A Stolen Child (Maggie D'arcy Mystery #4)

by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Overview

"Taylor presents an appealingly nuanced twist on the traditional police procedural.” –The Washington Post

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250826688
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/20/2023
Series:	Maggie D'arcy Mysteries , #4
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	493,819
Product dimensions:	6.55(w) x 9.55(h) x 1.15(d)

About the Author

SARAH STEWART TAYLOR is the author of the Sweeney St. George series and the Maggie D'arcy mysteries. She grew up on Long Island and was educated at Middlebury College and Trinity College, Dublin. A former journalist and teacher, she writes and lives with her family on a farm in Vermont where they raise sheep and grow blueberries. Sarah spends as much time in Ireland as she can and loves to explore new corners of the island.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/17/2023

The opening to Stewart Taylor’s stellar fourth Maggie D’Arcy adventure (after 2022’s The Drowning Sea) finds the former Long Island detective back in uniform, having joined the Dublin police force so she can begin a new life in Ireland with her boyfriend and daughter. While responding to the murder of a reality TV star, Maggie and her new partner realize they’d responded to a call at the same location a few days earlier, only to have the victim send them away. Wracked with guilt and questioning whether she should have pressed further during her first call, Maggie learns that the victim also has a young child who’s gone missing. With most of Maggie’s colleagues consumed by another high-profile murder, Maggie heads up both the homicide and missing child investigations, eventually leading an extensive—and increasingly dangerous—nationwide hunt for the killer. Stewart Taylor keeps the plot tight and makes satisfying links between the two major cases, but her particular skill lies in the psychological depth with which she draws Maggie and her home life. Readers will be eager to follow the detective’s future Irish exploits. Agent: Esmond Harmsworth, Aevitas Creative Management. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Stellar. . . Stewart Taylor keeps the plot tight and makes satisfying links between the two major cases, but her particular skill lies in the psychological depth with which she draws Maggie and her home life. Readers will be eager to follow the detective’s future Irish exploits.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A step-by-step riveting police procedural filled with red herrings.” –Library Journal (starred review)

“Characters you care about plunged into mysterious circumstances.” –Kirkus Reviews

"[An] excellent series... A Stolen Child is a nicely done, step-by-step police procedural, but it also offers much more than that: well-drawn characters; an insightful look at a rapidly gentrifying urban hub and its denizens; and off-duty relationships that lend notes of warts-and-all humanity to the players." –BookPage

“Great mystery writing . . . [Taylor is] a major force to be reckoned with, ready and able to assume the throne currently held by the likes of Lisa Gardner and Lisa Scottoline.” –BookTrib

“A highly engaging, totally immersive police procedural. . . Highly recommended to fans of mysteries and police procedurals.” –Mystery & Suspense

“A Stolen Child is literary crime at its most complex and satisfying. It’s a masterful police procedural, with a killer twist that turns all our expectations upside-down. I loved this book.” — Flynn Berry

“A master class in contemporary detective fiction. . . 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.” – Tessa Wegert

Praise for Sarah Stewart Taylor and the Maggie D'arcy Mysteries

"The bucolic setting, emphasis on family and leisurely pace make for a nice end run around traditional police procedurals." —The New York Times Book Review

“A lyrical prose style that is a joy to read.” —Associated Press

“Readers will relish spending more time with Taylor’s storytelling and her smart characters.” — Oline Cogdill, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

“[Taylor is] a practitioner par excellence of literary crime fiction.” —Fredericksburg Free Lance Star

“Fans of Elizabeth George should take note.” — Publishers Weekly

“Maggie is a first-class protagonist—an ace investigator and appealing everywoman with smarts and heart." — BookPage

From the Publisher

★ 04/01/2023

Maggie D'arcy resigned from her job as a homicide detective on Long Island and moved to Dublin, Ireland, with her daughter. A year and a half later, she's completed her time at Garda Training College, but despite her long career, she's back to walking a beat with a partner. When they're called for a domestic dispute on a Saturday night, the woman who answers the door reports nothing wrong. Several days later, though, they arrive at the same apartment, where Jade Elliott has been murdered. While they wait for the Garda's criminal investigation team to show up, Maggie realizes there are signs of a child, but no little one on site. The murder of Jade, a former model, will make the news, but the priority is the nationwide hunt for her two-year-old, Laurel. Maggie's friend, Detective Inspector Roly Byrne, pulls her onto his team to assist with the case. She's frustrated to be relegated to minor tasks, but she's present for every twist and turn in the case, complicated by the cover-ups from the victim's family and friends. VERDICT The follow-up to The Drowning Sea takes the series in a new direction; it's a step-by-step riveting police procedural filled with red herrings.—Lesa Holstine

Library Journal

2023-04-25
A newly minted Garda helps solve a highly publicized case.

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.

Characters you care about plunged into mysterious circumstances.

Kirkus Reviews