Taken for Dead: a darkly gripping must-read thriller, part of the unmissable Katie Maguire series for 2026

Katie Maguire hunts down a serial killer in county Cork, in her fourth terrifying crime thriller

It is a sunny Saturday in county Cork, and an Irish wedding is in full swing. Drunk uncles are toasting the bride. The Ceilidh band have played for hours. But the cutting of the cake will bring the wedding to a horrifying end. For there, grinning gruesomely up from the bottom tier, is the severed head of the local baker. Katie Maguire, of the Irish Garda, does not have any leads—until another local businessman goes missing in horrific circumstances. The murders appear to link to The Kings of Erin, a terrifying gang of torturers and extortionists. But these are dangerous men, and they will stop at nothing to throw Katie off the trail.