One Last Child (Tallman's Valley Detectives Book 1)

Winner, AudioFile Earphones Award for audio narration. Top 100 in Amazon eBooks, US, UK, Canada & Australia, 2021
Five long-missing children are about to be RETURNED.
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 mysterious abductor is enacting a cruel revenge plot due to a murderer that Kate put in jail years before.
Kate isn't sure what to believe. But one thing is certain - she's about to begin the battle of her life. When the children were first stolen, she was prevented from investigating the case.
But now, Kate will be relentless in uncovering the identity of the abductor and discovering what happened to Ivy.
Book 1: ONE LAST CHILD
Book 2: THE LULLABY MAN
Book 3: THE SILENT TOWN
Questions and answers on the TALLMAN'S VALLEY DETECTIVES series:
Is each book a standalone?: Each book has a complete ending and can be read as a standalone. But if you intend reading the series, it's best to read them in sequence. There will be spoilers if the books are read out of order. Each book has a small cliffhanger at the end that is not a part of the main story. There is an overarching background storyline running through all the books.
Will the detective be the same each time?: The current series will all feature Senior Detective Kate Wakeland as the main character, right to the end of Books 1, 2 & 3.