The Mountains Wild

Finished April 13

The Mountains Wild by Sarah Stewart Taylor

This is the first book in a mystery series featuring detective Maggie D'arcy who lives in Long Island with her teenage daughter Lilly. Twenty-three years ago, Maggie went to Dublin when her family was told that her cousin Erin was missing. Erin was a complicated person, who had disappeared for days before, but this felt different. Maggie was close to her cousin, though they'd had differences recently, and with her uncle's heart condition, she offered to go over to Ireland to talk to the police on behalf of the family and see what she could find out. 

Maggie is smart and drawn to details, and she soon finds a clue to her cousin's disappearance, but when the case hasn't resulted in anything conclusive after weeks, Maggie returns home to deal with other family issues. 

Now, twenty-three years later, the Dublin police have once again contacted her uncle to say they've found something new connected to the case. Maggie is now a senior police officer with many successful cases behind her, and once again offers to go on behalf of her uncle. She asks her ex-husband Brian to look after Lilly, and returns to the city she grew to love years ago. 

Going back to Dublin not only restarts the case of Erin's disappearance, but also other connections that Maggie made back then, ones to Erin's contacts and to the police involved in the case. 

With her own expertise in police work, Maggie aches to be involved in the case, but the locals don't want to allow that. Instead, she wanders the familiar streets, and retraces her steps from years ago, and contacts the people she met back then. 

There is a lot going on here, with secrets that reach far back into the past. There are also new faces that Maggie gets to know as she tries once again to find the answers to Erin's disappearance. This is a very interesting character that I'd like to see more of, and many interesting connections to other characters that seem long-lasting. The plot is intriguing and has moments of suspense.