This was a twisty police procedural that I enjoyed. I appreciated the pacing and development of the plot and each character. While this ended up being pretty dark subject matter as the investigation went on, it was very intriguing to see how it was being solved and all the interviews taking place.

This is the fourth book in a series, but having not read the previous three I didn’t feel like I needed to read them. Having said that, I will probably go back and read them.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for this eArc of The Stolen Child. This was my first book by Sarah Stewart Taylor and it definitely won’t be my last.

A Stolen Child, the 4th Maggie D’arcy mystery, continues the story which began with The Mountains Wild. Maggie’s cousin Erin Flaherty, with whom she was exceptionally close, disappears in Dublin in 1993. Erin’s dad Danny, the owner of Flaherty’s Irish bar on Long Island, is unable to leave, so Maggie steps up, searching for Erin for weeks, to no avail. The experience changes her life; she drops out of Notre Dame (where she was an English major with a focus on Irish literature) and joins the police force. Fast forward, she becomes an investigative detective. In 2016 Detective Roland “Roly” Byrne calls to say Erin’s scarf has been discovered.

The Maggie who returns to Dublin in 2016 is a gifted profiler, able to internalize massive amounts of information and sort it out into patterns; to triangulate. That’s the expertise she brings to the re-opening of Erin’s case and a recent incident. Niamh Horrigan, a twenty-five-year-old teacher disappeared in the same area where Erin was last thought to be. Can Maggie’s expertise make a difference this time?

While investigating Erin’s death, Maggie rekindles a relationship with (now) Professor Conor Kearney, whom she met in 1993.

Back on Long Island, Maggie is at odds with Jay Cooney, her unsupportive superior. Cooney doesn’t have her back when persistent Maggie investigates a murder (an Irish national is shot on the beach). A Distant Grave straddles Long Island and Ireland: Maggie turns her planned visit to Conor into a busman’s holiday. “Much good detective work leads from hunches and suppositions,” skills in Maggie’s wheelhouse, but the days of investigating take their toll.

“Should I stay, or should I go?” reverberates in Maggie’s head—stay in Long Island or move to Ireland? After she’s fired, the decision isn’t so difficult.

In The Drowning Sea, set in West Cork, Maggie and her daughter Lilly spend the summer with Conor and his son. Maggie is dragged into solving a local murder. Her specialty is the forensic ability to uncover connections between a murder today and events that happened in the past. Some of the local garda and the Dublin detectives see her as a loose cannon, gifted at what she does, but a person poaching on their turf. She has no credentials in Ireland other than her friendship with “Roly” Byrne, now a Detective Inspector. “Maggie knows how to listen, infer, and interrogate, and it’s killing her to be on the outside looking in—she’s constantly ruminating about what the guard (the colloquial description of the police) are doing.”

Throwing caution to the winds, Maggie commits to a life with Conor and a police career in a new country. After she completes a year of garda training, she’s assigned to a community policing initiative. It feels strange to be back in uniform, walking the streets of Dublin’s Portobello neighborhood beside her partner Jason Savage. Their days are uneventful, which is the goal of boots on the ground policing. A few days earlier, on Saturday night, Maggie and Jason were called to a domestic disturbance but the woman who answered the door said everything was fine, attributing screams to a movie she was watching. That morning they facilitated the watery rescue of a duck named Donald. It’s a far cry from D’arcy’s former career.

Later that day, their dispatcher calls them—“there’s been a report of a possible homicide at an apartment complex called Canal Landing.” Unit 201, the same place they visited Saturday night. The shaken property manager says he saw an open door; he investigated and found a dead body. Who was she?

“Jade.” The young woman’s face flashes before me. Green eyes, fine-boned face, sharp cheekbones, a curtain of pale blond hair falling over her face. Jade. Now I remember being grateful that Jason wasn’t the kind of male partner who would sneak in a little aside later about how uncommonly hot she was, the comment forcing its way up like a burp.

It’s awful: “her neck is obviously bruised, a collar of red and purple on her pale skin.”

Shit. Shit. Shit. We should have followed up after Saturday, should have asked more questions. I can feel regret spread through my body, making me nauseous. Jason’s guilty look tells me he’s feeling it, too.

To assuage her guilt, Maggie falls back on routine investigating, thinking “I failed her once. Maybe I can find something now that will help us get her killer.” She checks out half-drunk wine bottles, looks at two large photographs of a glamorous Jade Elliott, smells a “whisper of stale cigarette smoke,” and lastly, is struck by a smell emanating from the kitchen that seems familiar.

Then I have it: dirty diapers. When I open my eyes again, they settle on a small pink blanket draped over one of the chairs. I quickly scan the rest of the room. There’s another colorful blanket laid out in one corner and a few plastic toys and stuffed animals in a small basket.

Everything a baby needs but no baby. Maggie finds a photograph on the fridge, “a gorgeous picture of a gorgeous woman and a gorgeous baby.” Where is she? Did she crawl out onto the terrace? Could she have fallen into the canal? Or has she been abducted? A lost or stolen child is the police force’s worst nightmare. Detective Inspector Byrne brings Maggie on board since his resources are thin (he’s investigating “a gangland murder in the neighborhood”). Not everyone is happy that Maggie is on the team but obviously finding the little toddler trumps everything. The public is mesmerized, since back in the day, Jade Elliott was a “model and reality tv star.”

It’s absorbing to watch Maggie at work—not as a visitor or an observer or an interested bystander—but as a legitimate member of the garda. Maggie’s gifts of observation, her relentless re-interviewing, and the dogged way she ferrets out the tiniest of details—every skill she possesses is brought to bear in the race against time to find Jade’s baby. It’s not necessary to read the earlier Maggie D’arcy mysteries before you gulp down A Stolen Child, but after you finish, you’ll surely want to.

If you enjoy thrilling procedurals as much as I do, you'll love A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor. Featuring an American detective, Maggie, who has moved to Ireland to work in the Garda, the case detailed in this book is compelling.

A day after a call about a possible domestic situation with a reality show star is investigated, the star is found strangled in her home. Her young daughter is nowhere to be found. Although Maggie is not fully trained, she is asked to consult on the case as it aligns with her area of expertise.

Now Maggie and the Garda are racing against the clock to find a missing toddler and the person responsible for the star's demise....

This book had so much action and so many twists. It's a page turner!

This was a book that I read about 2-10 chapters, liked it, but never picked it back up.

Do I remember why I put it down? No. It didn’t grab me enough to keep going, but I do remember it was enjoyable.

It’s a DNFN (did not finish for now) just because one day I’ll start back at page one, but today is not that day.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I will be looking for more. I absolutely loved this book and read it in one day. I would definitely recommend this book.

"A Stolen Child" beckons, a gripping tale of a missing child, a ruthless killer, and a determined detective, Maggie D'arcy, who must navigate the dark underbelly of Dublin's Portobello neighborhood to uncover the truth, A story where the streets of 2058 New York City hold secrets and surprises around every corner.

I do think it's best to read the previous books before tackling this one.

This was a quick and easy read with a main character that I could connect to. The book is part of a series but I enjoyed it as a standalone.

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. Not your average police procedural, this outing in the series is one of the best. I really enjoy the evolution of the characters in this series and can't wait for more of Maggie.

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