Bring Them Home (Detective Amanda Steele 16) by Carolyn Arnold-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 27, 2026

She’d never been this terrified but she refused to let it show, to give her captors more power. As she was led out of the van with her parents, she stifled a cry. Ahead of her was an old farm, surrounded by fields. There was no one for miles around. No one to hear the screams that would inevitably come.

When a seemingly ordinary family goes missing in plain sight, Detective Amanda Steele is called in to find them before it’s too late. The only evidence left behind is the mother’s abandoned car in a mall parking lot—her phone and purse on the front seat. But why would anyone target a loving mother, a dedicated father and elementary schoolteacher, and a teenage girl?

Amanda and Trent speak with friends and family but can’t unearth any reason the family would disappear on their own. Their darker suspicion is confirmed when they find CCTV footage of the mother and daughter being bundled into an unmarked black van, driven away at speed. They are looking at an abduction.

Soon human remains are discovered in a field outside of town, and Amanda uncovers a lead that could blow the investigation wide open. If she’s right, this case is linked to a woman who went missing ten years ago—and closer still, to someone within the police department. But can Amanda and Trent put all the pieces together in time to stop a twisted killer before more lives are lost?

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REVIEW:I picked up Bring Them Home expecting another solid entry in Carolyn Arnold’s Detective Amanda Steele series, and it delivered exactly the kind of tense crime thriller I’ve come to like from her.

From the opening pages the sense of dread is immediate and personal…. an ordinary family vanishes in broad daylight, leaving behind little more than a mother’s abandoned car in a mall parking lot with her phone and purse still inside….. That simple, chilling image sets the tone for everything that follows.

Amanda and her partner Trent dig into the lives of the missing parents and their teenage daughter, only to confirm what their instincts already suggested, this was no voluntary disappearance!

CCTV catches the mother and daughter being forced into a black van, and the investigation shifts into higher gear.

When human remains turn up in a remote field, the case deepens and darkens, connecting to a decade old disappearance and, most unsettling of all, pointing toward someone inside the police department itself.

What I liked most was how the author keeps the focus tight on the procedural work without sacrificing the emotional weight of the family’s situation.

Amanda’s determination feels genuine, you sense the pressure she and Trent are under as the clock ticks and the possibility of more victims looms.

The farmhouse setting, isolated and surrounded by empty fields, becomes a recurring image that heightens the isolation and helplessness of the captives. The twists land with satisfying force, especially the way the older case folds into the present one, and the internal threat within the department adds a layer of paranoia that keeps the tension high right through the final pages.

This is the sixteenth book in the series, yet it stands comfortably on its own. (I’ve only read a couple of this series, and at some point I’m definitely going back.)

The pacing is relentless in the best way, once the abduction is confirmed I found myself reading far later than I intended, 😜 unwilling to put the book down until the pieces clicked into place.

If you enjoy police procedurals that balance solid investigative detail with genuine emotional stakes and the occasional gut punch twist, Bring Them Home is a great addition to the Amanda Steele series.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B

Carolyn Arnold was born in a small Canadian town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower. As an international bestselling and award-winning author, she has several continuing fiction series, including her popular Detective Madison Knight series. She offers readers nearly three dozen published books in genres ranging from crime thrillers and hard-boiled mysteries to cozy mysteries and action adventures. She currently lives north of London, Ontario, with her husband and two beagles.

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