WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW
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| “If I've learned one thing today, it's that teenage girls make Moriarty look like a babe in the woods.”- The Secret Place, Tana French |
The photo on the card shows a boy who was found murdered, a year ago, on 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 Dublin’s Murder Squad—and one morning, sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey brings him this photo. The Secret Place, a board where the girls at St. Kilda’s 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 discover leads them back to Holly’s close-knit group of 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 Stephen’s links to the Mackey family. St. Kilda’s will go a long way to keep murder outside their walls. Holly’s father, Detective Frank Mackey, is circling, ready to pounce if any of the new evidence points toward his daughter. And the private underworld of teenage girls can be more mysterious and more dangerous than either of the detectives imagined.
Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to get a foot in the door of Dublin’s Murder Squad—and one morning, sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey brings him this photo. The Secret Place, a board where the girls at St. Kilda’s 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 discover leads them back to Holly’s close-knit group of 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 Stephen’s links to the Mackey family. St. Kilda’s will go a long way to keep murder outside their walls. Holly’s father, Detective Frank Mackey, is circling, ready to pounce if any of the new evidence points toward his daughter. And the private underworld of teenage girls can be more mysterious and more dangerous than either of the detectives imagined.
Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.
Oed’ und leer das Meer.
I chose this quote from TS Eliot's The Waste Land, because the entire time I was reading this book, this verse just kept repeating itself over and over in my head. It makes sense in the concept of Chris Harper's killing. Also, I've been listening to Alec Guinness' recitation of it a lot lately, not sure why, but I highly recommend it. It's like 20 minutes long, but it's worth a listen.
So now I'm all caught up with the Dublin Murder Squad. Not quite sure how to feel about it. On one hand, I'm relieved- as much as I enjoyed these "behemoths" (they may be only 400 pages, but they feel like 600)- I'm glad I don't have to put aside a week in June to get through one. On the other, I'm sad that I have to wait for 2018 (I think she publishes every two years) to get the next Dublin Murder Squad book. She just has such wonderful ideas and characters and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. And who's going to narrate- I'm thinking maybe Breslin from The Trespasser, since he kind acted like Kennedy did in Faithful Place, though I'm hoping for O'Kelly. I would say Fleas might also be an option, but he's a bit too much like Mackey. But who the hell knows?
Also, after reading one of her books I find myself using the same phrases as her characters. Fuck me, the spit of you, bleeding, etc, I just use it all. It's pretty funny actually.
This book was different from her typical Dublin Murder Squad books. But, in my opinion, it was different in a better way than Faithful Place was. Like, it only took place over the course of a day, maybe two. And interestingly, it was told in a kind of dual narration, half of it being first person with the spotlight being on Det Stephen Moran, the other half being third person focusing on the main four girls who were suspects in the case. And, believe it or not, it was successful.
Of course, the first time it was a bit jarring, given that there was no warning about the POV shift, but as the story unfolded it really worked. This probably had a lot to do with the little interest I had in Stephen Moran and the little connection I felt he had to the case. Sure, on the surface it was there, but it wasn't the same connection that Ryan or Maddox or Mackey or Kennedy or, hell, even Conway had to the cases in their respective books. I felt like Moran was her most vanilla narrator yet- he lacked the usual distinctive voice that I've come to expect from French MCs (ironically, that's probably what makes him stand out in her array of main characters), and even his backstory was pretty generic. He reminded me of a watered down Det Sam O'Neill from the first two books (an aside: I always thought Sam was jipped of his own book- would have loved to see him mucking around the countryside he grew up in solving a murder).
On the other hand, Holly and her friends were fantastic. I loved getting involved in their odd little world, that ended up even turning dangerous. In some aspects, it reminded me of that Jodi Picoult novel about the witches, but I much preferred Tana French's take on it. Though the supernatural aspects were a bit underdeveloped, I still enjoyed them immensely as I'm still on my Twin Peaks high (by the way, I was underwhelmed and unnerved by the first two episodes, but I watched the third episode yesterday and I think I'm now hooked- it got a lot better real quick). The killer also pleasantly surprised me. Frankly though, I think it's a testament to French's skill that she actually got me really enjoying and understanding the close friendship these girls formed- normally, I hate reading about friendship, as I mentioned in my The Pearl Thief review.
Interestingly, I think the side characters were better than the main character. By better I mean more developed and better written. Not more likeable, although I prefer Mackey in small doses. He's much more fun in this book than he was in Faithful Place. Nice to know he's back with Olivia, by the way. Conway, I still don't like. She's a great character, but, quite frankly, I really didn't like her in The Trespasser and I still really don't like her. She's like the kind of character I hate- the one who would stub her toe and then sue the offending desk for discrimination. Also, I still think that if it wasn't for Moran, she'd make a horrendous Murder detective- she's too obnoxious and abrasive, with absolutely no tact. In a lot of ways, and forgive me if this is a stupid comparison, but she reminded me of Jess from Gilmore Girls. I don't know, but she just got under my skin like Jess got under my skin. The world isn't out to get you, Conway. Maybe if she stopped acting like that, she might have actually gotten more chances, more good cases. She made me miss Cassie Maddox- both had the same experiences in Murder, but Maddox dealt with it in a far more mature way.
But honestly, the fact that I didn't like Conway didn't impact the rating at all (though it did annoy me enough to knock The Trespasser down to an 8 out of 10- though perhaps if I revisit that book after reading the series up to that point and giving it the time I deserve I might rate it higher, but I'm not that inclined to do that in the near future). If anything, that just raised French higher in my eyes, because Conway is entirely unlike any of her other characters. Sure, out of all her main characters I'd probably get along with Maddox the most, followed by Ryan, but all of her characters are so easily distinguishable, and all of them felt like real people. I've reiterated this so much in my reviews of her books, but that's because it's the truth.
Bottom line, I am now an unapologetic Tana French fangirl. And I don't fangirl for many things. In fact, apart from a Percy Jackson phase in fifth grade, I think I've only ever considered myself a fangirl for two things- the Unwind series (something I've little written about with the exception of my abandoned Tag Tuesday posts), and Twin Peaks (something I've been writing about with fervor lately because it's been my obsession since January). But now, I want to add Tana French to that list. I believe that her books should be mandatory reading for any crime novel lover. Or hell, even just one of hers, since I guaran-damn-tee that she has written a book you will love. Contemporary family drama fans- Faithful Place. History lovers- The Likeness. Paranormal mystery enthusiasts- The Secret Place. Those who love social commentary- Broken Harbor. Feminists- The Trespasser. And good old fashioned mystery fans- In the Woods. Just pick one of hers up. Sure, they take up a lot of your time, but you wouldn't regret it.
8.5-9 out of 10
PS: After reading this book, my current rankings for the Dublin Murder Squad are as follows:
Bookwise: In the Woods, Broken Harbor, The Likeness-The Secret Place (tie), Faithful Place, The Trespasser
Protagonist-wise: Cassie Maddox, Rob Ryan, Mick Kennedy, Frank Mackey, Stephen Moran, Antoinette Conway
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