Taken by Dinuka McKenzie. (2023).

Taken by Dinuka McKenzie. (2023).
(Detective Kate Miles; #2)

**4 out of 5 stars**

**Thank you to HarperCollins Australia for sending me a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review; published 1 February 2023**

Detective Sergeant Kate is back from maternity leave and struggling on multiple fronts – the pressures of a second child, financial strain from her husband losing his job, and a corruption scandal that may involve her father. When an infant goes missing, Kate is in charge of the investigation. Was baby Sienna removed by an unknown abductor or is the answer closer to home? Amidst a frenzied media demanding answers, and a station chief looking for any reason to get rid of her, Kate is pushed to her limits, torn between the competing demands of the case and her spiralling personal life.

I was so looking forward to this novel after loving the author’s previous book ‘The Torrent’ which also has Kate as the lead character. You could read this as a standalone, but I’d really recommend reading the first novel beforehand just so you have Kate’s recent backstory. Kate is such a likeable lead, and as a working mother I had a lot of empathy reading her struggles to juggle the work/life balance. The crime itself of a missing baby is horrifying, with a lot of complicating strings attached which made for very edge-of-your-seat reading.
Overall: another great novel from this author, I hope that there will be more in the series and I happily recommend for fans of Australian crime.