Title: The Mountains WildAuthor: Sarah Stewart Taylor
Published by: Minotaur Books on Jun. 23, 2020
Genres: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 416
Format: ARC, Paperback
Source: Minotaur Books
Book Rating: 8.5/10
In a series debut for fans of Tana French and Kate Atkinson, set in Dublin and New York, homicide detective Maggie D’arcy finally tackles the case that changed the course of her life.
Twenty-three years ago, Maggie D’arcy’s family received a call from the Dublin police. Her cousin Erin has been missing for several days. Maggie herself spent weeks in Ireland, trying to track Erin’s movements, working beside the police. But it was to no avail: no trace of her was ever found.
The experience inspired Maggie to become a cop. Now, back on Long Island, more than 20 years have passed. Maggie is a detective and a divorced mother of a teenager. When the Gardaí call to say that Erin’s scarf has been found and another young woman has gone missing, Maggie returns to Ireland, awakening all the complicated feelings from the first trip. The despair and frustration of not knowing what happened to Erin. Her attraction to Erin’s coworker, now a professor, who never fully explained their relationship. And her determination to solve the case, once and for all.
A lyrical, deeply drawn portrait of a woman – and a country – over two decades – The Mountains Wild introduces a compelling new mystery series from a mesmerizing author.
Review:
Intricate, menacing, and atmospheric!
The Mountains Wild is a sinister, slow-burning mystery that takes you into the life of Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy as she heads back to Wicklow, Ireland where authorities believe they have uncovered a scarf belonging to her cousin who has been missing since 1993, and the time to find the latest victim of this potential serial killer alive is quickly dwindling.
The writing is methodical and vivid. The characters are flawed, driven, and determined. And the plot using a past/present, back-and-forth style is a captivating police procedural full of twists, turns, red herrings, familial drama, secrets, deception, relationship dynamics, malice, violence, and murder.
Overall, The Mountains Wild is an ominous, intriguing, immersive tale by Taylor that is a thoroughly enjoyable read and a fantastic start to this new Maggie D’arcy series.
This book is available now.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Sarah Stewart Taylor
Sarah Stewart Taylor grew up on Long Island and was educated at Middlebury College and Trinity College, Dublin. She lives with her husband and three children on a farm in Vermont where they raise sheep and blueberries.
Sarah is the author of THE MOUNTAINS WILD, an atmospheric thriller about a Long Island homicide detective named Maggie D'Arcy who returns to Ireland twenty-three years after the unsolved disappearance of her beloved cousin Erin in the Wicklow Mountains. When a young woman disappears and new evidence from Erin’s case is found, Maggie will have to uncover the truth about the Irish man she's never stopped loving and, in order to help Irish police save the missing woman, the truth about who Erin was and what happened to her.
It will be published by Minotaur Books on June 23, 2020.
Sarah is also the author of the Sweeney St. George mystery series, about an art historian who studies funerary art, "the art of death," from Minotaur Books. The first book in the series, O’ Artful Death, was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel.
Her non-fiction has been published in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and many other publications.
Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.
