recommend reading the first book before this one.

law-enforcement, procedural, thriller, international-crime-and-mystery, politics, murder, murder-investigation, romance, Ireland, New York*****

Very complex.
The first body was an unknown on a stark Long Island beach. He turned out to be an Irish national working for a respectable NGO all over the world. But his people have no idea why he is in the US. The next body is the solicitor in Ireland who was closely associated with the first man.
Detective Maggie D'arcy is the homicide detective from New York who follows the evidence from home accompanied by her young daughter while also taking a planned vacation to Ireland to spend time with Connor and his son. Great character exploration, plot twists like a double helix, more red herrings than ever.
Now I'm stuck because I don't know what to say without doing the spoiler thing. I loved it and it grabbed me by the brain and wouldn't let go.
I requested and received a temporary eARC from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Title: A Distant Grave
Author: Sarah Stewart Taylor
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Long Island homicide detective Maggie D'arcy and her teenage daughter, Lilly, are still recovering from the events of last fall when a strange new case demands Maggie's attention. The body of an unidentified Irish national turns up in a wealthy Long Island beach community and with little to go on but the scars on his back, Maggie once again teams up with Garda detectives in Ireland to find out who the man was and what he was doing on Long Island. As the strands of the mystery lead Maggie to a quiet village in rural County Clare and back to her home turf, they also lead her in range of a dangerous and determined killer who will do anything to keep the victim's story hidden forever.

I’ve really enjoyed both books in this series! Maggie is a great character, a flawed character, making her head a fascinating place to live for a while. Of course, I love the Irish connection, but there were so many layers to this mystery! I read this, thinking, “I’m not smart enough to have figured that out!” all through the book.

The characters are great, even the secondary ones, and the settings are so vivid I felt like I was there—and I’ve never been to Ireland or Long Island. I will definitely continue reading these books!

Sarah Stewart Taylor lives in Vermont. A Distant Grave is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 6/25.)