Stolen Daughters: A totally gripping and addictive crime thriller

· Bookouture
4.5
13 reviews
Ebook
350
Pages

About this ebook

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.

 

Readers love Carolyn Arnold:

“OMG YES. This was an amazing book… I couldn’t put it down… Best book I read this year.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

“My heart is still beating fast! Wow!! By far, one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time!” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

“I ended up devouring the entire book in just one sitting… I was completely pulled into this one and found myself completely unable to put this down.” Little Miss Book Lover 87 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “If there was a way to give more than 5 stars, I would! This book is amazing!” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

“What a great book! I read it in one day and had so many twists and turns I never saw the ending coming!” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

“Wow! Could not put this down. So many twists and surprises.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

“I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!” NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

“I LOVED this book… An engrossing page-turner and that ending, phew I didn't see that coming at all!!! Can’t wait for the next in the series.” NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

“I already can’t wait for the next one! This one pulls you in from the very beginning… The mystery is full of action and twists. I absolutely did not see that ending coming.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

“Compulsive, compelling and enthralling… I became completely riveted… Intrigue to compel you to read through the night.” Avid Reader’s Retreat ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

“Fantastic book. It was exciting and thrilling and kept me reading late into the night.” Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

“Full of suspense. Once I started it was very hard to not finish the book. I absolutely loved the ending.” NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

“Gripping mystery—hooked me from the beginning.” NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ratings and reviews

4.5
13 reviews
brf1948
December 8, 2021
The second novel in the Detective Amanda Steele mysteries, Stolen Daughters is an intense trip into every parent's nightmares, the disappearance of their young daughters. although this is part of a series, it is completely stand-alone, though the first novel, The Little Grave, adds to the richness of this tale. Situated in the heart of Prince William County, Virginia, only an hour or two from Washington DC, homicide detective Amanda Steele continues on her mission to rout out the criminal element snatching up their girls to force them into catering to the sexual fantasies of the entitled men of America and even further afield. It is a crime wave she takes to heart, one she and her new partner Trent are doing their best to quickly bring to an end. She will have to take a chance on losing her hard-won position with the Prince William County Police Department, not to mention her life, but she cannot let this go. Missing girls over the years, runaways it was supposed, who were abducted by a group known as simply 'DC', who tattooed the girls with DC, a crown, and a rose on their shoulder and delivered them personally to the beds of elite pedophiles and later to others. It is this tattoo on the shoulders of the dead that first brings to light this heinous criminal element invading their small town peace. Despite worrying about her mother's legal worries and a new man in her own life, all of her time, all of her heart is tied up with these stolen daughters. 1 like
Elaine Brent
April 7, 2021
This is an enthralling, gripping police procedural and crime thriller, a great addition to the series but also a story that can be read as a standalone. Homicide Detective Amanda Steele is called to the scene of a house fire in which the body of an unidentified teenage girl has been discovered. As she works with her partner, Trent, they discover she’s been branded in the same way victims of a known child trafficking ring. Could this help bring the ring to justice? With more girls found in burnt properties, it is a race against time to discover the serial killer and bring them to justice. However, this is another case where Amanda’s past is key to uncovering the truth but it is also a race against time as she and others she cares for are also in deadly danger . . . . This story deals with the crime unsavoury human trafficking, sharing an insight into the investigations into this atrocity, its victims, perpetrators and some of its consequences. It is an emotional read because of the nature of the crimes and everything that Amanda has been through in the past and is going through now. It is a story that has great characters, horrendous events, horrific crimes and an ending that has me keen to read more in the series as soon as possible! If you enjoy murder mysteries with well developed lead characters that it is easy to relate to make sure you check out this book and the others in this series, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for my copy of this book which I have voluntarily read and honestly reviewed.
Leila Brenner
April 15, 2021
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!

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