Anni Taylor has almost perfectly described every parent and grandparents horror in One Last Child.
This is a spine chilling, crazy ride who done it, where 5 young children disappeared.
Who on earth could have taken them? Why did they return some of them?
Who CAN you trust with your children?
This is definitely five star worthy. I see a movie from this book!

The day five children – all three years old – disappeared while on a picnic from nursery school was the day the lives of the parents and family of those children changed forever. Homicide Detective Kate Wakeland was the grandmother of one of the children; Ivy, her daughter Abby’s child. The heartbreak and fear was immediate while the police swung into action, knowing those first minutes and hours were vitally important. The task force that worked tirelessly could find no answers – the frustration of everyone, especially Kate kept them ragged with worry…

Three and a half years later the children were returned – all except Ivy. And as those children were gently questioned, they all said one thing – Ivy was dead. Kate and her husband Pete were at their wit’s end. Abby was distraught – would she ever find her daughter’s body? Kate was determined to find the kidnapper; more so than ever now. She needed to know why…

One Last Child is the 1st in the Tallman's Valley Detectives series by Aussie author Anni Taylor and it was done in her usual brilliant, intense and gripping style! Set in the Blue Mountains of Australia, there are plenty of places to hide up there. Katoomba, Blackheath – great locations for a psychological thriller. I really hope this series is going to be a long one, if the rest is anything like One Last Child. Breathtaking with an electric pace, I have no hesitation in highly recommending One Last Child to all thriller lovers.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Anni Taylor has done it, again! This read is utterly fantastic!

Five 3 year old children go missing from a nursery school picnic. One of these children is Ivy, Detective Kate Wakeland's granddaughter. Frantic, the three childminders have looked for the five children - but there is only a button from Ivy's dress to be found,...

Kate is itching to be in on the case, but she is told that she is a homicide detective and "too close to the case'. However, Kate is allowed in the case meetings /briefings. Kate's daughter, Abby, is a bit of a rebel and she eventually finds somewhere to live (other than with her parents). Three and a half years later, Abby returns, momentarily, with Jasper, her second baby - 4 months old.. Most likely she came home for money from her dad. The kidnapping of the 5 children has yet to be solved. Abby's partner does not go into her parent's house with her. He waits outside....Kate, now 64 years old, is put onto the case of Ivy and the 4 other children.

Kate finds out things that had been taken for granted by previous officers utilizing a fresh, open mind on the kidnapping. This may not win her much favor with others, though...

Suspense! I read this book in one day - I HIGHLY Recommend!!!

Many Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for an absolute delight!

Congratulations to Anni Taylor, a surprising and gripping storyline. Takes the reader on a journey of unexpected twists and turns. A very heartwarming finale to this story. Well recommended read for all mystery genre readers. Looking forward to more from Detective Kate Wakeland.

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4.

Twenty 3 year old, 3 teachers out for a picnic...what could go wrong? As with kids, in a matter of seconds, 5 are missing. One of the missing children is the granddaughter of local Detective Kate Wakeland. Over 3 years later, the kids are returned to their parents one by one, all except Ivy, Kate’s granddaughter. The kids swear Ivy is dead, which takes this case to a whole different level.

A good mystery...not a thriller, psychological or otherwise. Well thought out, good characters. Loved how it focused on one person at the beginning and let us get to know others slowly. Then introduced other characters in more depth. Good pace on the book, loved having an older woman as protagonist. Mystery and family drama done well. I look forward to the next book and solving the mystery teases throughout the book. If you are looking for a mystery to curl up with, give this book a try.

Thanks to NetGalley and Books Go Social for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

Five children are abducted during a daycare outing. Three and a half years later, four of them are returned. Only Ivy, the granddaughter of homicide detective Kate Wakeland, is still missing and presumed dead. Not allowed to join the investigation, Kate is unofficially following the case while working on a separate murder investigation.

This is the first in a series about 64 year old Detective Kate Wakeland, and I can’t wait for the next book. There are twists and turns and a completely unexpected ending. I read this through in a day because I could not put it down. It grabs your interest, your imagination, and your heart. If you love murder mysteries, stories about family conflict, and stories with strong female characters, you will enjoy this book.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. My review is voluntary.

Anni Taylor has written a cracker of a domestic thriller, involving a group of three year olds who go missing from a nursery school picnic. We're all very familiar with the 'missing child' trope in domestic thrillers, but not a group of five children all abducted at the same time without a trace, kept hidden for over three years until some of them are released back to their parents.

Kate Wakefield, a homicide detective with the Tallman's Valley police in Sydney's scenic Blue Mountains, is the grandmother of one of the kidnapped children. In her sixties, she is close to retirement but still loves her job and has a good track record in solving homocide said. As a close relative of a victim, she is initially only allowed to sit in on task force meetings to keep in touch with the investigation but is later allowed to join the team when some of the children are returned years later.

The plot is well written with quite a few red herrings and unexpected twists. While the first half of the novel feels a little slow as it deals with the initial hunt for the children, following up leads and witnesses, it felt very realistic to me and highlighted the frustration the police often feel in these types of cases that seem to be going nowhere, especially when small children are involved. Athe slow build and lack of progress up to the point where the children started reappearing, made it more surprising when it happened. I loved the originality of an older female detective as the main lead in this novel, especially one who is happily married, doesn't drink excessively or rush into dangerous situations (like so many female detectives in this genre). I'm also pleased to see that a sequel is already underway.

ONE LAST CHILD is the first book in the Tallman’s Valley Detectives series. These will need to be read in the order of release.

The storyline reminded me of another Australian novel that I read when I was a teen, PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK by Joan Lindsay. In it, several teen girls and a teacher go missing while picnicking on Valentine’s Day. They are never found.

Nineteen three-year-old tots and three teachers from the local preschool have gone to the neighborhood park for a Teddy Bear Picnic. Five children vanish with only a single button left behind.

The psychological strain is so well written for so many of those involved – the parents, the detectives, and those being questioned – but not to the point of being bogged down. There are great clues, the ones we need and the ones that lead to dead ends! I loved chasing them down alongside Kate… and feeling her hope and dismays.

I enjoyed this who-dun-it and I’ll be watching for the next book in this series.

Note: While I received this book as a gifted ARC via NetGalley, my opinions are my own and are given freely.

To say I was hooked by this book would be an understatement! I devoured it in just over 24 hours, staying up far later to finish it than is advisable when you have a 1 year old that gets up at the crack of dawn every day but I couldn’t go to bed without finding out what happened. The plot involves 5 nursery school children who are kidnapped, one of whom is the granddaughter of local Detective Kate Wakefield, (from whose viewpoint the story is largely told from) and the ensuing investigation. The story is full of twists and turns and a number of times I thought I had sussed out who the kidnapper was, only to be completely wrong! Have to say that I’m not entirely sure I fully bought the motive of the kidnapper but this didn’t dampen my enjoyment of the book. There is also a smaller subplot, around an ongoing homicide investigation which I didn’t enjoy as much as the main one. Overall I absolutely loved it though and would highly recommend! I found myself being really drawn to Kate’s character, so I’m delighted to read that there will be a follow up book. Thanks to @netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

Wow!! What a great story! and very tense. The main character Kate, is obviously a hard working police officer who gets results but having her granddaughter taken with the other children really makes her want to find the abductors. This tale is full of emotion, you find yourself willing everyone on to find the children, who's done it and lock them up. I loved this book and found all the twists and turns exciting!! Highly recommend this book!!

It was summer in the mountains when five small children vanished from their nursery school picnic. The heat was stifling that day, the tinkle of an ice-cream van in the air.

Three and a half years later, in the dead of winter, the children are returned to their families... one by one.
All except for Ivy - the granddaughter of homicide detective Kate Wakeland. The other four children say Ivy is dead.

Speculation grows that the kidnappings were revenge for an offender that Detective Wakeland put in jail years before.

She engages in a battle of wits between herself, the kidnapper and the cold, vast expanse of mountains in between.




loved the book. Twist and turns and It was a book so different from any I have read. I look forward to the next one by Anni Taylor.

Thanks, NetGalley for the advance copy to review.

OMG! I freaked out on this book. It was so bloody fantastic. An absolute fan of this author. Wow!!

5 children aged 3 years were kidnapped from a school picnic and after 3.5 years, 4 were returned. The other children said the fifth had died. It was the grandchild of investigating officer Kate. And she had to get to the truth... From 4 six year old kids...

My first book by author Anni Taylor, I was kept mesmerized by the story. I couldn't stop reading it. I forewent my work and afternoon siesta just to finish this story. My kindle pulled me in. I breathed this story from beginning to end. It was in me. The emotions of the worried helpless parents were brilliantly shown, they reflected in me.

Kate as the lead cop was brilliant. I could see her being pulled apart by her broken relationship with daughter Abby and her commitment to her duty even after knowing her grandchild had probably died. I kept egging her on to get to the kidnappers and destroy them.

This was one reactionary read which lured me in with every page.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Have found a new series and another author. This was a fabulous page turning exciting read.

I love how the author chose to dedicate her book to the people who have been affected by the Australian fires, and that she used Australia as the setting for her new series. The book's chapters are written in the different characters' points of view, so you can understand their personal feelings and their mindset in the case. The author also includes at the top of each chapter, the time frame that the abduction has been ongoing which I thought was a unique thing to add to the novel. I can’t wait to see what happens next in the series! Thank you @netgalley and @Booksgosocial for allowing me to read this early copy in exchange for an honest review. Nola has just been switched from working in the daycare with the infants to the nursery with the three-year-olds. Every Wednesday the daycare takes the children out on a picnic in the blue mountain hills that are on the outer banks of Sydney, but on this particular day Nola sees a man in an old fashioned ice cream truck parked right in front of the group of small children and she begins to get worried that they will get distracted so she goes up to tell the man if he can pull away until their done. Just as she’s about to reach him, he drives away. When she’s walking back she can sense that something terrible has happened. One of the other daycare workers is calling out five of the children’s names..it turns out that they are all missing. Kate Wakefield who is a sixty-one-year-old senior homicide detective gets a call about five missing children at school. Thinking nothing of it but a group of teenagers who have chosen to ditch for the day, she decides to finish her case and then make the call back to officer Grimshaw who informed her of the missing children. From Grimshaw, she learns that one of the missing children just happens to be her granddaughter Ivy. Kate is told she isn't allowed to be put on the case because the man who drove the ice cream truck (the main suspect) has a cousin that Kate put in prison twenty-three-years ago for murder and it could interfere with the ongoing abduction case. As three and half years past since they last saw Ivy Kate, her husband Pete, and her daughter Abby (the mother of Ivy) each grieve in their own way. Abby can’t deal with losing her only child whom she had at eighteen so she moves out of the family home and runs away, tries to commit suicide, and then tries replacing Ivy with a son she has named Jasper. Then one of the original detectives working on the case has a stroke and they ask Kate to help Grimshaw solve it. She is determined to figure out what really happened 3 and 1/2 years ago and being Ivy home.

Really good read. Kept me guessing the whole way through. I was hooked from the start. This is definitely a page turner. I loved the characters and the plot and the suspense. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I really enjoyed “One Last Child”. It was well written and easy to follow. The end seemed to wrap up too quickly after the story developed for so long. I look forward to reading the sequel when it is released.

Interesting plot. I have really enjoyed her books, but i find that most of them tend to drag on. The story could be told and be more exciting in less pages. So I did find myself skimming through parts. I also felt the connection from the kidnapping to three years later was very choppy.

First time I have read anything and this author and I am impressed with the storytelling. Very well executed. Good characters. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing. Would definitely read her next novel. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the eARC.
What a fantastic read this was, I didn't want to do anything other than read...forget about housework!
Kate, an Australian detective, is still working on the case of a murdered young woman when five 3-year olds go missing from a daycare picnic, one of them her granddaughter. Four of them are returned 3 years later, the only one still missing is her granddaughter. Her husband, daughter and she herself have been going through hell all this time and this nearly drives them off the edge of sanity.
This is one heck of a book, sooo good! And the best part is that there will be a follow follow-up, which I for one can't wait to read. This story will keep you reading with bated breath, I guarantee it. Highly recommended!

On a summer day, 5 children disappear without a trace from their nursery picnic, only for 4 to be returned unscathed 3 and a half years later. Ivy, the granddaughter of homicide detective Kate Wakeland, is still missing believed to be dead and the kidnapper is still out there...

Let me start by saying that I devoured this book with bated breath.
The story kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page until the last one. As a mother, I felt the parents' pain and raced through the book to find out what fate had befallen little Ivy.
The story was gripping, suspenseful, and made my eyes fill with tears on more than one occasion. I never guessed who the kidnapper was, but when it was finally revealed, I thought their motive was a little unsatisfactory.
That, along with finding the private investigator side-plot unnecessary, contributed to the rating not reaching the full capacity.
It still gets a solid 4 stars, and I urge you to pick this book if you're into a suspenseful ride that will keep you guessing until the very end. I'm looking forward to the sequel.