This is the first book in the Afton Tangler series - and I really, really liked it! It kept me on the edge of my seat and not wanting to put the book down.

Grabs you from the start! You get that creepy feeling as you start to read this story and know something bad is going to happen. Edge of your seat reading. Hard to put this book down.

One night a 3 month old baby girl is snatched from her crib and it’s a rush against time for the police to find the baby still alive.

Having two young daughters myself (6 months old) it was very hard for me to read this book and to not get emotional. I literally can’t even imagine how I would react if something happened to my kids! That being said, while I enjoyed the plot, there were definitely some parts that felt a little cheesy to me. The main character is a female police liaison but she’s brought onto the case to help out. All of her hunches are right and of course she saves the day. Also some of the dialogue felt a little forced, but I don’t know if it was written that way with phrases that are used more in the Midwest. I did enjoy the book, but it wasn’t my favorite, especially not at this point in my life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

Author of cozy mysteries, Laura Childs, has stepped up her game in this title - written under her real name. I've read some of Childs' mysteries and I have liked them - this is nothing like those! This book by Schmitt has a lot more grit to it.
Afton Tangler is a community liaison with the Minneapolis Police. While scaling a frozen waterfall she gets a call that sends her back to the Twin Cities as quickly as possible. A three month old baby has been abducted. Afton's job is to be there for the parents, to get questions answered, to provide support. But what she really longs to be doing is investigating the crime - helping to find the baby. Fortunately for Afton, this time around she gets to do just that. Along with Detective Max Montgomery, Afton uses more gut instinct than training to follow leads and hunches in an effort to find this baby alive and as quickly as possible. But the trail is twisty, the leads vague and unrelated...until they aren't and Afton and her partner are on the hunt for a little girl and her abductors.
First off, Minnesota sounds miserable to live in during the winter. And I hear in the summer it is buggy and muggy so sounds like not so great anytime of the year. Okay, there. I just had to state that the weather would be a deterrent to living there - perhaps even visiting. Now I can get on with the real review. The weather comment applies because the story takes place in a lot of snow and ice in Minnesota. I like Schmitt's Afton Tangler. At first I wasn't sure, but I warmed up to her. I like the idea of the main character going in with gut instinct and Mama Bear bravado and not much else. I liked that the Captain in her PD gave her the opportunity, even though I don't think it would happen in real life. I liked that the Detective she worked with listened to her and didn't just dismiss her, even though - again - I don't think that would happen in real life. But I like Afton, I like her enough that I hope to read the second book in the series sooner rather than later.