I really loved this novel, and I highly recommend it.
Holly Mackey is a teenager, a boarder at St. Kilda's, a tony girl's prep school in Dublin. Her dad is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad, and his name is Frank Mackey. (Readers of Tana French's other mystery novels will remember him; her other novels are In The Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, and Broken Harbor.)
The novel's story begins when she brings a photo to the police, and specifically, to Detective Stephen Moran. The photo came from a bulletin board in the top floor hallway of St. Kilda's called The Secret Place. It's a place where the students can share secrets, anonymously.
A year earlier, a student from the neighboring school for boys, St. Colm's, had been found murdered on the grounds of St. Kilda's. All the students of both schools were interviewed, but the police investigation has come to a dead end.
Now, someone has placed a photo of the dead boy on the Secret Place bulletin board, with letters cut out from newspaper or magazine, in the style of a ransom note, which spell out, "I know who killed him."
Detective Stephen Moran's career has also stalled. He got a break early in his career, permitting him to become the youngest detective in the Cold Cases unit, but he's now been spinning his wheels there for several years; he wants to work for the Murder Squad, but sees no opportunity to get himself noticed. Then Holly brings him the photo of the murdered boy she's taken down from the Secret Place.
Moran know that there's is one detective on the Murder Squad who doesn't have a partner because her partner recently retired, He knows that this is his one big chance. If he can get himself assigned to this case, and he can solve the crime, there's a strong chance he might get promoted to the Murder Squad. If he can't solve the case, his time in the Cold Cases area will probably stretch out until his retirement.
There's just one more snag. The detective who worked the case earlier, Conway, is a woman, who's tough, smart, combative and hugely unpopular. Can he solve the case? Can he get along with Conway long enough to do so?
This novel is really about teenage girls, and what's unique about this stage of mental and social development. It's also about the tense relationship between Conway and Moran, and the mind games that they employ as they attempt to winkle the truth out of the teenage girls they're interviewing.
What makes this novel so wonderful are the sharply drawn characters. This was also true of Faithful Place, the other novel by French that I've read. And the dialogue. French has a wonderful talent for capturing dialogue. French carefully unfolds the details of the plot, Conway and Moran's relationship, and the girls' relationships.
It's a long book, with chapters that alternate telling the story of the girls, and telling the story of how Moran skillfully navigates distrustful Conway, the interrogations, and finally, Frank Mackey. I tried to read the book in three days, and the first 200 pages just flew by, but I found I just couldn't do it. Expect to spend a week, and give this wonderful book the time it deserves.
If you're a European reader of this blog, you should know that when you read the blog, Google leaves cookies on your computer.
12/7/2018
The "Dublin Murder Squad" novels:
this
Holly Mackey is a teenager, a boarder at St. Kilda's, a tony girl's prep school in Dublin. Her dad is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad, and his name is Frank Mackey. (Readers of Tana French's other mystery novels will remember him; her other novels are In The Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, and Broken Harbor.)The novel's story begins when she brings a photo to the police, and specifically, to Detective Stephen Moran. The photo came from a bulletin board in the top floor hallway of St. Kilda's called The Secret Place. It's a place where the students can share secrets, anonymously.
A year earlier, a student from the neighboring school for boys, St. Colm's, had been found murdered on the grounds of St. Kilda's. All the students of both schools were interviewed, but the police investigation has come to a dead end.
Now, someone has placed a photo of the dead boy on the Secret Place bulletin board, with letters cut out from newspaper or magazine, in the style of a ransom note, which spell out, "I know who killed him."
Detective Stephen Moran's career has also stalled. He got a break early in his career, permitting him to become the youngest detective in the Cold Cases unit, but he's now been spinning his wheels there for several years; he wants to work for the Murder Squad, but sees no opportunity to get himself noticed. Then Holly brings him the photo of the murdered boy she's taken down from the Secret Place.
Moran know that there's is one detective on the Murder Squad who doesn't have a partner because her partner recently retired, He knows that this is his one big chance. If he can get himself assigned to this case, and he can solve the crime, there's a strong chance he might get promoted to the Murder Squad. If he can't solve the case, his time in the Cold Cases area will probably stretch out until his retirement.
There's just one more snag. The detective who worked the case earlier, Conway, is a woman, who's tough, smart, combative and hugely unpopular. Can he solve the case? Can he get along with Conway long enough to do so?
This novel is really about teenage girls, and what's unique about this stage of mental and social development. It's also about the tense relationship between Conway and Moran, and the mind games that they employ as they attempt to winkle the truth out of the teenage girls they're interviewing.
What makes this novel so wonderful are the sharply drawn characters. This was also true of Faithful Place, the other novel by French that I've read. And the dialogue. French has a wonderful talent for capturing dialogue. French carefully unfolds the details of the plot, Conway and Moran's relationship, and the girls' relationships.
It's a long book, with chapters that alternate telling the story of the girls, and telling the story of how Moran skillfully navigates distrustful Conway, the interrogations, and finally, Frank Mackey. I tried to read the book in three days, and the first 200 pages just flew by, but I found I just couldn't do it. Expect to spend a week, and give this wonderful book the time it deserves.
If you're a European reader of this blog, you should know that when you read the blog, Google leaves cookies on your computer.
The "Dublin Murder Squad" novels:
this
1. In the woods
2. The likeness
Her latest novel, The Witch Elm (a standalone), came out in October.
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