Alice's Review: The Secret Place

Author: Tana French
Series: Dublin Murder Squad
Publication Date: September 2, 2014
Publisher: Viking
Pages: 464
Obtained: publisher
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Crime
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: A taut mystery that has other great elements
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

Summary: The photo on the card shows a boy who was found murdered, a year ago, in the grounds of a girls boarding school in the leafy suburbs of Dublin. The caption says I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM. Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to get a foot in the door of Dublins Murder Squad—and one morning, sixteen-yearold Holly Mackey brings him this photo. “The Secret Place,” a board where the girls at St Kildas School can pin up their secrets anonymously, is normally a mishmash of gossip and covert cruelty, but today someone has used it to reignite the stalled investigation into the murder of handsome, popular Chris Harper. Stephen joins forces with the abrasive Detective Antoinette Conway to find out who and why. But everything they find leads them back to Hollys group of close-knit friends and their fierce enemies, a rival clique—and to the tangled web of relationships that bound all the girls to Chris Harper. Every step in their direction turns up the pressure. Antoinette Conway is already suspicious of Stephens links to the Mackey family. St Kildas will go a long way to keep murder outside their walls. Hollys father, Detective Frank Mackey, is circling, ready to pounce if any of the new evidence points towards his daughter. And the private underworld of teenage girls can be more mysterious and more dangerous than either of the detectives imagined. The Secret Place is a powerful, haunting exploration of friendship and loyalty, and a gripping addition to the Dublin Murder Squad series. ~powells.com

Review:  Tana French is back with another intriguing installment of Dublin’s Murder Squad. Although I am not a huge fan of Mystery/Crime novels, I completely soak these in. I really enjoyed how different this novel was from her earlier work. This novel had a clear resolution whereas her others left something unanswered. The best part of this novel is the resurrection of one of my favorite literary characters, Frank Mackey.

I will seriously read anything, ANYTHING, that features Frank Mackey even in the smallest capacity. I love me some Frank. Give me an entire novel focused on him and I am in reading heaven. He can be so rough and crass and well, sometimes a jerk. I loved seeing him in what is probably his favorite role, Father.

Enough about my fictional husband, the meat and bones of this novel is about friendship. Any woman who had girlfriends understands the power that holds, especially when you are 16 and your life centers around these relationships. Tana French captured that beautifully. Each girl was so different, yet it was easy to see how they fit together. My favorite of the four was Julia. She had moxie, tough as nails, but probably the most sensitive of the bunch. She was the leader, the one who would go to bat for the others.

I enjoyed the mystery in The Secret Place. Tana French is a sorceress. She writes strong character driven mysteries where you are invested in their lives and situations. You open one of her novel and begin to read it, the next thing you know it is 4 hours later and you are elbows deep in a story you can’t tear yourself away from. There is a mystery you must get to the bottom of. Thankfully, there are one or two detectives asking all the right questions unraveling the mystery layer by layer. You don’t know who you can trust, you don’t know who is lying or who is telling you the truth. The only thing you do know is you are on one hell of a ride.

This isn’t the strongest of her work, but it’s still fantastic. I hope we have another go at the reluctant villain of this novel, Detective Stephen Moran. I didn’t envy his task and I can’t wait to see what comes next for him.
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Julie's Review: The Secret Place

Author: Tana French
Series: Dublin Murder Squad
Publication Date: September 2, 2014
Publisher: Viking
Pages: 464
Obtained: publisher
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Crime
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: A taut mystery that has other great elements
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

Summary: The photo on the card shows a boy who was found murdered, a year ago, in the grounds of a girls boarding school in the leafy suburbs of Dublin. The caption says I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM. Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to get a foot in the door of Dublins Murder Squad—and one morning, sixteen-yearold Holly Mackey brings him this photo. “The Secret Place,” a board where the girls at St Kildas School can pin up their secrets anonymously, is normally a mishmash of gossip and covert cruelty, but today someone has used it to reignite the stalled investigation into the murder of handsome, popular Chris Harper. Stephen joins forces with the abrasive Detective Antoinette Conway to find out who and why. But everything they find leads them back to Hollys group of close-knit friends and their fierce enemies, a rival clique—and to the tangled web of relationships that bound all the girls to Chris Harper. Every step in their direction turns up the pressure. Antoinette Conway is already suspicious of Stephens links to the Mackey family. St Kildas will go a long way to keep murder outside their walls. Hollys father, Detective Frank Mackey, is circling, ready to pounce if any of the new evidence points towards his daughter. And the private underworld of teenage girls can be more mysterious and more dangerous than either of the detectives imagined. The Secret Place is a powerful, haunting exploration of friendship and loyalty, and a gripping addition to the Dublin Murder Squad series. ~powells.com

Review: So I admit, I have 2 Tana French books on my back list to read and I will get to them, but I couldn't wait to read The Secret Place. Ms. French is one of those writers that pulls you in with the mystery but you end up wanting to know more about the characters than "who dunnit".

In this novel, Ms. French explores 2 highly secretive populations: private schools and teenage girls. Teenage girls are vicious. I mean I remember being mean, but girls these days take it to a whole new level..seriously. I have a 9 year old and I'm dreading it. Private schools are no picnic either because of the affluence that usually accompanies these kids and all being under one roof, it makes for a powder keg waiting to explode.  So you put these two together and  BAM!, you have a fantastic setting.

As always, she brings a character from one of her previous novels and focuses the story on them as well. In this case, it's Detective Stephen Moran. He's in the Cold Case division and would love to get a plum spot in Murder. So when Holly Mackey brings him a clue in a year old murder, he jumps at his chance. He knows that Antoinette Conway isn't going to be easy to gain trust but he's willing to try.

Ms. French never rushes the story, so the reader has to be willing to let her slowly unravel the tale at her pace. She is also one of those authors that you need to read every single word or you will definitely miss something. She understands the nuances of her characters and is good at throwing some red herrings in the mix.

While I might not have agreed with Holly and her friends actions, there is no doubt that is was done out of love, protection and loyalty, which was refreshing to read. These girls, while still young, understand what friendship means. They aren't flighty with their loyalty and devotion. They are each others backbone. Like any friendships though, they don't know everything and this is where all the trouble begins.

I definitely liked the play between Conway and Stephen. She's looking to trust him but doesn't know if she can and he needs her to get into Murder Squad. Just as they were gaining trust with each other, in walks Frank Mackey to throw it all out of whack. That Frank Mackey knows exactly how to mess with people's heads. Even when they know it's exactly what he's good at doing.

The Secret Place is much more than a murder mystery, it's a study in human behavior when emotions come into play. If you are fan of Ms. French's then this is one not to be missed. If you like murder mysteries that are well thought out and not necessarily action-packed, then this one is for you too.

I'm fairly certain that I can read at least one of her other books on my shelf before she comes out with her next novel and that's my goal.



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Alice's Review: Broken Harbor

Summary: Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy, the brash cop from Tana French’s bestselling Faithful Place, plays by the book and plays hard. That’s what’s made him the Murder squad’s top detective—and that’s what puts the biggest case of the year into his hands. On one of the half-built, half-abandoned "luxury" developments that litter Ireland, Patrick Spain and his two young children are dead. His wife, Jenny, is in intensive care. At first, Scorcher and his rookie partner, Richie, think it’s going to be an easy solve. But too many small things can’t be explained. The half dozen baby monitors, their cameras pointing at holes smashed in the Spains’ walls. The files erased from the Spains’ computer. The story Jenny told her sister about a shadowy intruder who was slipping past all the locks. And Broken Harbor holds memories for Scorcher. Seeing the case on the news sends his sister Dina off the rails again, and she’s resurrecting something that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control: what happened to their family one summer at Broken Harbor, back when they were children. ~ amazon.com

Review:  The first thing you should know about Tana French is every novel she writes is better than the last.  I don’t usually read suspense/mysteries and I adore her work.  The focus of this novel is Mick “Scorcher” Kennedy, the Murder Squad’s resident jerk.  He has the highest solve rate, he’s the top detective and he knows it.  Picture your classic arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic police detective and you have Scorcher.  But like all of Ms. French’s characters, what we see on the surface is far from what we get.

Below the surface is a man with two passions, his work and his family.  He keeps these separate from the other.   He’s single, a loner among the Murder Ds.  He values his work and wants to be perfect 100% of the time.  He compartmentalizes his feeling and emotions, that is, until the Broken Harbor case.  Now called Brianstown, Broken Harbor was a seaside escape, a place he would visit with his family, and the only place they all felt truly happy. 

With a new partner (Richie Curran) in tow, he works to reveal this case piece by piece.  Nothing is cut and dry in Broken Harbor.  Ms. French reveals the mystery to us through the detectives course work.  The more we get to know about the Spains, the more bizarre their story becomes.  Life isn’t so perfect for this seemingly perfect family.  A beautiful home riddled with holes in the walls and chicken wire blocking the attic hatch has the detectives and readers shaking our heads.  They discover that along with the violent death of Pat Spain, his two young children are dead also.  The only witness being Jenny Spain, hanging on to life by a thread. 

The greatest compliment that I can give Ms. French is that she pulls her readers in and holds us there.  I was determined to find a resolution with as much passion as Mick and Richie.  The one thing that drives me mad about her is Tana French leaves some things left unsaid.  Typical of her, she leaves some mystery that keeps her readers wondering.  We keep playing detective long after the novel is over.  I feel like I still need a resolution, an answer to a question she doesn’t reveal.  That sense of something left unfinished is what attracts me to her novels.

The highlight in this novel for me is Richie Curran, Mick’s partner.  Richie tackles police work the same way I tackle reading, from the heart.  He is ruled by an ingrain sense of justice that probably stems for his roots growing up on the “wrong” side of town.  Whether or not that works in his favor is something you have to find out for yourself.  Believe me, Broken Harbor is worth it.

Although each novel is stand alone, Ms. French does carry characters from one novel to the next.  In The Woods introduced us to Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox.  The Likeness brings Cassie to the forefront and establishes Frank Mackey as a key character.  In Faithful Place, we discover more about Frank’s past and meet the Murder D’s top detective Scorcher.  I definitely recommend all her novels.  As I said earlier, each one is better than the last and because of that, you should start with In The Woods and work your way down the line.

Final Take: 5/5

Jenn's List: Top Books of 2010

As 2010 draws to a close, the time has come for us girls to tell you our favorite books of the year.  As I look over my read list, I'm pleased to see I've been reading more this year ~not as much as when I had a lunch hour before I became a stay-at-home-mom, but steadily increasing as my daughter is older and more independent.


ASLEEP by Wendy Raven McNair:  This is the first book in a trilogy by a self-published author and it's an amazing series so far.  It's YA super hero story with a strong, female, African-American hero.  (Review) AWAKE, the second book in the trilogy, is also tops on my list. (Review) Again I cannot recommend this series enough.  You really must read it!

The Liar's Lullaby by Meg Gardiner:  This is the third book in her Jo Beckett series. In this installment, forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett is called on to do a psychological autopsy of a country singing diva to determine murder, suicide, or conspiracy.  (Review)  If you love thrillers, you must try her books.  (China Lake is the first book in her Evan Delaney series and The Dirty Secrets Club is the first book in the Jo Beckett series.)

This Must Be The Place by Kate Racculia: A sixteen-year-old, un-mailed postcard launches a story of uncovering, recovery, and self-discovery in this debut novel.  I don't usually read contemporary fiction, but I loved this one! (Review)

Columbine by Dave Cullen:  This was my non-fiction read of the year.  It's an incredible case study of an horrific event that changed the face of education. (Review)

The Girl Who Chased The Moon by Sarah Addison Allen:  A little food and a little magic, there is really no one who compares to Sarah Addison Allen. (Review) All her books are hard-cover-must-haves for me and I anxiously await her March 2011 book, The Peach Keeper.  

Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen: This is in the middle of the Rizzoli & Isles series, that the new TNT show is based on. I loved this book and the TV show, so I think I'm going to have to go back and read this thriller series from the beginning! (Review)

Virals by Kathy Reichs: This is forensic anthropologist Reichs' new YA series. It's an updated Nancy Drew with a paranormal twist. If you like her books but find them a little heavy, this is like reading Reichs-lite! (Review)

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel: I was a little "vamped" out, but this book made me fall in love with vampires all over again. I can't wait for the next book in the series due out in June 2011! (Review)

In the Woods by Tana French: This was a great case study in how are experiences impact our per eption and shape our future. I adored the rich detail and will be reading more from French this year, I hope.  (Review)

The Icing on the Cupcake by Jennifer Ross: I don't often enjoy a book where the protagonist starts off as unlikeable, but this was so well done, that I couldn't help but learn to love her as Ansley found her way in the world.  (Review)

I am excited about a new year of reading (yes, I'm nerdy, but we knew that,) and I hope that Roof Beam Reader's 2011 TBR Challenge will help me get to more books this year.

Wishing you a happy, healthy New Year filled with good books.
Happy Reading!

~Jenn

Jenn's Review: In the Woods

Summary:  As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past. 

Review:  Apparently you either love or hate this book.  I loved it!  ...and I'm sorry it took me so long to get around to reading it. Lots of reviews have said that this seemed a slow start, but I didn't find it so... I was immediately taken in by Tana French's rich plot and detailed setting.  Her writing style is palpable and her character's are true to life.  I didn't always like Detective Ryan, but his reflection was at least brutally honest, and I could appreciate that.   He's never dealt with his issues from his abduction and this case brought them all roaring to the surface.  I loved his partner and am glad that the next book is through her eyes, because I'd love to know more about her. 

I had the culprit pegged fairly early on, but couldn't quite figure out how it was pulled off, so ended up doubting myself, which is a sign of good writing in my book. [Spoiler warning] I was a little incredulous regarding the fact that the secondary crime scene wasn't thoroughly searched the first time around, but everything was so well written I let it slide.

Was I disappointed that the cold case was never solved?  Yes, but I knew we were experiencing the current case through Detective Ryan's eyes, and while it was central to him, it wasn't central to the case. Though the ending isn't neat and tidy, it's far more realistic than many thrillers and I loved that about it.  

I am excited to read more from Tana French.  She has certainly captured my attention with this beautiful debut novel.

Final Take:  4.5/5

Julie's Review: In The Woods

Julie's Review: Faithful Place

Summary: French's emotionally searing third novel of the Dublin murder squad (after The Likeness) shows the Irish author getting better with each book. In 1985, 19-year old Frank Mackey and his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, made secret plans to elope to England and start a new life together far away from their families, particularly the hard-drinking Mackey's. But when Rosie doesn't meet Frank the night they're meant to leave and he finds a note, Frank assumes she's left him behind. For 22 years, Frank, who becomes an undercover cop, stays away from Faithful Place, his childhood Dublin neighborhood. When his younger sister, Jackie, calls to tell him that someone found Rosie's suitcase hidden in an abandoned house, Frank reluctantly returns. Now everything he thought he knew is turned upside down: did Rosie really leave that night, or did someone stop her before she could? French, who briefly introduced Mackey in The Likeness, is adept at seamlessly blending suspenseful whodunit elements with Frank's familial demons. ~amazon.com

Review: Faithful Place is Tana French's 3rd book to take place in Dublin. This time the case is even more personal for her main character, Francis, aka Frank, Mackey. I don't think it is ever Ms. French's intention to make the guilty party hard to spot but she wants us to witness the protagonist figure it out and come to terms with it. It is about their journey and us going along for the ride. I have to say that I immediately liked Frank. He was honest and real. He didn't dish out crap and he surely didn't take it. Sure, he had faults but his drive for the truth wasn't one of them. Even though this case was extremely personal to Frank; I do think he tried to stay objective and a little out of the way if not all the way out.

I can't say that I blame him for staying away for 22 years. His family is seriously messed up. It's a wonder any of them turned out alright. Scars of living in that kind of family never fade and he's been smart never to introduce his daughter to his side of the family.

The story is extremely well-written and Ms. French has honed her skills by being more succinct. More words don't tell a better story, in fact sometimes it detracts from the story. The whodunit is in there but I enjoyed the flashback to Frank and Rosie's story of first love and escape. I, like Frank, wonder if they really would have made it or if they would have eventually gone their separate ways. One can only imagine. I think telling a story in flashbacks gives you an idea of how they became the adult they are today. It's also a fantastic way to make the victim a person instead of just a name and a case number. Rosie was as real to me as she was to Frank.

There isn't too much that I can say about the book without giving the story away and you guys know I don't like to or want to do that. If you like a taut story that will have you unraveling the mystery along the way then pick up a copy of Faithful Place, you won't be disappointed. I really enjoyed In the Woods(review here) but Faithful Place blows it out of the water.

You also don't have to read them in order to appreciate them. Apparently Frank is briefly in The Likeness but that case doesn't even come up in the novel. They are all set in Dublin and deal with the Guards (aka Police) but that's all they seem to have in common. As much as I'd like to see Frank again, I'm ok if I don't. The ending of the book was open ended but in a way that I thought was perfect for the story.

Tana French is on my "Writer's to Buy Immediately" list now. I can't wait to dive into The Likeness and revisit Cassie Maddox.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book.

Final Take: 4.5/5

Julie's Review: In The Woods

Summary: Irish author French expertly walks the line between police procedural and psychological thriller in her debut. When Katy Devlin, a 12-year-old girl from Knocknaree, a Dublin suburb, is found murdered at a local archaeological dig, Det. Rob Ryan and his partner, Cassie Maddox, must probe deep into the victim's troubled family history. There are chilling similarities between the Devlin murder and the disappearance 20 years before of two children from the same neighborhood who were Ryan's best friends. Only Maddox knows Ryan was involved in the 1984 case. The plot climaxes with a taut interrogation by Maddox of a potential suspect, and the reader is floored by the eventual identity and motives of the killer. A distracting political subplot involves a pending motorway in Knocknaree, but Ryan and Maddox are empathetic and flawed heroes, whose partnership and friendship elevate the narrative beyond a gory tale of murdered children and repressed childhood trauma. ~amazon.com

Review: I admit it: I started reading In the Woods and then put it down in favor of something else. I don't think I was in the mood for it. I will say that I'm so happy that I picked it back up to continuing reading it. It's a great, complex, well-crafted thriller/mystery/suspense, told through the eyes of Detective Rob Ryan. Rob is a complex character. He searches for the truth but he lies to us and himself. He's likable at times and other times I couldn't stand him. He was moody and irrational but yet you felt for him. You see he was left alive while his 2 best friends were apparently murdered in the woods near his house. He's blocked out the events but lives with tremendous guilt, even if he can't admit it to himself.

His partner is Cassie Maddox and she's got moxie. She's a wonderful character and not as flushed out as Rob but really In the Woods is his story. I'm sure we'll get to know Cassie more intimately in the next book, The Likeness. She and Rob are great partners in every sense of the word, except for physical intimacy..that they don't share. I loved the fact that this relationship was deep and yet still platonic. There was definitely a brother/sister vibe to it and even Rob states that as a fact as well. Since the book is told through Rob's eyes we really don't get to understand Cassie's point of view but as a reader you do feel that you know her as well as Rob.

For me the main plot was finding out what happened to Katy Devlin and what the motive was for her murder. The secondary plot was what happened to Rob, Peter and Jamie in those woods when they were younger. Early in the novel you are lead to believe that the two stories are intertwined and again this has to do with the fact that we are seeing it from Rob's POV and he desperately wants them to be linked so that he can solve the missing years of his life. I don't think I was ever on board with this line of thinking and as the book starts to wind down, you begin to see how they are or are not related to each other.

With any good suspense/thriller/mystery you are lead to believe one thing, get a twist that shoves you in another direction and then yet another twist pushing you back to either your original line of thinking or another direction. Ms. French definitely achieves that here. She kept me guessing all along whether what I was thinking was right or wrong. This is where I think how the author decides to write the point of view is extremely important. The plot and subplots work because it's told from Rob's and not from a 3rd person. We'd have a completely different book if it was told from Cassie's (not that I wouldn't mind reading that as well).

It took me a bit to get into this book but once I did I wanted to find out what happened to Katy and to the kids many years before. Ms. French is an expert at writing characters and painting them so vividly in your mind that they stick with you and reverberate. I will say that I did enjoy her writing style once I got used to her penchant for prose. The novel could have probably been about 50 pages less if it wasn't so descriptive at times. There were times when I felt that I was in Rob's head too much and it became burdensome.

If you like your crime thrillers/suspense books, then you should pick up and read In the Woods. I will be reading The Likeness very shortly and that focuses on Cassie. I look forward to getting to know her better and living in her head for a bit.

I thought this would be like Harlan Coben's The Woods and it was similar but yet very different.

Final Take: 4/5