Book review: Stolen Baby by LG Davis

Desperation, grief, and morally grey decisions

Jan 28, 2025

Genres: Psychological thriller, domestic suspense, family drama

L.G. Davis’ Stolen Baby delivers a story of love, deception, and desperation, where delicate family ties unravel under the pressure of hidden secrets and shocking revelations.

Here are my thoughts:

Let’s drop the synopsis:

I told everyone she is my baby. I lied.

My life changed forever when my little girl appeared in a basket on my doorstep, her long lashes fluttering. Only a few instantly became so tiny and precious; my heart was hers in an instant.

My husband Tom and I have always longed for a child, so we agree not to tell the authorities. We won’t risk them taking her away. And I know if they find out my history, they’d never let me keep her…

I’m so grateful to have my beautiful baby, who we call Daisy. But while Tom refuses to talk about it, I can’t stop wondering who her biological parents are and why they left her with us?

Then someone sends me a message, enclosing it in a funeral programme I find on my kitchen table. Now I know the terrible truth about what happened to Daisy’s parents, and it’s closer to home than I could ever have imagined.

I thought I could protect us all, despite my past mistakes. But when the secrets I uncover put my family’s lives at risk, how far will I go to keep the little girl I love?

CCB thoughts:

L.G. Davis’ Stolen Baby is a suspenseful psychological thriller that examines the lengths to which love, desperation, and secrecy can drive a person. From the first chapter, the book grips readers with a haunting premise: A newborn baby left on a doorstep becomes the centre of a web of lies, danger, and devastating truths.

The story follows our deeply conflicted protagonist, Nora, a woman whose yearning for motherhood has shaped much of her life and identity. When Daisy, a fragile, hours-old infant, is discovered on her doorstep, it feels like a miracle, a long-awaited answer to the ache she and her husband, Tom, have carried for years. But this miracle comes with a heavy burden: They decide to keep Daisy without notifying the authorities, which sets off a domino effect of tension, secrets, and distrust.

From the outset, Davis layers the narrative with an undercurrent of dread. Nora’s relief and joy at becoming a mother are shadowed by her fraught history, which she fears could come back to haunt her if their secret is exposed. Her internal conflict - her fierce love for Daisy and her gnawing guilt over the lies she’s telling - grounds the story in a human struggle. We can’t help but empathise with her while questioning the morality of her choices.

The mystery deepens as small but chilling details creep into Nora and her daughter Izzy’s lives. An ominous funeral program left in their home, coupled with cryptic messages, sends them spiralling into a quest for answers. Who left Daisy on the doorstep? What happened to her biological parents? And, most disturbingly, how is it all connected to Nora’s own past? Davis dials up the tension as these questions multiply, keeping us hooked as the plot parameters tighten.

One of the novel’s most compelling aspects is how it explores the psychology of its characters. Nora’s past mistakes and traumas aren’t just backstory - they’re central to unravelling the mystery and her increasingly erratic decision-making. Similarly, Tom is a study in quiet complexity, his refusal to engage with the truth about Daisy’s origins adding another layer of friction and intrigue to the story. The dynamic between the couple is as much a battleground as it is a partnership, underlining the toll secrets take on even the most substantial relationships.

However, while Stolen Baby is gripping, it’s not without its flaws. While effective at maintaining suspense, the relentless pace occasionally comes at the expense of deeper character development for some secondary figures. Tom, for instance, feels somewhat underexplored. His silence and avoidance are central to the tension, but his motivations and internal struggles remain somewhat vague. A more nuanced exploration of his perspective could have added additional layers to the story and given us a better understanding of the dynamics within the couple’s relationship. Additionally, its reliance on familiar thriller tropes may feel predictable to seasoned fans of the genre.

That said, the novel’s strengths outweigh its weaknesses. Davis’s writing is taut but simple, immersing us in a world where every tiny detail - a misplaced object, a passing remark - feels heavy with significance. Her delivery of a fast-paced mystery is commendable, and the themes she tackles, such as identity, morality, and the lasting effects of trauma, resonate. The focus on motherhood and loss, in particular, is handled with care, blending the joy and beauty of parental love with its accompanying fears.

Stolen Baby also examines the morally grey areas of its premise. Nora, Tom, and Izzy’s decision to keep Daisy rather than report her to the authorities is deeply problematic. It raises questions about ethical boundaries and the lengths seemingly ordinary people will go to in extreme desperation. Davis doesn’t shy away from exploring these complexities, allowing us to wrestle with our own judgments. Would we have done the same?

The themes of Stolen Baby resonate on multiple levels. The book looks at identity: How our past shapes us, how far we’ll go to create the future we want, and how lies can protect and destroy. It’s also a meditation on motherhood and loss, exploring the love it brings and the sacrifice and vulnerability it demands. For Nora, Daisy represents both a dream fulfilled and a dangerous tether to a past she’s desperate to keep buried. This duality makes her story all the more compelling.

As the novel races toward its conclusion, Davis does not hold back. Although the final twists and turns tie together the story’s threads in a way that feels inevitable and a little predictable, Nora’s journey comes full circle, leaving us to reflect on the emotional and ethical turmoil we’ve just experienced.

In short, Stolen Baby is an emotionally charged thriller that blends suspense with poignant character exploration and hard-hitting real-life issues. While some secondary characters could benefit from deeper development (I would have enjoyed more points of view, for example), this book is a solid domestic thriller thanks to its fast-paced plotting, sharp chapters, tight writing, and compelling themes.

Ideal for fans of books like Shari Lapena's The Couple Next Door and The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy, Stolen Baby is a gripping look at how far we’ll go to protect the ones we love and whether we can live with the consequences.

Recommended for fans of:

Domestic thrillers such as The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena and The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy.
TV shows such as Big Little Lies, The Sinner, and The Secrets She Keeps.
Plots that focus on moral dilemmas and complex family dynamics.

Content warnings:

Death and grief, miscarriage and baby loss, parental death, child abandonment.

Buy the book:

You can purchase Stolen Child here and at your local bookstore.

Publisher: Bookouture | Page count: 294

Discover what others thought:

Thank you to Bookouture for inviting me on this book tour and for allowing me access to the book via NetGallery in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

About the author:

Author L.G. Davis (Liz) creates fast-paced, unpredictable, twisty-turny, psychological thrillers set in small towns. She strives to create characters that feel so real that her readers would want to meet them in real life. She loves to set her thrillers in small towns that, at first sight, look picturesque, but upon closer inspection, dark secrets and dangerous minds threaten the residents.

In addition to being an author, Liz is a self-taught digital artist who enjoys transforming a blank canvas into anything she can imagine.

Her greatest joys in life consist of spending time with her family, reading a good book, watching a great movie, or daydreaming about the next story she wants to bring to life in the future.

Liz Grace Davis was born in a refugee camp in Angola, where she spent the first eight years of her life. She grew up in Angola, Namibia, South Africa, and Germany. She now lives with her husband and their two children in Vienna, Austria.

Will you grab a copy of Stolen Baby? If you do, please let me know what you think in the comments below.

As always, happy reading!

Until next time,

Sian | Criminally Creepy Books