Publishers Weekly
04/13/2020
In this languorous series launch from Taylor (the Sweeny St. George mysteries), Long Island, N.Y., homicide detective Maggie D’arcy learns that someone unearthed a scarf belonging to her cousin, Erin Flaherty, while scouring the Wicklow, Ireland, woods for missing schoolteacher Niamh Horrigan. In 1993, when then 23-year-old Erin vanished from Dublin, Maggie flew over and spent weeks hounding the gardaí, retracing Erin’s steps, and interviewing her acquaintances before departing empty-handed. Authorities now suspect that Erin fell victim to a serial killer who may also be holding Niamh, so Maggie takes leave from work and returns to Dublin to resume digging, since solving Erin’s disappearance may facilitate Niamh’s rescue. Maggie’s narrative alternates between past and present, her investigations unfolding in tandem, while infrequent flashbacks to the cousins’ childhood chronicle their turbulent relationship. Woolly plotting saps momentum and the denouement feels contrived, but Taylor’s affection for Irish geography, history, and culture suffuses the tale, adding texture and atmosphere. Fans of Elizabeth George should take note. Agent: Esmond Harmsworth, Aevitas Creative Management. (June)
From the Publisher
Praise for The Mountains Wild
ONE OF THE SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL’S BEST OF 2020 MYSTERIES
ONE OF LIBRARY JOURNAL’S BEST CRIME NOVELS OF 2020
ONE OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR’S 10 BEST BOOKS OF JUNE
ONE OF AUNT AGATHA’S TOP TEN OF 2020
ONE OF AMAZON’S BOOKS OF THE MONTH
A MOST ANTICIPATED 2020 SUMMER READ FROM CRIMEREADS
“Razor-sharp… In addition to her intelligent characters, Taylor has sculpted The Mountains Wild as a valentine to Ireland, delving into its beauty, history and varied landscape...We may not be able to travel to Ireland right now, but Taylor has brought the country to us… a terrific series launch.” —South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“Gripping… the book’s intriguing characters spiral through multiple timelines, plot twists, and lush Irish settings, and Maggie’s quest to finally learn the truth runs parallel to her hopes of reuniting with a lost love.” —Christian Science Monitor
“Sarah Stewart Taylor has written a beautiful, bittersweet novel about loyalty and loss and how they can blind us to the truth.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Perfect summer reading. Maggie is a first-class protagonist—an ace investigator and appealing everywoman with smarts and heart.” —BookPage
“Taylor skillfully switches time periods from 1993 to 2016 in this splendid, atmospheric mystery… The Irish setting is so vividly evoked that you can practically hear the dulcet brogue, taste the Guinness and smell the peat fires.” —Open Letters Monthly
“Far beyond a simple mystery, The Mountains Wild is a gorgeous rendering on paper of Ireland in all of its beauty… this is a five star read.” —Bookreporter
“The atmospheric, intricately plotted story builds to a stunning, unforgettable conclusion.” —Library Journal (starred and Pick of the Month)
Library Journal
★ 05/01/2020
In 1993, Maggie D'Arcy flew to Ireland when her cousin, Erin, went missing there. Although she found her cousin's broken necklaces in the forest near Wicklow, there was no other trace. Now, 23 years later, Maggie is a divorced homicide detective on Long Island. When Erin's father receives a phone call saying the police have found something, Maggie returns to Ireland and is thrust into the middle of an investigation, with some of the same police officers, as they search the same forest. But there's another young woman missing. She could be the latest victim of the "Southeast Killer," the fourth including Erin. Maggie and an Irish detective retrace their steps and reinterview witnesses in a desperate attempt to find the new victim before she's murdered. The atmospheric, intricately plotted story builds to a stunning, unforgettable conclusion. This series starter by the Agatha-nominated author of O' Artful Death introduces an intelligent detective caught up in a personal cold case. VERDICT Taylor skillfully switches time periods from 1993 to 2016 in an atmospheric mystery that blends the history and romance of Ireland with a contemporary police investigation. This outstanding book will please fans of mysteries set in Ireland and readers of police procedurals. [See Prepub Alert, 10/18/19.]—Lesa Holstine, Evansville
Kirkus Reviews
2020-05-04
Long Island detective and single mother Maggie D’arcy tracks her missing cousin in a cold case that reaches across Dublin and the Irish countryside.
Maggie studied Irish history and literature at Notre Dame, but her hopes of traveling to find her roots were crushed when her mother died during her junior year. Instead, her feckless cousin, Erin, was the one to set off for Dublin, where she disappeared. Maggie spent the autumn of 1993 tracing her footsteps through pubs and walking trails, questioning everyone from Trinity students to IRA gunrunners. She returned home with nothing but Erin’s distinctive amethyst Claddagh necklace and the determination to become a police officer. Now, 23 years later, the Gardaí ring up Erin’s father, Danny, at his bar. Erin’s scarf has been found near where Maggie found the necklace—and where another young woman has just gone missing. When Uncle Danny pleads with Maggie to go back and see if she can find out what truly happened, Maggie agrees. Fortunately, the detective leading cold cases, Roland Byrne, is the same one who was kind to Maggie during Erin’s initial missing person investigation. He’s followed Maggie’s career, including her vital work stopping a serial killer. Revisiting the files and her old haunts, Maggie realizes that the key to Erin’s disappearance may have been back home all along.
This mystery, evocative of the Irish diaspora, interrogates both a young woman’s disappearance and the meaning of homeland.
