The Taken Girls is a fast paced and gripping debut novel by G D Sanders. DI Edina Ogborne having just been transferred to Canterbury is faced with a challenging case of multiple abductions spanning over a decade.
She certainly doesn’t do herself any favours by having a relationship with her estate agent whilst trying to find a place to live!
The story although a page turner lacks depth when it comes to the characters and to my mind a few flaws. The first is the knife fight in the pub between McNally and five detectives. I know it was used as a device to show Edina’s effectiveness and maybe warm her colleagues to her but McNally or any other villain just wouldn’t do that. Similarly Ed’s needs lacked all degree of professionalism being on the job and in her new job in a similar number of hours. Her boss, Chief Superintendent Addler, lacked the leadership skills which her rank would have demanded. It’s all too easy to paint someone like that as both a buck passer and trophy hunter but a total lack of EQ too? Finally the finale dragged on a bit too long. I am sure subsequent novels will build on the success of The Taken Girls.

3.5☆ A Unique Crime Plot
(Rounded down to a 3☆ for Amazon and Goodreads)

The Taken Girls is a debut book in a new crime fiction series.

I had mixed feelings when reading this book.
I found the beginning introduction to DI Ed Ogborne a little disjointed. I felt at times, it was like I was reading a second or third book, and I wasn't being given the full story.
Don't get me wrong it's ok to keep the reader guessing but when it's a new Book I want to be able to warm to my characters quiet quickly.

But Ed wasn't a particularly likeable character. She is a deeply flawed Character, makes plenty of poor choices which lead to her being kicked out of the MET. Unfortunately she doesn't really redeem herself, that said she was a good detective.

The story is about kidnapped girls who disappear then they are bought back to discover they are pregnant. Which I know is all very odd. It's rare an abducted person is returned.
I thought the premise of this story was intriguing, unique and handled really well.

The pace was slower than I'm used to with crime fiction reads. I feel that the length could of been shorter as it felt as times parts were drawn out.
But I did enjoy the suspense between the abducter and Lucy.
It certainly kept me guessing as to who the abducter was.

Overall this was a well written, good debut novel with a unique crime story with interesting characters.
I do believe it has the potential to be a really good crime fiction series. I just would of liked it to be a bit faster paced, more gripping suspense and tension, but that is just my personal taste for this genre.
I'm intrigued to see what's next for this new series.

Thank you to Avon books for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Girls are going missing but can Ed solve this crime? She’s new to her role and her team don’t want her there. It’s a gritty book with lots of twists and turns. I loved it!

I love stories of abductions. The Taken Girls is no different. This book was different in most abduction stories in that the abductor actually releases his victim after a short amount of time, after his mission is complete.
The Taken Girls also focuses on DI Ed Ogborne, newly transferred from the Met. Immediately put on the missing girls case, she must try and solve the case while also trying to fit into her new team.
This book was a little difficult for me to get into. While I loved the parts when the story focused on the the happenings of the abductor, I found myself a little lost during the parts about Ed.
Overall I enjoyed this unique, fast-paced book!

Fairly slow and I assume this is the first in what will be a series of DI Edina Ogborne books. I’m not a fan of ‘same cop character books’ but I know there is a massive market for them so I’m sure this will do well especially as Edina can come across as unlikeable and it will probably be interesting [for others] to see how the character develops. If police teams are your thing then I’m sure you’ll enjoy it and there are a few interesting twists along the way. A pretty good debut. My thanks to Avon and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This was an excellent book which kept me hooked with all the twists and turns within the storyline. I loved it! Highly recommended, five stars from me.

Many thanks to Netgalley and G.D. Sanders for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This is the first book I have read by this author and it was very enjoyable. This book had a good plot with lots of twists and turns. When a missing girl reappears, unharmed but pregnant, DI Edina Ogborne is on the case and discovers that this has happened a few time previously, and no one has been any the wiser as to what has happened. As she delves into the mystery, she finds missing evidence, misleading records and discovers she may be too close to the culprit. It was a really good, unique story-line with a great ending. I did find the pace of the book was a little slow at times and I did find the main character a bit un-likeable and unredeeming, at first, but she grew on me and I would like to read another book and see where she goes form here. An enjoyable first book, a set up for a really good series is here and I cannot wait to read the next book.

Excellent story based in Canterbury about girls that are kidnapped and then returned seemingly unharmed later. Great story and look forward to more from G.D. Sanders

A brilliantly well written book with so many twists and turns. Will keep you gripped till the end. Well paced.

I quite enjoyed this book. Despite the thread of female DC moved from the Met to a rural area after an affair with a married officer, this was a crime with a difference.

A girl goes missing, a very good girl with no history of deviant behaviour. Whilst there are no clues, after a bit of delving by DI Ed Osbourne, it appears that this case has more than a few similarities to previous cases where teenage girl’s disappearances.

The plot goes here and there, there are lots of red herrings and a good ending. Looking forward to reading more from this author and DI Osbourne.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the advance ARC in return for an honest review.

I really thought this book was going to be an absolute smash, I was disappointed. It seemed to teeter out towards the middle with all the action being pushed into the last few chapters. I enjoyed it, but only as a gap filler. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review this title

An exciting and twisty plot.

Three girls go missing, two are returned seemingly unscathed. But no attempt is made to find or apprehend the perpetrator. Despite the lack of evidence and hardly any substance to work from, Ed Ogborne is convinced that the third girl was taken by the same sick psychopath. Will she suffer the same consequences as the other girls?

Ed Ogborne is the new Detective Inspector with the Canterbury Criminal Investigation Department. Born in Brixton, her goal is to develop her career in the Met. However, a bad relationship choice creates embarrassment within the department, and she is promptly transferred to Canterbury. Here, her chief does not mince words when she informs Ed that her arrival has caused discomfort and obstructed the promotion of another officer. As she takes charge of her team, Ed knows that the only way to alleviate their animosity is to prove her skill as an investigative officer.

The third victim lies enveloped in darkness and silence that press in from all sides. There is no air, and she fights the impulse to scream because it would push the last breath from her body. When he enters, the freakish voice of ‘Punch' in a carnival show comes to her from a faceless body. A bloody package drops to the floor, and she watches horrified as he gently lifts something that resemblances a pound of flesh. Clearly agitated by his carelessness, he disappears into the other room where he keeps his collection - a collection so different, but far more important, than the one he had as a boy.

As Ed’s team pieces together bits of evidence on the attack on the other girls, they try to make sense of the mysterious abduction and subsequent return of two of the girls. They narrow their search down to four suspects, but their sense of urgency is heightened by the fact that the perpetrator seems to have unfinished business. Their frantic search to save the girl leads to an unexpected twist and leaves the reader wondering to what extent the psychotic maniac is also a victim of circumstance.

A fluid read, with a twist in the plot that is cleverly linked from beginning to end.

Ange

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

"The Taken girls" eBook was published in 2018 and was written by G. D. Sanders (https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/g-d-sanders/). This is Mr. Sander's first novel. 

I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains scenes of Mature Language and Mature Situations. The story is set in contemporary England. The primary character is Detective Edina Ogborne.

Ogborne has just been transferred to the Canterbury Police. Even before her official start, she finds herself involved in the hunt for a missing teenage girl. That hunt goes on for days, then the girl turns up. As the investigation proceeds it is discovered that this is not the first girl to disappear then reappear unharmed. 

Not only is Ogborne faced with the challenge of the kidnapping, but she also faces initial resistance from her new team in Canterbury. Poor choices in her love life have caused her to be transferred to Canterbury and now the new man in her life is a suspect in the kidnapping. She also comes across oddities in the police records that imply that there has been a coverup. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the 7.5 hours I spent reading this 400-page mystery. I like British mysteries and I think this is a good one. I like the primary character as well as the others that make up her team. I think they will make for good stories as this series evolves. I have had the opportunity to visit Canterbury so that adds a further attraction to this novel. I like the cover art. I give this novel a 4.4 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

This story was interesting and different to anything I have read before.
Ed is relocated to a different force and has to win over a team who are already close. With a few suspects in the frame Ed and her team work to eliminate each one until they find out who the criminal is.

Despite starting with a trope I've read several times before - female star of the MET is moved to the sticks after an affair with a colleague and the boys close ranks - this book did intrigue me. An unusual crime, a small town community, a slightly maverick DI with a new team to get to know and part of the story seen from the victim's point of view led to me turning the pages at a rate of knots trying to decide who Ed could really trust and which of the suspects was the criminal.
Unfortunately about 60% of the way through the book became a little repetitive, and because I knew that the kidnapped girl would be released, I didn't feel that there was really sufficient tension to maintain my interest. The criminal himself was a little cliched as well (blame it on the mother and his rotten childhood).
A good debut, and hopefully the next books in the series will be edited to be a little 'tighter'
My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

When DI Ed Ogborn is transferred to Canterbury from the Met, she is keen to establish herself.
She doesn’t have long to wait, as she finds herself in charge of an unusual case. Teenage girls are being abducted but eventually released, apparently unharmed.
The Taken Girls starts well. It is a decent police procedural with a good story line but the characters feel slightly forced and perhaps a little dated. It is hard to imagine that DI Ogborn, twenties something as she is, would embark upon the social life route she chooses, and Nigel the estate agent/friend/suspect, immaculate in his dark purple silk shirt, is almost a caricature.
But the biggest problem was the length, there is too much reiteration of non-vital information.
Despite the resultant danger of waning interest, this is a good, well written debut crime novel.
With thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK

Great characters and story made this a book I could not put down.
This was thoroughly entertaining.

This is the first book in the DI Edina Ogborne series and as I am a big fan of detective series’ I was looking forward to reading this.

I think Edina (Ed) is an interesting character, but not very likeable. She makes way to many bad decisions, especially in her personal life, and doesn’t seem to learn from them. I enjoy reading about flawed characters, but there wasn’t enough of a character arc for me.

The story starts off well, and the premise is intriguing. The pace was a little slow however.

I definitely think there is potential for a good series there, with more character development and a faster pace to keep the tension up.

Thank you to Avon for a copy of this book.

Just didn’t quite take off for me good concept but all a little confused mixed with some outdated attitude to lifestyle and secret bedroom recordings surely not. Too little substance for me

I really enjoyed this, it was definitely a crime book with a difference. Well written and wonderfully descriptive I hope Eddie will be appearing in future books.