Stolen Daughters (Detective Amanda Steele Book 2) by Carolyn Arnold {Book Review}

Stolen Daughters, book 2 of a series or a stand alone, is a whole lot of mystery all wrapped into one well written package!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-book copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are 100% my own unless otherwise noted.

Stolen-Daughters-Detective-Amanda-Steele-Book-2-by-Carolyn-Arnold-Book-Review

The girl looked so peaceful, she could have been asleep. Except her eyes were open, blankly reflecting the flickering flames spreading towards her…

When firefighters discover the body of a teenage girl at an abandoned house, Detective Amanda Steele hurries to the scene. Dumfries, Virginia is a small town, yet no one seems to have any idea who the dead girl is until Amanda finds a dragonfly pin with the name Crystal engraved on it.

Working tirelessly, Amanda traces the pin to Crystal Foster, a thirteen-year-old who disappeared three years ago from her wealthy parents’ home. Breaking the news to the distraught parents won’t be easy, but the loss of her own daughter still haunts Amanda, and she knows this will bring them closure. But when Amanda goes to see the Fosters, they do not recognize the girl. She isn’t Crystal.

Before Amanda can react to this new development, she gets an urgent call. A fire has consumed another vacant house, and the remains of two more girls have been found. Who are these girls, and why are they being picked off? Amanda must stop this killer before the pattern continues, and the death toll climbs.

When Amanda receives a taunting note from the killer, she realizes that she holds the missing piece of this puzzle. The victims are connected to Amanda’s past, to a case she can never forget, and which almost claimed her life. As she follows the clues to their deadly conclusion, can she save more innocent lives… even if it risks her own?

An unputdownable, pulse-pounding mystery. Fans of Rachel Caine, Lisa Regan and Robert Dugoni will be gripped.

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About the Detective Amanda Steele Series

Gritty. Raw. Unapologetic.

Immersive crime fiction for fans who love their mysteries set in a small town and hard-boiled to perfection. From the murder scene to the morgue, interrogation of suspects and following down leads, you’ll feel like you’re part of the investigation. Realistic and complex characters, accurate police procedures and forensics paired with tight, serious writing make these books read more like true crime than fiction. Meet Homicide Detective Amanda Steele with the Prince William County Police Department in Woodbridge, Virginia. She’s smart, motivated, and real. Her tragic past has her claiming to be no one’s mentor, but she’s more hero than she thinks.

If you are new here, welcome. My name is Leila (Leela with an i) and I am a HUGE fan of author Carolyn Arnold. She writes the most amazing “crime fiction” mysteries ever and after reading book… who knows what of hers; I think I finally figured out why I love her writing so much.

Carolyn writes amazing mysteries, but rather than have a mystery and “who done it” with a character we may know or is involved, we get to ‘hunt’ the suspect right along side the detective. In this series, we join Amanda Steele and her partner, Trent, as they search for the bad guy and in turn, solve the mystery.

Stolen Daughters is book two in the Amanda Steele series and while you can read this book as a stand alone, you will find tidbits that will leave you confused. I don’t feel those missing bits would detract for the mystery, but definitely detracts from Amanda as a character and her story.

Stolen Daughters starts as a homicide not gone exactly as planned, goes to revenge murder, goes to missing children, and circles around to sex crimes that were touched on in book one. It was a whole lot of mystery all wrapped into one well written package of book binding!

I loved working alongside Trent and Amanda to figure out all the pieces of the puzzle and while I started to piece together some of it, I never would have seen any of it coming.

I cannot wait for book three.

Amanda is a spitfire like myself and the way book two ended was not acceptable to me. I cannot wait to see how the feisty Detective Steele comes back from this and what crime we get to solve next!

About the Author

CAROLYN ARNOLD is an international best-selling and award-winning author, as well as a speaker, teacher, and inspirational mentor. She has four continuing fiction series—Detective Madison Knight, Brandon Fisher FBI, McKinley Mysteries, and Matthew Connor Adventures—and has written nearly thirty books. Her genre diversity offers her readers everything from cozy to hard-boiled mysteries, and thrillers to action adventures.

Both her female detective and FBI profiler series have been praised by those in law enforcement as being accurate and entertaining, leading her to adopt the trademark: POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.

Carolyn was born in a small town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower.

She currently lives just west of Toronto with her husband and beagle and is a member of Crime Writers of Canada.

Read more from Carolyn Arnold:

The Little Grave (Detective Amanda Steele Book 1)
What We Bury (Detective Madison Knight Book 10)
The Legend of Gasparilla and His Treasure (Matthew Connor Adventure Book 3)