Tallman’s Valley Detectives Books In Order

Publication Order of Tallman's Valley Detectives Books

Tallman’s Valley Detectives series by Anni Taylor
Author Anni Taylor pens the “Tallman’s Valley Detectives” series, which are a mixture of police procedural, psychological thriller, and mystery. The series began publication when “One Last Child” was released in the year 2020.

Each book is a stand alone read. The novels have a complete ending and can be read individually. That said, the books are best read in sequence since they follow Detective Kate Wakeland’s life, who is a sixty-four year old gutsy and talented homicide detective. Each of the books will have tiny cliffhanger at the end that are not a part of the main story. There is one overarching background storyline that runs through each of the novels.

Kate is a fantastic main character, as an older incredibly experienced in her job, happily married, without any obvious alcohol issues. She stays fit, loves her job, and is excellent at reading people. She has a partner named Franco.

The books are about the criminal cases and personal lives of one group of detectives from a small town set in the Blue Mountains area of Australia. It is a place with deep cave systems, soaring mountains, and some mysterious local legends.

“One Last Child” won an Audiofile Earphones Award in the year 2020, which was narrated by Caroline Lee, who also narrated “The Lullaby Man”. Audio versions of the series are produced by Podium Audio. It was also in the Top 100 in Amazon eBooks, UK, US, Australia and Canada in 2021.

“One Last Child” is the first novel in the “Tallman’s Valley Detectives” series and was released in the year 2020. Five long missing kids are going to be returned. It was summer in the mountains when five young kids disappeared from their nursery school picnic. The heat was unbearable that day, with the tinkle of an ice cream van in the air.

Three and a half years later, during the middle of winter, the kids are returned to their families. One by one. All but Ivy, Kate Wakeland’s granddaughter. The other four kids are saying Ivy is dead. Speculation grows that the mysterious abductor enacts a cruel revenge plot because of a killer that Kate put in jail years prior.

She is unsure what to believe. However one thing is for sure, she is about to start the battle of her life. When the kids were first taken, she was prevented from investigating this case. Now, she is going to be relentless in revealing the identity of the abductor and learning what happened to Ivy. While she joins the task force that is put together to find the kids, she is also working on an unsolved murder that occurred right around that same time.

The plot of this novel is well written with many unexpected twists and red herrings, that gets pretty intense at times. The novel does a great job of hooking you right from the start, and grabbing your imagination, your heart, and your interest. It also features some rather robust characters, particularly Kate, who is just a likable character that has plenty of tenacity. The compelling subplots in the novel help keep the tale from being solely focused on the kidnapping event. In this incredible tale, the further the story progresses, the darker and the more sinister things become.

“The Lullaby Man” is the second novel in the “Tallman’s Valley Detectives” series and was released in the year 2020. One decade prior, The Lullaby Man preyed upon some young girls in Tallman’s Valley. He worked his way into their lives, and whispered in their ears, speaking of love, but it was just these girls that knew about him. Abby Wakeland was fourteen at the time. Now she is twenty-four, has two kids and is with a partner, that is named Logan. She recently has found the necessary bravery to tell her mom, Senior Detective Kate Wakeland, all about what happened.

All her mom knows is that something changed in Abby when she was just a teen. She became moody, would not talk with her mom anymore, and was either extremely happy or angry. However she finds that looking into her mom’s eyes isn’t working. While Abby has been seeing a therapist, she recommends that Abby talk with him as Kate listens.

The Lullaby Man was her teacher that both abused and groomed Abby as well as other young girls. They are unsure if they could still find him and if he was still around, infiltrating the lives of others or had he died long ago? What Abby is going to reveal next is going to lead Kate down some twisting and dark tunnels of discoveries that are sure to blow this tiny town apart. When the body of a friend of Abby’s friends is discovered dead having drowned and was possibly murdered, they learn that she has been deceased for ten years now. So who was texting with her mom all this time?

The novel is told by Kate (in the present) and by Abby (through her memories of the past), as well as through a long forgotten journal.

The characters in this novel are carefully written and will not be soon forgotten, the story is intriguing, and the police work was both realistic and thorough. Fans of the novel found this to be heartbreaking, breathtaking, and astounding with twists and turns that are sure to keep you on your toes and one reveal that you will not see coming at all. This investigation is so detailed and thorough, and you are able to see the strength in Kate’s own reflecting in each chapter. Her fantastic partnership with Detective Franco made readers happy Kate’s got support on her side. Anni’s writing makes some smooth inroads into some of the darker alleys in society.

“The Silent Town” is the third novel in the “Tallman’s Valley Detectives” series and was released in the year 2021. For quite awhile, Senior Detective Kate Wakeland has sensed some dark undercurrents swimming in the depths of Tallman’s Valley, her beloved tiny town.

She is bound and determined to find answers to these questions that nobody is asking and learn what lies underneath the surface.