Maggie D'Arcy was an American police detective who has moved to Ireland and had to start over as a police officer. She will have to work her way up to detective. However, due to her background and the circumstances of the case she gets the opportunity to work on an investigation of a missing child who disappeared after her mother was murdered.

This was a dramatic, engrossing book and I enjoyed following the investigation. The book moved at a good pace and built tension as the story unfolded. The murder is complex and had quite a few surprises. I recommended this book to anyone who likes mysteries and police procedurals. I'm going to try to pick up the earlier books in this series.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on June 20, 2023.

Maggie D’arcy hasn’t always been a detective in Ireland. She recently relocated there from Long Island for a romantic relationship, with her daughter, Lilly. Maggie is finally getting her feet wet and understanding the differences between crime and the law between the vastly different countries, when she is thrust into a murder/kidnapping case. A television star, Jade Elliot has been murdered, and her young daughter is now missing. The time is ticking to try to find the young child, alive and well. This book is masterful with characters that will keep you interested and vested in the story line. The plot has twists and turns, which will lead to a surprising and satisfying ending. The book was easy to read and follow with good character development. While I had not read the other books in this series, it was easy to pick this one up and it was not detrimental. Reading this one however, has me ready to read the rest in the series. This book can be read as a stand-alone book or as a part of the series. Thank you the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor.
A Maggie D’arcy Mystery. This is my first book by this author. I like Maggie - she has an interesting background. A New York homicide detective for 20 years she relocates to Ireland and starts over as an Irish Garda walking a beat.
A young single mother is murdered in her home and her 2 year old child is missing. Maggie and her partner are the first on scene and it is Maggie who realizes there is a child missing.
I look forward to reading and catching up in this series. This was an interesting storyline with several twists.

After 20 years as a US homicide detective Maggie D’arcy is back walking a beat as a Garda in Ireland. She’s finished training and things are going well with her daughter and partner. When a call goes out about a murder, Maggie and her partner recognize the address as a place they’d cleared a possible domestic call a few days earlier. When they discover a child is missing it’s all hands on deck. With a shortage of people and the detective in charge a friend, Maggie is allowed into the investigative team as they race to find the child and a killer.

This fourth outing of Maggie D’arcy is satisfying. I like the development of characters from the first books and the addition of her new best partner is a nice balance to the friction with the investigative partner. As usual, there were plenty of threads to pull and twists to follow, and I didn’t guess where Taylor was going with the plot. Highly recommended.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a great read - a perfect blend of descriptive detail, character development, and plot twists. Taylor's book kept me wondering from start to finish, and the ending was NOT what I predicted! I love when authors manage to genuinely surprise me.

Taylor's book focuses on an American detective starting over and working her way up the ranks of law enforcement in Ireland. This lent an interesting perspective to the story. Maggie's considerable experience means she's overqualified for the job she has, and even when she's given the chance to step up, there are moments when she feels she has to hide that experience to protect the egos around her. She's a very relatable character, and the supporting characters around her are equally interesting.

Ultimately, the conclusion to the mystery is an unexpected surprise after a lot of intricate twists and turns that keep the book engaging all the way up to the end. The action was suspenseful, but not in the over-the-top, borderline unbelievable way some books are. And yet, I couldn't put it down. This was a very entertaining read, and I definitely recommend it!

Deftly plotted and well written mystery that I sat down to read and didn't stop till I was done! The story and characters were detail rich, and developed fully.

This is an interesting police procedural, the main character's personal life as well as professional life are weaved seemlessly into the story, making her seem very real. It is part of a series, but can be read on it's own. A young woman, a former model is killed and her young child is missing. Is this one case or more. Not predictable, which makes it an interesting, enjoyable read 4.5

A dual mystery revolves around the murder of a model and the disappearance of her toddler. There are few clues and a neighborhood full of reluctant witnesses. No one is forthcoming, yet there is resentment against the investigators for not making headway. When each lead is extracted with so much effort, it is a wonder that the police can solve their cases. The investigative trio consists of two Irishmen and an American transplant that don't always work well together, but they find something that connects them. They doggedly put the pieces of the puzzle together to find that the picture is not as expected. The lead characters also have personal issues that help you to know them better. This might be my first Irish whodunit, and I liked the colloquialisms. It was a very involved mystery and I enjoyed the manner in which the clues were revealed! Very smooth read, too!!

Great story that leaves you guessing until the end. Just when you think you know what might have happened, another thread unravels. The main character doesn’t seem to fully resolve her personal conflicts around her relationship at the end but since it is a series, it will likely resolve in the next book. The main storyline doesn’t leave loose ends which is often a problem in series writing and I appreciate the author not doing that to the reader. Highly recommend.

This is the third book that I have read in this series. I absolutely loved the first book, skipped the second, and then was more than a little bit disappointed when I read the third. This book, the fourth in the series, is good, but it didn't blow me away. This story details Maggie as she becomes a member of the guard and works the case of a dead young woman and her missing child.
All of the books I have read in the series are a bit slow-moving, but the first really had an atmosphere of urgency, desperation, and ever-so-slight otherworldliness that really drew me in. The subsequent books have been missing that for me, and perhaps that's just my own personal preference. I think I like a little more action in my books, and I didn't get that here. I had no problem putting the book down, and when I picked it back up, it took me a bit to get "lost" in the story again.
If you like slow-burn police procedurals, this is probably the book for you. If you like more suspense/thriller type books, I would skip this series. I am not sure if I will read the next installment or not.

Every Sarah Stewart Taylor mystery is remarkable, but this may be my favorite yet. American homicide investigator Maggie D'arcy is living in Dublin with her boyfriend and their teens, working as a patrol officer on her way to a detective rank. When a young woman and former reality TV model is found murdered in the neighborhood and there's no sign of her toddler daughter, Maggie is pulled onto the case to assist. What ensues is master class in contemporary detective fiction. Taylor's transitions from the rough-around-the-edges neighborhood and its colorful locals to the glamor of modeling agencies and art-world parties are seamless, as is her technique for unspooling the mystery itself. Characters leap off the page, the plot and police procedure are wholly believable, and the payoff is as surprising and satisfying as you can get. Kudos to Taylor for writing what is sure to become a modern classic. This is a 5-star read and then some.

Maggie D’Arcy has reached her goal and is a Garda in Dublin. She knows her experience from years as a New York Homicide detective is not being put to use but she’s satisfied to be on patrol duty with her partner Jason. A late night possible domestic disturbance on Canal Landing turns out to be a false alarm but days later the pair return to the same scene for a murder. The victim is Jade Elliott, a young model and reality TV star. She’s been strangled and her toddler daughter Laurel is missing. Maggie has a bad feeling about Jade’s partner Dylan Maguire but he has an airtight alibi. Because of her expertise as a detective, she’s put on the team investigating the murder and kidnapping and becomes part of the frantic rush to find the little girl and her mother’s killer.

The case is complicated by Maggie’s personal life. Her partner Conor has a new book about to be published, they are remodeling his house so they can sell it and the Dublin real estate market is wildly overpriced. Add to this an experienced detective who resents her involvement, a group of teenagers who seem to be hiding things and Jade’s family, who definitely are.

Sarah Stewart Taylor’s Maggie D’Arcy series is for anyone who enjoys a detailed, well-plotted police procedural with authentic characters. The Dublin location is a plus. A Stolen Child will delight fans of Tana French and the late Susie Steiner. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Sarah Stewart Taylor for this ARC.

This is the latest addition to the Maggie D’Arcy series. D’Arcy has immigrated to Ireland and is just starting out with the Garda after years as a very experienced detective in New York. She’s on the bottom rung and chomping at the bit to use her years of experience in criminology but is pounding the beat in a Dublin neighborhood. Despite her aspirations to rejoin investigations using her immense skills and experience, she is grateful for the opportunity to work in community policing and has grown familiar with crime and the colorful people living at the community edges. She stumbles into a horrific murder scene and quickly realizes that a toddler daughter of the victim is missing. Taylor gives us an American immersed in noir Irish mystery akin to the great Tana French. While it might seem that an American writer giving us an American detective would bomb in this niche of Irish noir mystery, we get quite the opposite. The complexities of the characters and their lives make this yet another great addition to the series. The setting and the subtleties of characters and history of Ireland an engrossing read.

This is the first book by Sarah Stewart Taylor that I've read, I understand it is her fourth of this particular series. It didn’t matter I hadn’t read the previous books as this can be read stand-alone. It is intriguing to catch snippets of the past books so this book gave me the desire to go find those and read them as I really enjoy Sarah’s writing style. You can identify with detective Maggie D’arcy, she is very good at her job but a move from the states to Ireland put her starting from the bottom as a garda, her goal is to work her way up to detective in Ireland. As an accomplished detective, it’s hard to start over but she is willing to do the job. Finding a dead body and missing child while on the beat leads her to be put on the case temporarily, making her very happy to do what she does best.
The story is well written and you are kept interested, moving along at a good pace. The twists and turns of the investigation keep you guessing.
Thank you NetGalley, publisher St. Marin’s Press, and author Sarah Stewart Taylor for this eARC this is my own opinion - I do recommend it to anyone no matter what genre I think you’ll enjoy the story.

Book four in the series featuring and American detective in Ireland! Definitely can be read as a standalone.

Maggie D’arcy is now officially a Garda! But she needs to work her way up from the bottom, like all new employees. It smarts a bit, being on beat patrol but she has a great partner. When Maggie and her partner discover a murdered mother and missing child, she has her chance to showcase her skills. The problem is that the case is not very straight forward.

I love Maggie and this book was a joy to read. I haven't been interested in addide any new detectives or police serieses to my reading repertoire until I started reading Stewart Taylor. She has a way with words, and is a great plotter. The stories are believable and you are very invested by the end. If you love a police procedural, love all things Irish or are interested in a realistic and intelligent female heroine, A Stolen Child is for you!
#STMartinsPress #AStolenChild #SarahStewartTaylor

So the title of this book immediately made me think of Lindbergh baby and that story had forever fascinated me just because of the time period of it all. This book did not disappoint and had my mind racing to the very end

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed, A Stolen Child. the latest book in the Maggie D'arcy series. I've read all 4 books in the series and look forward to solving more crimes in the future with Detective D'arcy. Ireland police procedurals/crime stories suck me in every time! It was well-written, dark, and twisty and as always, Sarah Stewart Taylor is great a keeping you guessing until the very end!

As always, Sarah Stewart Taylor has written a winner! Finished with her Garda training, Maggie D'arcy is once again a beat cop, patrolling in Dublin. When she and her partner are first on the scene of a murder and potential child abduction, she has to remember her place as a uniformed officer rather than a homicide detective. Once she's seconded to support the detectives on the case--led by her friend Roly and partnered with Detective Fiero who she met in the previous book--she has the chance to demonstrate her worth and particular talent in missing person cases. A wonderfully engrossing novel that takes many twists before its satisfying conclusion.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

I’ll admit Sarah Stewart Taylor’s atmospheric depiction of Ireland stole my heart in her first Maggie D’arcy mystery, The Mountains Wild. Now, the fourth in the series, A Stolen Child, is a solid police procedural with plot twists to keep the reader and the police guessing.

Maggie D’arcy resigned from her job with with the police department on Long Island. A year and a half later, she and her daughter, Lilly are living in Dublin with Maggie’s long-time love, Conor and his son. Lilly’s in school, and Maggie has finished her time at the Garda Training College. She’s back to walking a neighborhood beat with another Garda. One Saturday night, they’re called to a possible domestic, but the woman who answers the door says there’s nothing wrong there. A few days later, when they report to the same apartment, Jade Elliott is dead. It’s only while they wait for the Criminal Investigation unit to arrive that Maggie notices signs of a child there. But, there’s no child in the apartment.

Maggie’s friend, Detective Inspector Roly Byrne, is in charge of the case. While it’s important to investigate Jade Elliott’s murder, top priority is to find the missing toddler. Jade’s daughter, Laurel Maguire, is almost two. Roly pulls Maggie onto his team as the Garda launch a nationwide search for the little girl. While it’s obvious the Garda need to look at Jade’s ex-partner, he was in France at a conference, and the French police confirm that.

Maggie D’arcy had a long career as a homicide detective in the U.S., but now she has to prove herself all over again in Ireland. She’s frustrated at times when she’s sidelined to minor parts of the case, but she’s there for every twist and turn in the complicated case. No one, not even concerned family members, are easy to deal with in the case of the missing child and murdered mother.

I didn’t think Taylor could surpass The Mountains Wild, a finalist for the Hammett Prize. However, she took the series in an entirely new direction with this solid police procedural with all it’s complexities. I’d still recommend newcomers start with The Mountains Wild, but there’s no reason you can’t pick up A Stolen Child and start there. It would make an outstanding jumping off point.

After months of training, former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy is now officially a Garda in A Stolen Child by Sarah Steward Taylor. Maggie is finally settling into life in Ireland and so is her teenage daughter, Lilly. When Maggie and her partner find former model and reality tv star Jade Elliot murdered, they also discover Jade's toddler daughter missing. And the mystery takes off from here.

I liked Maggie. She was portrayed as a competent protagonist and a character that a reader can root for.

This is my first book by this author. It had good twists and dark moments. I liked the Ireland setting. The storyline kept my interest as it had intense moments and satisfying twists. The author had a nice writing style where I could follow each scene.

I will check out more books by this author. I give this a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

#NetGalley @StMartinsPress