Taken Girls - Carolyn Arnold

 Taken Girls - Carolyn Arnold

Publication Date:  June 20, 2023

This is the eighth in the Detective Amanda Steele series, one of my favorites.  Although I have read quite a few of them, this would work as a standalone.  

When her best friend’s older sister, Reese, goes missing,  Ava contacts her aunt, Prince William County (Virginia) Detective Amanda Steele. Amanda drops everything to investigate and interrupts her partner, Trent’s, weekend for his assistance.  It is the night of Reese’s prom and she was supposed to reign over it as Prom Queen.  When her murdered body is discovered at the country club prom venue, the race is on to find the killer.  Ava, who just can’t resist doing some of her own sleuthing, soon becomes a target for the killer. There are quite a few potential suspects, from the person Reese beat out for prom queen, to a questionable substitute teacher, to the staff at the country club….or could it be an unknown, someone Amanda and Trent haven’t yet considered?

Yet another of Arnold’s fast paced, engrossing police procedurals, I read it in one day, long into the night, because I could not put it down.  Arnold knows how to capture and maintain her readers’ interest. I love the repeating characters, especially Amanda who, despite an earlier tragedy in her life, is a strong, capable, independent female and I enjoy the camaraderie between her and Trent. 

Without going into the reason, because it would reveal a spoiler,  the victimology and characters in this story gave me a lot to think about; it is still in my head.  We have just too many mean girls, boys, and adults in this world.  

Thanks to #netgalley and #bookouture for the ARC.

*****