Book Review - The Trespasser by Tana French

Tana French knows how to engage her reader. She just writes like blokes in Dublin would talk at a police station. You feel you are in on the interrogations and confessions. And you are hearing the internal dialogue of Antoinette Conway. She’s a detective on Murder Squad, her dream job. Her partner, Stephen Moran, is awesome and they are a team. BUT. The rest of the working crew are giving her the “shite” jobs and harassing her. Oh, it’s subtle, but it’s wearing her psyche and maybe she’s ready to break.

The Trespasser is the latest book in a series of excellent crime fiction. I discovered French with In the Woods and have followed her ever since.  So, the new case looks like a lover’s quarrel gone bad. Aislinn Murray is blond, pretty, groomed to a shine, and dead in her pretty living room. There’s nothing unusual about her – except that Antoinette has seen her somewhere before. (cover blurb)

Looks easy, but this case turns messy with a lot of twists and turns. Other detectives are pushing for a quick solve, but why? And of course, there’s more to the victim than what is seen on the surface.

Conway is feeling paranoid, fights with her partner, and is ready to quit.  But you will root for her to see this through. You want her to get resolution with Stephen – he’s a good guy. And poor Aislinn deserves to be buried with dignity. We need to know who killed her and why.  Tana French will throw you some red herrings and clues. Stick with her to the end and you’ll say – whoa! I knew it wasn’t easy but Conway pulled it together. (that’s the only bone I’ll throw you)  Check it out and solve this crime.

Book Review: The Secret Place by Tana French

I Know Who Killed Him – that card with a picture of Chris Harper kicks off The Secret Place by Tana French.  The secret place is a bulletin board where the girls of St. Kilda’s school can pin anonymous notes. Detective Stephen Moran is handed the card by Holly Mackay, a student, and a lagging investigation kicks back into gear. Moran hopes to show his skills and get into Dublin’s Murder Squad. Detective Antoinette Conway hopes to redeem herself. Holly’s father, Detective Frank Mackay, circles to protect his daughter.  Conway and Moran must penetrate a close-knit group of teenage girls. Tough crowd.  

Tana French’s writing is sublime and the Irish setting adds a fresh flavor to the genre. In describing the Court, a mall, and the kids – They always act like they’re having an amazing time, they’re louder and high pitched. ..Their faces on the way home afterwards look older and strained, smeared with the scraps of leftover expressions that were pressed on too hard and won’t lift away. (p. 41) 

p. 48 Detective Moran at the school – The air felt full and glossy, felt high, felt shot through with the sun at mad-dash angles; sun swirling along the bannisters like water….lifting me, catching me everywhere and rising.  

p. 431  Moran again – All I could find was the look on Holly’s face and Julia’s, watching the last shadow of something craved and lost; the distant blue of Selena’s eyes, watching things I couldn’t see; Rebecca’s laugh, too clear to be human. The car was cold.

 

I liked the book’s structure. We’d go back to when Chris was alive and see the interactions of the teens from different perspectives. Then French brings us to present day questioning – Holly’s group versus the Joanne mean girls group. So many little picky moments. She captures the true horror of that age, when girls are figuring out friendships, loyalties and life. I personally did not immediately guess who killed Chris Harper. I just went with the flow of the book, until author Tana French got us to That Secret Place.

Book Review: Broken Harbor by Tana French

Tana French is Irish and her books are set in Dublin and surrounding environs. That adds a unique style and feel. In the Woods and Faithful Place were superb and now her latest, Broken Harbor, features our favorite brash cop - Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy
Opening paragraph hooks the reader, trust me -  Here's what I'm trying to tell you: this case should have gone like clockwork. It should have ended up in the textbooks as a shining example of how to get everything right. By every rule in the book, this should have been a dream case.

Mick's a top detective with a great closing record, but he's coming off a problem case, been cooling his heels, and now this case should redeem him. He and his rookie partner, Richie, investigate the murder of Patrick Spain and his two young children. Wife, Jenny Spain, is in intensive care. They live in a half built, half-abandoned Irish development with suspicious neighbors, traces of life in empty homes, baby monitors, cameras, and too many small things that aren't explained. Files are erased from the family home computer, and Jenny's sister shares some past history that's problematic.

Police politics and procedures flow and this psychological thriller keeps the pages turning, the clues popping, and you, the reader, guessing. Tana French keeps the dialogue snappy and the plot lines taut. Great pacing and writing in the thriller genre.

Irish Tale of Murder

If you want a good read that takes place in the old sod, pick up Faithful Place by Tana French.

Her characters are rich and she moves easily from the past to the present, as Detective Frank Mackey is pulled back to his youth and family as he investigates a murder.

Poor Rosie Daly. Everyone thought she managed to escape Faithful Place, a downtrodden Irish neighborhood, to seek a new life in London. Frank was left behind waiting for her, thinking he was stood up. He chose to leave too, on that fateful night and ultimately became a cop, working undercover. Now, he gets a call from his sister Jackie that a suitcase was found stuffed in a fireplace and it's Rosie's. She didn't move on after all.

He's sucked back into family dynamics - alcoholic father, demanding mother, resentful older brother, and tentative younger brother, plus a loyal sister. Everyone knows everyone's business and the neighborhood is suspicious of Frank's motives as he uncovers Rosie's body, discovers betrayals, and seeks to resolve his feelings for Rosie. Mackey's juggling his beloved nine year old daughter, Holly, and her desire to know family. Plus, he has to contend with his ex-wife and job priorities.

French's writing is as smooth as Irish whiskey. She has a fine ear for dialogue and pacing. Her previous books In The Woods and The Likeness are equally captivating reads. Here's a sample description: (p.108) The air was so cold that it made a high fine ringing sound somewhere miles above us, like breaking crystal; her breath was hoarse and warm on my throat, her hair smelled like lemon drops and I could feel the fast shake of her heart trembling against my ribs. Then I let go of her and watched her walk away, one last time.

(p.134) I had spent my whole adult life growing around a scar shaped like Rosie Daly's absence.

Read The Faithful Place - pity Rosie's lost youth, commiserate with Frank on years of wonder and loss, and fight, cry, and drink with the Mackey family to past and present sorrows. Once you finish the book, a bit of the old sod sticks with you.