Faithful Place (Dublin Murder Squad, #3) by Tana French.

In the last Dublin Murder Squad book, Detective Cassie Maddox is working for Detective Frank Mackey of the Undercover Squad. This third book in the series is Frank’s tale. Although Frank is NOT on the Dublin Murder Squad, he does know 2 of the victims and becomes involved in the case.

I loved Faithful Place just as much as I loved the first 2 novels in the series. Yet again it is written in the first person and Tana develops her brand. Although each book is written from the point of view of a different detective each time, you still get the same strong feeling that you are part of the scene and are in the loop.

Yet again this book can be read as a stand-alone. The accent this time is on family life. Although the 2 murders are solved, it is not by regular police work but by Frank working friends and family. I particularly liked the dialogue running through this novel. It is written with a strong Dublin accent and Frank’s mother is the big surprise. Simply put, every time I read her spoken words, all I could think of was Brendan O’Carroll acting the role of Agnes Brown in the extremely popular BBC sitcom Mrs. Brown’s Boys.

Faithful Place moves away from regular murder and police thrillers. This is centered around the dynamics of family life and the meaning of home. There was plenty of back story and Frank’s character was fully developed. Although the tale runs back and forth with Frank’s teenage years 22 years ago, it was told skillfully and this time shifting did not annoy me, it simply added depth to this novel. I really enjoyed reading this book and it gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

Faithful Place was written in 2010 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1) by Tana French.

I was put onto this author by some friends on Goodreads. I liked the reviews they had written, so I slowly invested in the Dublin Murder Squad series to read at a later date. When I got to the end of The Deepest Grave by Harry Bingham, his author’s note explained the differences between crime thrillers and their writing styles. Tana French was one of the authors Harry highlighted for producing novels in the format and style I enjoy the most. And oh boy, Harry was right about Tana in his author’s note.

Okay, so I am rather late to the party as In the Woods was written in 2007. But do not let that put you off! This debut novel by Tana gained 4 literary awards and she deserved each and every one of them.

I found In the Woods a great book to live with. It is written in the first person following Detective Rob Ryan of the Dublin Murder Squad. It is told as though Rob is your friend and he is telling you a very long tale over a few beers. In the Woods is a very long novel, knocking just short of 600 pages but it is a great journey for the reader to travel.

I loved the mix and balance of this story. It has police procedure, strong characterization of Detective Rob Ryan, a great back story, mystery, a good plot, a good cast of supporting police officers, a good range of suspects for the murder and a good plot. I developed an empathy very quickly for Rob and it is nice how he talks the reader through the mistakes.

Tana sets her scenes very well indeed. I found her novel very easy to read and follow. Her vocabulary is very extensive and this novel is not cheap, throwaway writing. There is no need to second guess the person who committed the murder, you should just enjoy this novel for what it is. I liked all the psychology woven into the story, how the police profile suspects and how they question them. This all made for an intelligent and adult read.

I was very impressed with In the Woods and it gave me that great feeling of getting to know someone, warts and all. It was a joy to run with this book, day in, day out - I really engaged with it. Between reading sessions my mind was wondering who the murderer was and as the novel progressed I changed my chief suspect time and time again. There were many twists in the plot and I thought that yet another twist would lead to a suspect who I had earmarked earlier as the murderer but I was wrong!

I thought In the Woods was a great read and it gets the top score of 5 stars from me. It gave me everything I wanted from a novel and I am so glad that I invested in the other 5 books in the series as when I got to the end, I just wanted to spend more days working alongside the Dublin Murder Squad.

In the Woods was written in 2007 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.