The Irish backdrop truly brought this police procedural to life! The storyline gripped me from the start, focusing on the tragic murder of a young mother and the desperate search for her missing baby. Maggie, an American detective navigating the Dublin Garda, faces the challenge of earning the trust and respect of her new colleagues despite her seasoned experience. Although this is the fourth installment in the series, I had no trouble diving in, thanks to the insightful background provided on Maggie's character. The pacing and plot development kept me hooked, peppered with just the right amount of twists and turns to keep me guessing until the very end.

A Stolen Child is the 4th book in the Maggie D’acry. I haven’t read any of the others and I didn’t feeling like I was missing anything. This procedural was really enjoyable, mixed with the crime but also Maggie being new to Ireland. I really liked her drive and her willingness to listen to others while trying to find answers! I loved that it didn’t feel like we knew who did it right away and everyone was hiding something, related or not, This was my first Sarah Stewart Taylor book and it definitely won’t be my last!

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for my gifted copy!

I loved the Irish setting in this police procedural! The storyline was captivating with the murder of a young mother and the search for her missing baby! Maggie, an American detective, has joined the Dublin Garda but even though she’s an experienced officer, she has to prove herself to her new colleagues. This is book 4 in the series but I had no issues starting here as the book gives some background into Maggie’s character. I enjoyed the pace and development of this story with enough red herrings to keep me guessing!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Although I had not read any of the Maggie D'arcy books previously, I had no trouble following her story. Enough of her background was provided so the book reads perfectly well as a standalone.

Maggie was a homicide detective on Long Island before moving to Ireland with her teen-aged daughter. She is currently a Garda in Dublin but longs to return to detective work.

When the police are short-handed in her Dublin neighborhood, Maggie is called to assist the detectives on a murder and missing child case. Will a success here help her move up in the ranks of the Irish police?

I thoroughly enjoyed this Irish police procedural. It was interesting to read about some of the differences between the US and Ireland approaches to police work. I look forward to following Maggie in future works.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for allowing me to read and review A Stolen Child.

Stars:2.5

A miss for me. While the fourth in the series, it is my second and last: I found the premise intriguing enough that I read more than I skimmed so I would understand the ending. There is a lot that can be glossed over. The procedure was repetitive.

1. I didn't like the main character or her love interest -- whining.
2. The book could have been edited to a short story and/or novella. There was a clever point in the ending.
3. Without the obligatory foul language I would have recommended to teen and YA fans. This is a simple story.

I absolutely love detective Maggie D'arcy and hope there are many more books in this series. I always look forward to these mysteries.

When a woman is murdered and her child is missing, Garda Maggie D'arcy is one of the first on the scene. Since Maggie has previous experience as a detective in America, plus the force is extremely busy with another case, she gets pulled into the investigation. And that is the start of an atmospheric, twisty police procedural.

I liked the mystery and the step by step way things were discovered. The combination of hard work and intuition made me feel a bit like I was working along with the detectives to solve the case. But I think they figured things out faster than I would have :)

I haven't read the previous books in this series, but that was fine and didn't diminish my enjoyment. However, I'm intrigued by some of the past plots hinted at in this book, and will likely go check out those earlier ones.

This is not one of my typical reads. That might be why I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It was a bit dark for me. The writing was well done but the characters were "hard" so it made the story not as enjoyable for me. The plot was great and how the story flowed was as expected. Overall a good mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the temporary digital ARC that I read and gave my honest opinion of.

Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of A Stolen Child in exchange for my honest review.

This is the fourth book in Sarah Stewart Taylor’s Maggie D’Arcy series and I cannot tell you how much I love these books! They are so incredibly atmospheric and the mysteries are so encompassing.

As with all good crime fiction series lately, this one definitely can be read as a stand-alone as it does contain a self-contained case, however in order to really appreciate who Maggie is and why she has made certain choices leading up to her being in Ireland, it really makes sense to read the series as a whole. But the author does do a great job of giving just enough backstory to fill you in without giving everything away, so if this is your first entry into the series, perhaps it will entice you to go back to the beginning after reading this one.

Maggie is now officially a Garda in Ireland! And while she has to pay her dues and make her way up the chain, she is willing to do so, though it does pain her just a little bit. While on patrol with her new partner, she comes across a murder and missing child. Because she has the background experience, she’s pulled into the investigation and it’s quickly made clear that this case is more involved that they first thought.

I loved seeing Maggie in her element. I also loved that while this is definitely a police procedural, we also see great character development, in the form of how Maggie and Connor are adjusting to living together, as well as how Lilly, Maggie’s daughter, is handling being in Ireland full-time.

I loved how this case really kept me on my toes. These books aren’t necessarily fast-paced, but with all the different threads, they sure do keep me engaged and guessing. The twists are expertly placed and I definitely did not figure out where this one was headed until the final reveal.

This has been one of my favorite series since the start and I do hope there are more adventures to come!

This one was a fun police procedural mystery. I enjoyed the many yet believable leads, the investigations and the dialogue between the characters. The pacing was really good, and I was turning pages through the night to find out who did it. I wasn’t disappointed!

This is part of a series, which I didn’t know going into it, but it can be read as a standalone or out of order without ruining the story. I’ll definitely pick up another one from this series when the mood to read a procedural hits again! Thanks to Minotaur Books for my eARC. A Stolen Child is available now.

I received an eARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

This book was very difficult and slow to get into. I will say that I have not read any other books in this series and was not previously familiar with any of the characters. Garda Maggie D'Arcy is an American in Ireland. A former detective, D'Arcy has been demoted to patrol in Dublin and is desperate to prove herself and get off of patrol. Her chance comes when she and her partner are called to an apartment complex to investigate a noise complaint. The occupant of the apartment from which the noise supposedly issued, Jade Elliott, swears there was no one screaming in her flat and that everything is fine but then D'Arcy and her partner are called back to the same apartment only to find that Jade has been murdered and her daughter, two-year-old Laurel Maguire, is missing. D'Arcy's boss Roly knows she has experience with these types of cases and asks her to step in on the investigation, her big chance to snag a coveted promotion to detective but finding Laurel's kidnapper and Jade's killer won't be nearly as straightforward as D'Arcy hopes.

It took two months for me to finish this book but finish I did. I will say that I did not see the plot twists coming and was able to get more into the book as I got deeper into the story though I don't know that I would continue with this series.

"After months of training, former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy is now officially a Garda. She’s finally settling into life in Ireland and so is her teenage daughter, Lilly. Maggie may not be a detective yet, but she’s happy with her community policing assignment in Dublin's Portobello neighborhood. When she and her partner find former model and reality tv star Jade Elliot murdered—days after responding to a possible domestic violence disturbance at her apartment—they also discover Jade's toddler daughter missing. Shorthanded thanks to an investigation into a gangland murder in the neighborhood, Maggie’s friend, Detective Inspector Roly Byrne, brings her onto his team to help find the missing child. But when a key discovery is made, the case only becomes more confusing—and more dangerous. Amidst a nationwide manhunt, Maggie and her colleagues must look deep into Jade’s life—both personal and professional—to find a ruthless killer."
Will they figure out who the killer is, will they find the stolen child. Great book, great twists, quick read. First time author , would love to read more from her.
Thanks to Minotaur bookx, netgalley, and the author in exchange for an honest review.
Published June 20th, 2023

I’ve been wanting to check out the Maggie D’arcy mystery series by Sarah Stewart Taylor because I’ve heard it is recommended for fans of Tana French and I am certainly a Tana French fan. I got the opportunity to read the latest book, A Stolen Child and I jumped at it. The series revolves around a former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy who is living in Ireland with her daughter Lilly and working towards becoming a detective.

The events of A Stolen Child take place several months after the prior book. In this book, Maggie is living with her boyfriend Conor, his son, and her daughter Lilly. She has completed her Garda training program and she is now working as a Garda in Dublin, assigned with a fellow Garda. One evening she and her partner are called to a possible domestic incident, but when they arrive the woman who answered the door informs them that all is fine. A few days later, they report to the same apartment to find Jade Elliott is dead.

As they are waiting for the Criminal Investigation Unit to arrive and process the crime scene, Maggie notices signs that a child lives in the residence but there is no child in the apartment. They learn that Jade has a 2 year-old daughter named Laurel Maguire and a nationwide search is launched for the missing child.

The mystery unfolds as part police procedural, part deductive investigation. Maggie has strong gut instinct from years working as a homicide detective in Long Island. While she is working as a Garda in Ireland, she understands how to investigate, what to look for, and how to press for answers.

Despite working as the Irish equivalent of a patrol cop, Maggie is called to help the detective because they are short staffed, she has extensive experience, and the skills needed (and it doesn’t hurt that she is friends with Detective Byrne). Maggie’s background has leant her the ability to read people and her lie radar is strong. The challenge is convincing others to go based on her instinct, but her instinct is what will eventually help solve the case.

I like the dynamic between her and Detective Byrne—even being new to the series, their friendship is easy to see and a lot of fun to watch. They are still getting to know one another and trusting the other’s instinct, but they also respect one another.

The investigation was front and center and the issues in Maggie’s personal life were a subplot. Because of that, this was easy to jump into without having read the prior books first. The victim Jade Elliott was a young model who got pregnant by a man named Dylan Maguire—older and well off. Dylan pays her bills but the two are not together. Initially it seemed like Dylan is the obvious suspect—it’s his child that went missing and the child’s mother who was murdered. But there was a complication with that theory because Dylan has a solid alibi, despite Jade’s sister feeling sure that he must be behind it.

Meanwhile the public is fascinated by the crime due to the beautiful victim and missing child. Dylan isn’t the only suspect that Maggie and the team had. Jade’s mother had mental health issues, and Jade’s sister seems suspicious. How to solve a crime when the prime suspect has a rock solid alibi? It’s going to take some good old fashioned detective work and deductive reasoning!

A solid book that made me curious to read the rest of the series! Because I enjoyed it so much, I do wish I had started with the first book, but I also felt like I was easily able to jump in on A Stolen Child without having read the prior books. The fact that this works as a standalone and made me want to read the full series is my compliment to Sarah Stewart Taylor and her incredible writing and well-assembled mystery.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.

I will probably read most things with an Ireland setting. This is the first book I read in this series and I didn't feel lost. I learned that Maggie was working in the US and then is adjusting to being a Garda in Dublin. The writing was very fast paced and the storyline was intriguing. I would probably read the series from the beginning if I didn't have such a big TBR lol

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

This was my first book by this author, and even though I haven’t read the first books of this series, I still found this a very enjoyable read. I didn’t feel like the last books, while there are a few spoilers in it, make this hard to follow or understand the dynamics. D’arcy is an American working as a Garda and gets pulled into a homicide/missing child case. The twists in this book are well done and kept me guessing. I will definitely be going back to read the previous books!

So the main female character moves from New York - moves to Ireland with her daughter. I had no idea this was apart of a series. But it worked very well for me as a standalone. The characters were wrote extremely well and very easy to connect with and like. I enjoy the plot and I'm looking forward to reading more of this authors books.

After years as a detective on Long Island, Maggie D’arcy has relocated to Dublin to live with her boyfriend and train for the Garda. Given all her experience, she’s frustrated to be on street patrol, but DI Roly Byrne, whom she’d worked with on several cases before becoming a Garda, wants to expedite her move to detective. Her chance comes when a woman is murdered and her child stolen in the neighborhood patrolled by Maggie and her partner, Jason Savage. Jade Elliott was a gorgeous young model who got pregnant and kept now-2-year-old Laurel but refused to stay with the father, Dylan Maguire, a well-to-do older man who still pays her bills. Finding phone numbers for Dylan and Jade’s sister and mother, Maggie and Jason call around, but none of them have Laurel. Because the crime took place in Maggie's area, Byrne gets her temporarily assigned to the case, whose combination of a missing toddler and a murdered beauty has provoked a nationwide sensation. Using her nose for sleuthing, Maggie follows up numerous leads and turns up some clues, but Laurel remains missing. Jade, who had made some dicey connections in her modeling career, had a mother with mental health issues and an older sister who wasn’t up to helping out. Maggie senses that the sister is hiding something and also suspects Dylan, who has a solid alibi but gives off an odd vibe. Some old-fashioned police work, luck, and hunches will lead to a killer.

I should know myself better now that I'm a mom -- I can't read books like this anymore. Not the fault of the author.

I was hooked from the start of this one! I loved the way the city of Ireland came alive. It was a quick, addictive read; I did not want to put it down. It is a little dark, with many twists and turns.