[ About The Taken ]
Fourteen years ago, one hot Dublin summer, a little boy was snatched from his garden. Six weeks later, a girl was abducted from her mother’s car. The case of these stolen children has haunted DS Lucy Golden ever since.
But now, a breakthrough…
DNA recovered from a recent robbery is matched to the missing boy. Lucy begs to reopen the case, even though it means returning to Dublin, which she left in disgrace over a decade ago. She’ll have to face people who betrayed her… but now, with her trusted team at her side, she feels ready.
But she’s not prepared for her personal life to fall apart. As she digs into the past, long-buried secrets begin to surface, and Lucy’s trust and belief in those closest to her shatters.
As she closes in on the truth of what happened that terrible summer, she vows this will be her final case. The stakes are perilously high and she’s desperate for answers, justice, and closure.
But Lucy’s final ride with the Gardaí is twistier than she ever could have imagined, and takes her to a destination she could never have foreseen.
[ My Review ]
The Taken by Martina Murphy publishes today August 6th with Constable | Little Brown and is described as ‘a truly exhilarating read that hits all the right notes for a superlative police procedural.’ This is the final instalment in this series as DS Lucy Golden handles her final case, one that has become very personal and has haunted her for years.
In The Wrath (book 5) Lucy inadvertently discovers a vital lead linking back to a cold case that has plagued her for the last fourteen years. When stationed in Dublin during the early stages of her career, she had been involved with a missing children investigation that has remained a mystery – until now. DNA from a separate case that her team are actively following matches that of one of the missing children. Lucy inveigles her way back onto the case knowing that it will take a toll on her as she will need to return to the Dublin station where her life, both personal and professional, had imploded over a decade ago.
Lucy has to eat a certain amount of humble pie the day she walks back into the station but she soon sets her stall and is back in action searching for any clues that she may have missed the first time round. With new insights and new technology now available to the team, they slowly begin to uncover deeply entrenched secrets unravelling a mystery that has perplexed the nation for years.
As Lucy digs deep into the past she also learns something about her own history which cuts her deep to the bone. Has she the capacity to forgive? Can she walk forward into her future with a clean slate and a healthier mental state? For years Lucy has had questions about her own past but now as she picks the scab, is she ready for what she will find?
Lucy Golden is highly regarded among her current peers so she does now struggle at times when she accepts that she may have overlooked something or made an error of judgement when working on this missing persons case all those years ago. Secrets can be buried but they always find a way of resurfacing and when the truth is finally revealed, everyone involved is shocked by what unravels.
Martina Murphy, throughout this series, beautifully captures the landscape, the people, the community and the sense of pride that encapsulates Mayo. Is there a future for Lucy Golden in a different capacity? I hope so. Her realistic characterisation, her humanity, her sense of justice all combine capturing the vitality of this ordinary person who really does extraordinary things in the search of the truth. The Taken is an epic wrap-up to this riveting series and one I highly recommend to all who enjoy a top-class authentic police procedural. Congratulations Martine Murphy!
[Thank you to Plunkett PR and Hachette Ireland for a copy of The Taken in exchange for my honest review ]
[ Bio ]
Martina Murphy lives with her family in Maynooth, County Kildare. She is the author of the DS Lucy Golden crime series and has previously written general fiction as Martina Reilly and YA as Tina Reilly.
