This is one of the strongest entries to date in Sarah Stewart Taylor’s Maggie D’Arcy series. The first novel, The Mountains Wild, follows the grown Maggie, a detective on Long Island, as she goes back to Ireland to try and discover what happened to her cousin, who went missing years before. She also reconnects with an old flame, and the next two books follow Maggie as she returns to Ireland on a case and as she tries to figure out what’s next in her life. What’s next turns out to be Maggie giving up her job on Long Island, moving in with Conor, her old flame, and taking the class to restart her career as an Irish Guard.

When the novel opens, new Guard D’Arcy (called by the kids on her beat “American Guard”) and her partner are on patrol, when a bunch of kids tell them there’s a duck that’s fallen down a well. The Make Way for Ducklings scene that follows establishes the partnership between Maggie and her fellow guard, gives a bit of a feel for the neighborhood, and sets a tone – Maggie and her fellow guard are decent officers, trying to do the right thing.

When they get a call out late in their shift that something’s off in an apartment they’d been called to a couple days before, they discover the young woman who lived there dead, and her two year old daughter missing. Of course, nothing propels a story like a missing child, and what follows is an absolutely stellar, perfectly assembled police procedural.

The police procedural, to me, is the modern equivalent of the traditional detective novel in its purest incarnation. While the techniques of police investigation are always a part of the story, as they are here, what really solves the case often turns out to be good old fashioned deductive reasoning combined with a gut instinct. Maggie D’Arcy posses this skillset in spades.

As Maggie is just a patrol cop, she’s only called in on the case because the squad is shorthanded. Because she’s worked for years as a full-fledged homicide detective, she’s frustrated, but the work she’s allowed to participate in finds her making some breakthroughs and it’s ultimately her instinct that does help to solve the case. As a long time cop, her radar for liars is pretty strongly honed.

The working dynamic between her and the detective she encountered in the last novel is fun (for the reader), though for the two of them it’s more of a getting to know and trust the other situation. Brilliant move on Stewart Taylor’s part to take this series back to a new origin story, something which always energizes a novel.
This book has a great and well told story that propels the book in a rocket powered fashion. Maggie’s personal life is more back burner, the investigation more front and center. It feels like a comfortable fit. The illumination of Dublin and its various neighborhoods is exceptionally well done, and I really felt like I had a bird’s eye view. This is an excellent read.

I love the Maggie D'Arcy series, so it's no surprise that I enjoyed this fourth installment. Even with the disturbing content, I still found A STOLEN CHILD to be an engrossing, twisty, entertaining read. Maggie is a likable heroine as she's smart, brave, compassionate, and devoted to both her job and her family. The plot moves along swiftly, with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader's attention. I didn't see the murderer coming and was, in fact, fooled by more than one red herring. I like a mystery that keeps me guessing, which is just one of the many reasons I'm a fan of this series. I'll absolutely be reading the next book. And the next. And the next...

A Stolen Child is a police procedural. Although this novel is part of the Maggie D'arcy Mystery series, A Stolen Child can be read as a stand alone police procedural. This novel is the first Sarah Stewart Taylor .novel that I have read. I am not positive, but I think A Stolen Child is the 4th novel in this mystery series. The narrator is Maggie, who has moved to Ireland and trained as a Garda, essentially a foot soldier as a policeman. What she wants is to be a detective, which was her job back in the States.

Although A Stolen Child is part of the series, Taylor does a nice job of filling in some essential background, without focusing too much on it. The slight bit of background helps new readers to understand Maggie better. There are a number of interesting characters, a bit of romance and family drama, and many red herrings, as Maggie and the other detectives try to solve a murder and kidnapping. I did think that the plot moved along rather slowly ay first, but then it picked up and A Stolen Child was much more difficult to put down. A Stolen Child is not an action novel. Car chases through central London are not happening. This novel shows policemen as thinking about how to solve crimes. That kind of thinking is always my preference.

I do want to thank the author and St. Martin's Press for this ARC, in exchange for my honest review. I liked this novel and Maggie well enough that I would like to read other novels in this series. Thank you also to NetGalley for introducing me to so many new authors.

A Stolen Child is a police procedural that is part of the Maggie D'arcy Mystery series. This was my first book in the series and it may have been detrimental to start here. Even though I could follow along the story without a trouble, I felt detached from the character. The writing seems very dry much like reading a police report or a witness account. This was a DNF for me after about a third of the book because I did not really care about the characters or the continuing story. I know there are readers that enjoy this kind of story but it wasn’t my cup of tea. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

Former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy is now a garda in Ireland. She and her partner discover a former model and reality show star murdered and her two-year-old daughter is nowhere to be found.

This is fast-paced and well written. It’s the fourth book in the series but the first one I’ve read, and it worked fine as a stand-alone.

NetGalley provided an advance reader copy of this novel, which RELEASES JUNE 20, 2023.

I love this new series by Sarah Taylor Stewart that features Maggie D’Arcy and those around her. In this book, Maggie is now living in Dublin with her boyfriend, his son and her daughter. She is currently a Garda, not a detective, as she had to begin again in the Irish system. For those who don’t know, Maggie previously lived in New York.

Maggie and her work partner Jason like one another and do a good job on their beat. In the novel, some of those that they have met will figure in a murder case. Happily for Maggie she is seconded and gets to be a detective again, at least some of the time looking into the complex situation.

Who murdered beautiful Jade? And what happened to her daughter, the stolen child of the title? Ms. Taylor makes a suspenseful story with a fully created world to answer those questions.

In addition to the relationship with Jason, of course, there is Maggie’s relationship with boyfriend, Conor. They are having a few growing pains. Will their relationship be strong enough to hold? That is another question to be answered.

Publishers Weekly stars this one. I could not agree more. Highly recommended for those who enjoy mysteries, police procedurals, novels set in Ireland and just good stories. I am already eager for the next title in this series.

This novel can be read as a standalone but why would one? Each of the previous three stories were excellent and provided hours of reading pleasure. So, readers who start with this may then want to look for the earlier books.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

Maggie D’arcy has moved from America to Ireland with her teenage daughter. Former detective, she has taken a position as officer with the Dublin police. Responding to a domestic disturbance with her partner, they find nothing amiss. Shortly after, however, Jade, the woman they questioned, is found dead and her two year old daughter, Laurel, is missing. They investigate the child’s father, grandmother and aunt along with many questionable locals. Through this Sarah Stewart Taylor takes her readers on a tour ofJade’s life, revealing both her troubled past and present fears. When a specific diaper bag is found in the nearby canal, the worst is feared. Relying on her expertise in detecting. Maggie becomes deeply involved in this case as she tries to adjust to her new life and career and the family she is building in a new city. Suspense abounds; plot twists keep the reader engaged.

"A Stolen Child" by Sarah Stewart Taylor is well written mystery. I enjoyed the characters , especially Maggie D'arcy , an American transplant now living in Ireland working as a Guard . Maggie had been a detective in her life before Ireland and has just undergone retraining to work in her new adopted country. Of course she is starting on the bottom and patrolling neighborhoods with her new partner Jason. Soon the shortage of officers and a murder of a young mother and kidnapping of her toddler get D'arcy temporarily reassigned to use her investigative skills again.

I really enjoyed the book and was pleased find there are others featuring these characters and their families- and Ireland is amazing so I will definitely read more

This was my first book in this series but can be read as a stand-alone. I was glued to pages and had a hard time putting it down. The twist surprised me. I would recommend this to mystery/thriller fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Marin's Press for my ARC.

A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor, is a DNF for me. The title, plot & cover were an instant attraction for me. However when I started to get into the chapters I found myself no longer interested due to lack of interest in characters & development.

"A Stolen Child" is a police procedural story with a strong female lead who is working her way up, and is given the case. The Irish setting is appealing, as is the mystery of finding a kidnapped child. Recommended for readers who enjoy solid police procedural stories. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a solid mystery/police procedural story! Maggie is an American who now lives in Ireland and is basically starting over in her career by working her way up to detective within their Garda. She is on patrol with her partner when they discover a murdered mother and missing child. Spotlighting her investigative skills, she is given the opportunity to leave patrol and help on the case temporarily. Who killed Jade? Where is Laurel? The case is confusing and the team must search both the professional and personal life of Jade to find the killer!

If you enjoy a straightforward police procedural story with mystery and suspense, this is a perfect find! The characters are well developed, and I really liked Maggie and the team.

Highly recommend!

This one was a little different than the previous three books.

There is a time jump between the last and this one so Maggie is now completed training to be an Irish police officer, living with her boyfriend, his son and her daughter after spending much of the training apart. They are getting his house renovated so they can buy a new one together. It oddly doesn’t seem to disrupt anyone’s life.


In fact, the book is solely Maggie’s point of view (the others either switched or had passages from the POV of the victim) and she rarely interacts with her family at all. It’s mentioned they took a trip, her daughter is still dating the guy from the last book and Conor has published a history book that is panned but most of the very long book is focused on the case.

I don’t find Maggie to be a particularly nice person. She routinely dismisses other people’s abilities like that of the man she is walking the beat with—she doesn’t think he’d make a good detective because he isn’t as smart as she is but is a good beat cop—and is constantly inserting herself into a case that has very very little to do with her. She texts the dectectives who are actually working on the case repeatedly when she hears of developments on the news. Let them work! All she did was respond to the call about the victim.

She also latches on to strange details. The victim, Jade, had been a model prior to having her child. After the child was born at some point she formally terminated her modeling contract with the agency. Maggie finds this truly baffling. She goes to the agency and demands to know why Jade hadn’t just said no to jobs or ignored the agency’s calls. Why did she formally end the contract. I don’t know but maybe Jade was behaving professionally? Who ghosts their agency? You tell them you aren’t in the industry anymore and end your contract. That way you aren’t wasting anyone’s time.

I feel like this tells us more about Maggie (and the author??) than adding anything to the mystery. What a weird plot point. It did open up the line of inquiry about Jade’s pay but her sister had already said many chapters earlier there was a weird system in place about that where they didn’t pay her as a teen model but held it in trust. Why didn’t they investigate that? That was a huge red flag and seemed ripe for abuse. Later a photographer tells her that they had heard about the agency not paying photographers. That didn’t make her think something was odd.

But Jade deciding not to be a model anymore and ending her modeling contract what made them look into the agency? It made no sense.

I really enjoyed the (spoiler) idea that the kidnapper dropped the missing toddler off at a daycare while they were outside playing. Very clever.

Maggie, an American detective, is now living in Ireland with her daughter Lilly. She becomes a fully fledged Garda and is put on a team to find a missing child. Jade is found murdered.she was beautiful and a model, but after detectives discover her body, her child is nowhere. The search begins and just when the team thinks they may be onto something, a huge clue makes them realize that there is much more to the mystery.
I couldn't quite get into the story as I felt that there was too much repetition, but I thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Whoa! Loved this book! I’m all about suspense and thrillers as long as there is a good story involved and this book fits the bill. Great character development, excellent scene descriptions!

I read this as a stand-alone and enjoyed it. I liked that it gave SA victims a voice. It was hard to get through so look up Trigger Warnings. The plot twist was crazy I did not expect it. I would definitely recommend!

Maggie D'Arcy was an American police detective who has moved to Ireland and had to start over as a police officer. She will have to work her way up to detective. However, due to her background and the circumstances of the case she gets the opportunity to work on an investigation of a missing child who disappeared after her mother was murdered.

This was a dramatic, engrossing book and I enjoyed following the investigation. The book moved at a good pace and built tension as the story unfolded. The murder is complex and had quite a few surprises. I recommended this book to anyone who likes mysteries and police procedurals. I'm going to try to pick up the earlier books in this series.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on June 20, 2023.

Maggie D’arcy hasn’t always been a detective in Ireland. She recently relocated there from Long Island for a romantic relationship, with her daughter, Lilly. Maggie is finally getting her feet wet and understanding the differences between crime and the law between the vastly different countries, when she is thrust into a murder/kidnapping case. A television star, Jade Elliot has been murdered, and her young daughter is now missing. The time is ticking to try to find the young child, alive and well. This book is masterful with characters that will keep you interested and vested in the story line. The plot has twists and turns, which will lead to a surprising and satisfying ending. The book was easy to read and follow with good character development. While I had not read the other books in this series, it was easy to pick this one up and it was not detrimental. Reading this one however, has me ready to read the rest in the series. This book can be read as a stand-alone book or as a part of the series. Thank you the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor.
A Maggie D’arcy Mystery. This is my first book by this author. I like Maggie - she has an interesting background. A New York homicide detective for 20 years she relocates to Ireland and starts over as an Irish Garda walking a beat.
A young single mother is murdered in her home and her 2 year old child is missing. Maggie and her partner are the first on scene and it is Maggie who realizes there is a child missing.
I look forward to reading and catching up in this series. This was an interesting storyline with several twists.

After 20 years as a US homicide detective Maggie D’arcy is back walking a beat as a Garda in Ireland. She’s finished training and things are going well with her daughter and partner. When a call goes out about a murder, Maggie and her partner recognize the address as a place they’d cleared a possible domestic call a few days earlier. When they discover a child is missing it’s all hands on deck. With a shortage of people and the detective in charge a friend, Maggie is allowed into the investigative team as they race to find the child and a killer.

This fourth outing of Maggie D’arcy is satisfying. I like the development of characters from the first books and the addition of her new best partner is a nice balance to the friction with the investigative partner. As usual, there were plenty of threads to pull and twists to follow, and I didn’t guess where Taylor was going with the plot. Highly recommended.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.