Stolen Daughters by Carolyn Arnold is the 2nd book in her Detective Amanda Steele series. As I have noted before, I have been a big fan of Arnold, having read most of her series. I feel this series is her best one yet, and love its wonderful heroine, Amanda Steele.

Amanda Steele, our heroine, is a homicide detective in Dumfries, Virginia Police Department. She is called to the scene where a young girl’s dead body was found in an abandoned building fire. As she and her partner, Trent begin their investigation, they discover that the girl was part of a sex trafficking ring. Shortly thereafter, a woman who had called in the fire to the police, is also found murdered; they suspect this may be the work of a serial killer. As they interview the family of some of the missing children over the years, Amanda is consumed with finding these missing girls.

Amanda is determined to stop the killer before they kill again, but then there is another fire, with two more dead girls who were probably part of the sex trafficking; the danger escalates as the killer is now setting their site on Amanda. How does the killer know about her past, and the deaths of her husband and daughter?
What follows is an exciting, intriguing, pulse pounding mystery that kept me unable to put the book down, especially knowing how Amanda continually put herself in danger. We did get a POV of the killer throughout, giving us a look at his madness. To say too much more would be spoilers, and this was a very good story that needs to be read from start to finish. I like all of the secondary characters that Arnold has created, but I was not crazy about the chief, who was trying to get rid of Amanda; even though she was their best detective.

Stolen Daughters was an excellent crime thriller that was suspenseful, dark, intense, and kept us glued to the end. Amanda, Trent & Sergeant made an excellent team. I really liked Amanda, as she was a great heroine, and a fantastic detective. Stolen Daughters was so very well written by Carolyn Arnold, and I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us in future books, especially with the surprise ending. If you like mystery thrillers, police procedural, then you need to be reading this book.

Second book of the Detective Amanda Steele series, the story starts off with a girl who was being strangled and the man sets a fire to that place. When Detectives Amanda and Trent come over at the scene, they discover that the girl was a victim of sex trafficking.

I do like the author's writing style and I was actually hooked into the story, wanting to know who is the actual killer. This was fast paced actually with some twists and turns and just like her previous book, the victim is involved in a sex trafficking ring. The murders sounded a little brutal to me, but nonetheless I was hooked into the story and I didn't even until I came to the end that I have finished the book! Detective Steele doesn't seem to have a good relationship with some of her colleagues and so I cannot wait what is going to happen to her next in the third book of the series.

Overall, this was quiet an unputdownable fast paced thriller that will keep you hooked until the end--worth four stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC--the review is based on my honest opinion.

Full disclosure - I was provided an advanced reader’s copy of this book by the author or their representative but have voluntarily provided a review.

Stolen Daughters is set for an April 6, 2021 release

The Flames of Wrath

An abandoned house goes up in flames on a quiet lower middle-class neighborhood street. When a body is found inside, suspicions move from squatters to murder and arson as detectives Steele and Stenson are called to the scene. The small town of Dumfries, Virginia is rocked yet again with another murder scandal which quickly escalates into multiple incidents. With their only solid clue being a dragonfly pin, Amanda and Trent set out to unravel the clues of this curious case. But as they start to make headway, Amanda is not only threatened by a superior gunning for her badge, but also a direct challenge from the perpetrator. When their paths finally cross, tensions are high as Amanda attempts to capture the killer and save at least one life from going up in smoke.
Stolen Daughters is the second in the newly minted Detective Amanda Steele series of novels by author Carolyn Arnold. Picking up approximately two months after the close of “The Little Grave” Amanda is still dealing with the consequences of her mother’s prior actions, and while her parents do not hold any grudges her siblings do, and this makes for some pretty tense family dinners. Couple that with her budding relationship with her one-time alibi Logan and it appears that Amanda may finally be able to start making peace with her past. But all will not be smooth sailing as a vindictive superior is hell-bent to strip her from her badge and remove her from the force altogether. Amanda’s CO can only do so much to shield her but being the daughter of a former Chief of Police, Detective Steele is not one to back down from a fight. Detective Stenson’s back story is also explored in passing with the cameo appearance of FBI Agent Brandon Fisher who is the subject of another series of novels by Arnold. Arnold’s tying of these two series together with the common link of Detective Stenson is brilliant. His backstory has been hinted at in both this book and the first book in the series and it had made me curious to read Brandon’s series as well. If you are new to this series, never fear, Arnold’s writing style is such that while this is a continuation of a larger storyline, it can also be read as a stand-alone offering without too much confusion regarding who the major players and or what has happened previously.
Yet again Arnold delivers another intriguing, though-provoking case that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Great follow up to book 1, but still can be read as a stand alone. Waiting for book 3!. Amanda Steele is working her way into my heart. She was so broken in book 1, I love watching her put herself together stitch by stitch, and then something happens to unravel one or two She digs deep and keeps putting one foot in front of the other. Twists and surprises ensue, how about that one towards the end?? Not with Amanda. Sorry trying for no spoilers :) Speaking of the ending,.... it is a cliff hanger, but a cliff hanger as to Amanda next step. The crime is resolved in itself, and other doors are open for this series to keep on going, and I am in. Thank you for the arc. Thank you Bookouture, NetGalley I freely share my thoughts and opinions.

The story starts as a continuation of the first book with the core plot once again human trafficking. The protagonist was so level headed and mature in the previous book, but here she is impulsive and unhinged. She seems to be jumping into conclusion and showing utter disregard to procedures. There doesn’t happen to be a conclusion to this problem in the county. Hopefully the author moves to a different plot in the next book. 2.5 stars

An suspenseful crime thriller/police procedural. Having not read the first book I felt a bit unsure of some of the department's dynamics but found the characters interesting and believable. There were many strong female characters though not all were likeable. I also liked the brief appearance of Brandon Fisher. I'm looking forward to the next one and I am definitely going to read the previous book.
Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

I liked this book but found it to be a bit disjointed. Situations would arise throughout the story that never had any closure. I was left wondering more then a few times why I didn’t get answers by the end of the story. I’m hoping in the next book there will be answers to some things that got left unanswered.
I have not read the previous book in the series. Maybe having some backstory to this book could have helped me like this book more.
All in all, a ok read which kept me engaged from the beginning. I liked Detective Amanda Steele’s character and I look forward to reading more from this series.
Thank you to NetGallery, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

Detective Amanda Steele is back in Dumfries, Virginia and Washington D.C. solving homicide cases involving young women who have been kidnapped and murdered, in Carolyn Arnold’s upcoming second book from the Detective Amanda Steele Series, “Stolen Daughters.” The homicide cases thrown in Detective Steele’s direction involves a sex-tracking ring, which was introduced in the first book from the series “The Little Grave.”

“Stolen Girls” was a good read filled with psychological context and forensics profiling. The storyline opens up your eyes to the many criminal cases that are occurring in the world we live on. The crimes committed were realistic, allowing the reader to visually picture what has happened. As Scientist who is interested in forensic science, I was a little disappointed in the lack of detail when it came to a set of skeletal remains found at one of the crime scenes. While I was excited to follow along on Detective Steele’s recent case, I was under the impression there would be more detail surrounding the identification of the human bones of the young women. Instead, it it seems as if the crime was added to finish out the book. Also, the beginning of the book slightly starts off where the last book ended, but there’s no resolution as the book comes to an end. What happens to Detective Steele’s mom? I can only hope any loose ends will come to light in the next book. While, “Stolen Girls” was much harder for me to read compared to “The Little Grave,” due to the slowness of the storyline, I still would recommend the book to those who enjoy reading true crime books that can get to you in a way that it’s as if you’re seeing the crimes unfold in front of you. There were gruesome details when it came to the crimes committed, which make you think about how crazy people are nowadays.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the eARC of “Stolen Daughters,” which is expected to be released on April 6, 2021.

I really enjoyed the first in the series so was looking forward to reading this. I was not disappointed and found myself whizzing through this. I'm looking forward to reading more.

This is the second book in this series, looking up this author showed me that the first book got rave reviews, so I had to buy the first one as I had to read this series in order.. I did like the storyline even though sex trafficking is a subject that I do not like to read about

This is my first introduction to Detective Amanda Steele, and although I found it a little slow paced it was a really enjoyable read, that was easy to follow along with.

Furthermore, there were plenty of procedural aspects, interesting characters, twists and even a couple of fairly macabre crime scenes, that altogether had me pretty hooked.

And I'd definitely go back, and read the first book in the series as well as any future ones.

Would recommend.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'Stolen Daughters' by Carolyn Arnold.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Carolyn Arnold, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 6th April 2020.

This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the second book in the 'Detective Amanda Steele' series although it can be read as a standalone.

I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching and intriguing cover and its captivating synopsis. The synopsis also stated that 'Fans of Rachel Caine, Lisa Regan and Robert Dugoni will be gripped' . I am a huge fan of Lisa Regan's books so it will be interesting to see if it lives up to this statement.I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of a prologue and 61 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in Virginia, USA 🇺🇸

This book is written in third person perspective and the protagonist is Detective Amanda Steele. The benefits of third person perspective with are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.

This is an extremely well written book with vivid descriptions that will suck you straight into the storyline and captivated from beginning to end. The synopsis and cover worked perfectly with the storyline.

The storyline means that there is no problem with this being read as a standalone which is what I did. I was absolutely hooked throughout, a true page turner from beginning to end. The storyline was in depth and packed with suspense, twists, turns, shocks and was an edge of your seat, nail biting and heart racing psychological thriller. I was absolutely hooked. Carolyn has done lots of research into both police procedural and sex trafficking and this shines throughout. There's nothing worse that a book filled with minor errors as the author hasn't taken the time to do some research into the areas they have written about. I read this book in less than 24 hours and I'm looking forward to reading the previous book on this series as well as more to come. It certainly promises to be an epic series. It is one of the best books I have read this month and I really enjoyed. It was left on what I would definitely call a cliffhanger and I'm looking forward to seeing Amanda fight back and kick Hills butt.

I loved the characters who were all strong, well defined and unique. Amanda is absolutely whoop a## and I love seeing strong female leads in books. She has a background but will not let it pull her down and she is definitely someone I would love to have on my side. Trent is another fantastic team member and they work perfectly well together. Some of the characters were less likeable such as Hill and Jefferey but at the same time it was interesting to see the relationships between them and Amanda. I loved Rideout's character and personality and I also quite like Malone and see him as a sort of fatherly figure to Amanda. I am definitely looking forward to meeting them all again.

I could not praise this book enough and highly recommend. Carolyn welcome to my favourite authors list and I cannot wait to read more of your very successful work!!! I would also love to see this book turned into a movie. An absolutely addictive, compelling and gripping true page turner!!!


Overall an absolutely captivating, engrossing page turner that is compelling and addictive!!!

Genres covered in this novel include Thriller, Mystery, Police Procedural, Suspense, Hardboiled, Romance Novel, Psychological Thriller, Noir Fiction, Psychological Fiction and Crime Fiction amongst others.

I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Carol Wyer, Lisa Regan, Angela Marsons and ANYONE looking for an epic page turner .

359 pages.

This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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First off I want to say a huge thank you to the publisher Bookouture , the author Carolyn Arnold , and to NetGalley for inviting me to join the blog tour for this book as well as letting me read and review it.Wow and here I thought book one was good but this one is way better then the first one , it was non stop from the very start, and which each plot twist I was on the edge of my set ,and the pace was fast that it had me turning the pages each time I kept telling myself that I was going to stop, I loved the inter action between the characters and loved seen the profiling/psychological aspects of the different types of serial killers as well as what makes them into one, I also loved how the author brought to life the world of sex trafficking .Another thing I liked was how so much stronger Amanda seemed in this one all the while still dealing with memories of her own tragedies . With that said I can't wait to read more of this series

This book will not disappoint the readers, it´s full of action, mystery and touches a big issue all around the world - human trafficking. It´s really unsettling to read about this sort of crime and at the same time know that it is actually happening somewhere. The culprit - in this case - is someone with a totally sick mind that believes that through his crimes he will make this world a better place. The story got me hooked from the begining and I really enjoyed reading it! Another great thriller by Carolyn Arnold!

This book was provided to me by Bookouture through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is book 2 in the Detective Amanda Steele series.
When Amanda and her partner, Trent Stenson are called to a house fire where a body has been pulled from, it links back to a trafficking ring named DC. Amanda has already had dealings with this ring (read The Little Grave), so she is rushing to find the leader and save the victims. But why is someone killing the victims?
Amanda, Trent, Sargent Malone and Patty Glover are back. Although Patty has a smaller part, she and Amanda still communicate throughout the case. Also, Lt Hill is still out for Amanda's job. She doesn't like her and it is clear that she will do whatever she can to take her down a notch.
I definitely liked Amanda WAY better in this book. She has finally gotten her feet under her, is more grounded, and her life is starting to pull together.
Thank you Bookouture, Carolyn Arnold and NetGalley

Installment #2 in the Amanda Steele series heats up. A very disturbed person is taking young girls, killings them, and then setting the structures ablaze. Amanda and Trent are not in the heels of the perp. But is he getting too close to Amanda? I like Amanda and her developing story. She is coping with her feelings for Logan, catching a new culprit, and the complicated relations with her family. Jer superior is also out to get her. The ending leaves readers wondering what will happen next, especially career wise for her. I counted up the other day, I'm immersed in six female law enforcement series. I am addicted.

Of course I had to request to read this! A hooking thriller! And thankfully I was accepted.

I really liked the storyline, i like how it had a story within a story (must go and read the first one in the series!) loved the relationship between the main characters. I also like how it’s a strong female lead character. #girlpower

At first I found it quite slow paced and the ending felt quite rushed but it didn’t impact the enjoyable read for me. It kept my attention and I kept reading of course to find out what was going to happen.

It touched on emotive topics such as sex trafficking, which instantly gives an on the edge atmosphere.

Overall I enjoyed and I would be quick to pick up a detective Amanda Steele book in the future :)

Thank you NetGalley, bookouture and Carolyn Arnold for the opportunity to read and review the stolen daughters.

Stolen Daughters by Carolyn Arnold is the second book in the Amanda Steele series. This series just keeps getting better with each story. I loved both books and can’t wait for the third. Thanks to Netgalley for this arc.

Carolyn Arnold has done it again with the second book in the Detective Amanda Steele series!! The first one, The Little Grave, was sooo good I couldn't wait to dive into this one and she did not disappoint!!
This time around Amanda is tasked with investigating the death of a teenage girl who was found in a burning building. Suspiciously other deaths occur that seems to be tied to the first. Is it a coincidence or is there a serial killer on the loose? This was one fast paced, extremely thrilling and suspenseful story that will be hard to put down! I love the characters in this series and I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book! I hope we don't have to wait much longer!!!

Amanda Steele is very quickly becoming one of my favorite detectives, up there with the likes of Adam Fawley and Maeve Kerrigan!

What a wonderfully written and thrilling read, I would highly recommend this. Keep an eye on this author!