Book #8 in the excellent Detective Amanda Steele series. Amanda's niece brings her information on a missing friend. When the friend is murdered, Aunt Amanda quickly becomes Detective Steele. With few clues found, the killer moves closer to Steele's family. The tension builds tightly as the circle of suspects grows smaller, then her niece disappears. Carolyn Arnold continues this excellent series with a killer who taunts the police at evey turn.

This is a well balanced book that will keep you wanting more! Looking forward to reading more by this author!

Taken Girls is a fast-paced and chilling instalment in the Detective Amanda Steele series. When teenage girls go missing—and one is found murdered—Amanda is pulled into a disturbing case that tests her instincts and her emotional resilience.
Carolyn Arnold crafts a tightly plotted procedural with strong character dynamics and just the right dose of personal stakes. Gritty, suspenseful, and grounded in realism, this is a solid crime thriller for fans of strong female leads and complex investigations.
Arnold never fails and the Amanda Steele series is never a disappointment.

First title by this author that I have read, and it wont be the last - well written and totally gripping!

Eighth in this series featuring Detective Amanda Steele. Full of tension and suspense this thriller will keep you guessing till the end.

Taken Girls is the 8th Detective Amanda Steele book and it brings the crime a bit too close to home for Amanda's liking. She is enjoying time at home when she gets a call from her niece, Ava. Ava's BFF's sister is missing and they want Amanda to help. Amanda heads to see her niece, hoping things will work out and Reese will come home. That night, Reese shows up at the prom, dead. She is dressed in an old prom dress and tiara and placed on her throne, in the washroom. Amanda and her partner, Trent Stenson are on the case. The problem is that Ava is a want to be cop, and she does her own snooping around, but this puts her in the killer's path. Can Amanda and Trent find the murderer before another girl ends up dead.

This is one of my favourite Police Procedural/Crime Thriller series. They grab you from the first page, where the crime is committed and keep you hooked until the end. This is a fast paced story, that kept me guessing throughout. Amanda is well respected by those she works with, including her Sargent. The way she and Trent put the pieces together, and use their intuition to solve the cases works so well, that they get my heart racing as the chase is on. With someone Amanda loves in danger, I watched her get a bit reckless, but fortunately, Trent is there to keep her in check. The final twists as the culprit is revealed answered a few of my questions I had while reading, yet still surprised me. Another great addition to this series that I recommend.

This is the eighth book in the series featuring Detective Amanda Steele and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Amanda receives a distressed call from her niece Ava. Reece, the sister of her best friend Nadine, has been missing for three days after having an argument with her mother. What’s setting Ava and Nadine is that they ave just found Reece’s phone abandoned in the river and they are convinced that something must have happened to her as they knew she would never have disappeared as she was the Prom Queen at the high Schol prom which is taking place that night. But as Amanda and her partner start investigating the body of Reece is discovered by Ava and Nadine who have sneaked into the prom and found Reece’s body in the toilets, dressed and posed with her lips sealed. When another victim is discovered Amanda realises that they have a serial killer on their hands. When Ava then goes missing, things turn desperate for Amanda as she realises that time is running out to uncover the identity of the killer and rescue Ava. This was another book in this series full of suspense and tension and one that had me totally gripped. I look forward to the next book in the series.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Book number 8 in the series . If you havent read the others, thats ok, this can be read as a standalone. This book started off slow but then I couldnt put it down.

Detective Amanda Steele's niece Ava calls her to help locate a friend's sister. But Reese's body is found murdered and mutilated on prom night. Can Amanda catch the killer before he strikes again?
Taken Girls is the 8th book to feature Amanda Steele. There are mentions of old cases but no spoilers. The plot threads about Amanda's personal life have developed over the series.
Reese has run away several times before but always come home. She is due to be prom queen and has never ignored calls from her younger sister Nadine. So Nadine is sure that something bad has happened and asks Ava to get her aunt Amanda involved. Amanda doesn't usually investigate missing person cases but due to the young age she agrees to take on the case. But she returns to her usual homicide role when Reese's body is discovered.
The book is written mostly from Amanda and the police investigation perspective. However there are some chapters which show the viewpoint of the killer. I did feel some sympathy for the trauma in this person's past but the hideous and grisly treatment of the victims is unpleasant and inexcusable.
The writing is fast paced as the chapters are short. There are plenty of twists and turns in the plot as the investigation progresses. We see another personal dimension to Amanda in this book through her family dynamic with her sister and niece.
Taken Girls is a chilling and tense detective thriller.

Thanks to netgalley for providing this advanced copy for the purpose of review.

I have read all the books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed them so I was eagerly looking forward to this. It did not disappoint and had an engrossing storyline and great further development of the characters. I highly recommend the series

A prom queen is missing on the day of prom. What was first suspected to be a teen runaway incident, quickly turned into a missing persons case which further escalated to murder. The posing of the victim’s body and her age was shocking. The more evidence that was uncovered, the darker the case became. This case quickly became personal for Amanda and it indeed got very tense when the killer targeted her niece, Ava.

I continue to enjoy this series and the development of Amanda’s character. Both her personal and professional lives have always interested and I enjoy seeing how she balances both. Her team is also enjoyable. I like Trent and was happy to see Sergeant Malone back.

This installment was enthralling, thought-provoking, and kept me on the edge of my seat. I can’t wait to find out what is next for Amanda and Trent.

This is the 8th installment of the Detective Amanda Steele series. When a prom queen goes missing and then gets murdered, the search is on for the killer.
Amanda Steele and Trent Stinson are investigating the murder when a prom queen is found murdered at the prom.

You don't have to read from the beginning of the series. The relationship between Amanda and Trent is still progressing but more subtle than the past books in the series. The investigation kept me on my toes. Amanda's niece is going to be a good investigator when she grows up, it is in her blood after all.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture.

This has been posted on the following websites:
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/2620453294
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5543981160
https://www.librarything.com/topic/347146#n8201358
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/f01cb675-a7bc-4207-9f0b-6b291b02eafc
and will be post on 8/13/23 to: https://www.instagram.com/kuhlreads/

A absolutely fantastic addition to this series, which can be read as a stand-alone. Amanda’s family are involved and the twists and turns will keep you guessing, I loved it.

Detective Amanda Steele is contacted by her niece Ava asking her to look for her best friend’s missing sister, Reese. Reese, eighteen-years-old stormed out of her home three days before after a fight with her mother. Ava and her friend are worried about Reese as tonight is prom night and Reese is prom queen. They know Reese would be there if she could.

On prom night a body is found posed in the bathroom. The body is that of Ava’s best friend’s sister, Reese. What happened to her? Who would do something like this? Ava like her aunt likes to solve crimes. Without anyone’s permission or knowledge, Ava starts her own investigation into her friend's death which catches the eye of someone unknown who starts to follow her around.

Soon there are a lot of suspects, girls that Reese beat for prom queen plus a few more. Just as the tension and the heat start to amp up another body turns up. Can Amanda and or Ava find the killer before anyone else is murdered maybe even Ava herself?

Taken Girls is the eighth book in Detective Amanda Steele’s series. Taken Girls kept me on the edge of my seat as Amanda and Ava searched for the killer. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough on many occasions. There were many times I found myself choking up waiting to see what was going to happen next.

There was this one twist that had me in tears. I say a twists as I did sort of see it coming but it did take me by surprise all the same. At this point in the story, there was no way I could lay it down until I knew how it all turned out. I had to know who the killer was and how it all would end.

As with any book written by Carolyn Arnold, I highly recommend Taken Girls. Each book in Detective Amanda Steele’s series can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend that you read them all.

SUPERIOR police procedural thriller, well written with lots of suspense & great characterization. RECOMMEND highly along with the entire series for some terrific reading. Thanks to #NetGalley#Boolkouture for #TakenGirls in return for my honest review.

I absolutely adored this wonderfully tense and gripping book. Have loved every book in this series, each as addictive and brilliant as the last. This series just gets better and better. Love this book and cannot wait for the next.

This is my first book by Carolyn Arnold. I really enjoyed the way that she made Amanda relatable. She wasn’t t just a brilliant detective, she was human and flawed. I found myself cheering for her through the book. The storyline was great. Similar to another book I read while ago, but different.

I enjoyed this book, I’m a huge fan of the Amanda Steele series having read from the first book but this could definitely work as a standalone book if you haven’t read the others. I wouldn’t say this is my favourite book of the series, I thought the main storyline was great, it was also interesting to see Amanda’s niece getting involved. I feel like Amanda’s personal life which was always such a draw for me with this series has hit a bit of a wall though, perhaps that’s just me being biased because I’m a Trent shipper though. I’ll still be waiting eagerly for the next installment as this is one of my favourite series.

Thank you to Carolyn Arnold and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review Taken Girls.

A kidnapping and murder become personal for Det. Amanda Steele in this exciting mystery. Ava has contacted her aunt, Amanda, because her best friend's sister has been missing for several days. Reece is supposed to be the next Prom Queen and everyone is anxious about where she is. Although Amanda and her partner, Trent, are homicide detectives, they begin the search. When Reece's body is found at the Senior Prom, the case becomes a murder!

Although she is a teenager, Ava feels that she has to investigate, as well. The action becomes even more personal when Ava is kidnapped.

I thoroughly enjoyed this police procedural and look forward to future Carolyn Arnold mysteries.

A absolutely fantastic addition to this series, which can be read as a stand-alone. Amanda’s family are involved and the twists and turns will keep you guessing, I loved it.