A STOLEN CHILD by Sarah Stewart Taylor

American Maggie D’arcy has completed her training and is now an official Garda in Dublin, Ireland. She patrols the Portobello neighborhood with her partner and is familiar with the children and teenagers in her district. When a call comes in about a woman in distress, Maggie and her partner respond, only to find Jade Elliott is fine and surprised by their visit. A few days later, Jade is dead and her young daughter is missing in the fourth Maggie D’arcy Mystery by Sarah Stewart Taylor, A STOLEN CHILD.

Jade Elliott was a beautiful woman who modeled and appeared in a reality TV series. She quit the modeling business after the birth of her daughter. The father lives elsewhere and is a prime suspect in his daughter’s abduction. Maggie has been assigned to assist the investigative team since they are shorthanded with another case. Maggie is thrilled to get the chance and starts looking into Jade’s past professional life and current relationships. The more the team uncovers, the more convoluted the crime appears. Who killed the young woman and who took the child? The suspect list includes everyone from the property manager, a resentful sister, a low-level drug dealer, a modeling agency director, the child\'s father, or a complete stranger. When one mystery is solved, another mystery unfolds and Maggie must put all the pieces together to catch a killer hiding in plain sight.

A STOLEN CHILD is a solid police procedural with an engaging mystery that keeps readers guessing until the very end. Maggie is a complex, interesting character who is still adjusting to her new life in Dublin along with her boyfriend and their teenage children. Her work and personal life balance is a continuous struggle as she works the high-profile case and strives for a career promotion. The characters are well-developed and the victim’s backstory is heartbreaking. The motivation for the killing and abduction are two separate mysteries that intertwine and culminate in a surprising conclusion. The subject matter is dark and the villains are well-hidden monsters, but assistance comes from unlikely heroes in the community. The Ireland setting and good plotting and pacing make this a highly readable and engrossing police procedural all the way through.

Sarah Stewart Taylor is known for her atmospheric portrayal of an American detective in Ireland, and her critically acclaimed series returns with A Stolen Child.

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.