3.5 stars. The Secret Place was somewhat of a departure for Tana French. I’m not sure if it was quite as successful for me personally, but it makes me really happy to know she’s experimenting and keeping things fresh. She could just churn out novels and people would read them even with diminishing returns at this point. It makes me love her all the more to know that she has no intention of phoning it in. Detective Stephen Moran is surprised one morning to see […]
I don’t even know why I was surprised that I liked this so much
4.5 stars. I honestly didn’t expect to like this book much when I found out it was centered on Scorcher Kennedy, a massive annoyance in the French’s last book, Faithful Place. Kennedy cares a lot about how he is perceived and can come off a little strong and brash. To my surprise, this was my favorite Dublin Murder Squad book so far. I’d never want to be friends with Detective Kennedy, but he’s a great character to read about and the mystery was fascinating. A […]
Triple Cannonballing with Tana French
It’s almost ridiculous how easy she makes it look, writing a book this good. I don’t even know what to say anymore about her books. They are all just so, so good. And the way she jumps from character to character each book gives her room to play around with different structures and themes, and yet still stay within the framework of a murder mystery novel. I love murder mystery novels, but I don’t love these books because of the mysteries (although I don’t think […]
There’s truth that lives, and truth that dies I don’t know which, so never mind
In the Woods is dark, complex and twisty but not in a gimmicky sort of way. It is the murder mystery I have been waiting for and I have already added the second and third books in Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series to my TBR list. It’s a mystery novel that is more than simply a “whodunnit.” It’s a rumination on memory and friendship with a conclusion that is an emotional kick in the gut. In 1985, three children disappeared into the woods […]