Book Review: A Stolen Child | Sarah Stewart Taylor | Maggie D’arcy Mystery #4

I’ve been wanting to check out the Maggie D’arcy mystery series by Sarah Stewart Taylor because I’ve heard it is recommended for fans of Tana French and I am certainly a Tana French fan. I got the opportunity to read the latest book, A Stolen Child and I jumped at it. The series revolves around a former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy who is living in Ireland with her daughter Lilly and working towards becoming a detective.

About the Book | A Stolen Child

The events of A Stolen Child take place several months after the prior book. In this book, Maggie is living with her boyfriend Conor, his son, and her daughter Lilly. She has completed her Garda training program and she is now working as a Garda in Dublin, assigned with a fellow Garda. One evening she and her partner are called to a possible domestic incident, but when they arrive the woman who answered the door informs them that all is fine. A few days later, they report to the same apartment to find Jade Elliott is dead.

As they are waiting for the Criminal Investigation Unit to arrive and process the crime scene, Maggie notices signs that a child lives in the residence but there is no child in the apartment. They learn that Jade has a 2 year-old daughter named Laurel Maguire and a nationwide search is launched for the missing child.

Review | A Stolen Child

The mystery unfolds as part police procedural, part deductive investigation. Maggie has strong gut instinct from years working as a homicide detective in Long Island. While she is working as a Garda in Ireland, she understands how to investigate, what to look for, and how to press for answers.

Despite working as the Irish equivalent of a patrol cop, Maggie is called to help the detective because they are short staffed, she has extensive experience, and the skills needed (and it doesn’t hurt that she is friends with Detective Byrne). Maggie’s background has leant her the ability to read people and her lie radar is strong. The challenge is convincing others to go based on her instinct, but her instinct is what will eventually help solve the case.

I like the dynamic between her and Detective Byrne—even being new to the series, their friendship is easy to see and a lot of fun to watch. They are still getting to know one another and trusting the other’s instinct, but they also respect one another.

The investigation was front and center and the issues in Maggie’s personal life were a subplot. Because of that, this was easy to jump into without having read the prior books first. The victim Jade Elliott was a young model who got pregnant by a man named Dylan Maguire—older and well off. Dylan pays her bills but the two are not together. Initially it seemed like Dylan is the obvious suspect—it’s his child that went missing and the child’s mother who was murdered. But there was a complication with that theory because Dylan has a solid alibi, despite Jade’s sister feeling sure that he must be behind it.

Meanwhile the public is fascinated by the crime due to the beautiful victim and missing child. Dylan isn’t the only suspect that Maggie and the team had. Jade’s mother had mental health issues, and Jade’s sister seems suspicious. How to solve a crime when the prime suspect has a rock solid alibi? It’s going to take some good old fashioned detective work and deductive reasoning!

A solid book that made me curious to read the rest of the series! Because I enjoyed it so much, I do wish I had started with the first book, but I also felt like I was easily able to jump in on A Stolen Child without having read the prior books. The fact that this works as a standalone and made me want to read the full series is my compliment to Sarah Stewart Taylor and her incredible writing and well-assembled mystery.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.

About the Author | Sarah Stewart Taylor

Sarah Stewart Taylor is the author of the Sweeney St. George series and the Maggie D’arcy series. The first Maggie D’arcy mystery, The Mountains Wild, was on numerous Best of the Year lists and was a Library Journal Pick of the Month. The fourth Maggie D’arcy mystery, A Stolen Child, will be out in June, 2023. 

Sarah grew up on Long Island, and was educated at Middlebury College in Vermont and Trinity College, Dublin, where she studied Irish Literature. She has worked as a journalist and writing teacher and now 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. 

Where to Find | A Stolen Child

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. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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