The Trespasser (Dublin Murder Squad, #6) by Tana French.

Follow Detective Antoinette Conway as she leads the investigation into the death of a young woman found in her own home.

In her last novel in this series, The Secret Place, Tana has us reading about the partnership of Detective Antoinette Conway and Detective Stephen Moran. This pair of detectives continue into this novel but thankfully Tana is back to her usual form and structure.

The Trespasser can be read as a stand-alone. It is a first person narrative crime thriller with a linear time scale. This novel ticks ALL the boxes for me. The characterization of Antoinette is spot on and the relationship between her and Stephen is fully developed.

What I liked most about The Trespasser was the brainstorming between all the Murder Squad detectives. Some of their theories and what-if’s were private thoughts, others were spoken challenges between them. They would then move on to follow their lead. As a reader you had two options, think your own theory of who did it and whether it was manslaughter or murder - OR - just ride along with the novel as you are bombarded with countless theories and what-if’s. I liked how all these theories and what-if’s were built into the story and found it very entertaining as each possibility fully explained the death of the young woman.

There is lots of local character and dialogue which adds to the value of this book. Her vocabulary is extensive and I had to tap my Kindle screen many a time to pull up the dictionary definition.

I liked the detailing of the police procedures and the explanation of the interview techniques used by the detectives. I also liked how the characters lied so very convincingly with statements that were very hard to disprove.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Trespasser and it gets the top score of 5 stars from me. I found the story very engaging and think it would make a great television drama.

I put my Kindle down and when I took my dog out for his walk, thought about this novel and how Detective Antoinette Conway was very lucky indeed to get a solve on her case. If only the killer had done or not done this or that, they would not have been caught. Sadly this is the latest of the Dublin Murder Squad series but I hope that Tana will write another. Of the six novels, I have given five of them the top score of 5 stars. Only The Secret Place disappointed me and that was not written in her usual style. I think I have become a fan and tomorrow will be a surprise as I open my Kindle with a different author and genre.

The Trespasser was written in 2016 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

The Secret Place (Dublin Murder Squad, #5) by Tana French.

Follow Detective Stephen Moran of Cold Cases as he helps solve the murder of a teenage boy found on school grounds.

Oh dear, dear. Gone is the usual format I have come to enjoy from Tana and her Dublin Murder Squad series of novels. The Secret Place is a mish mash of a tiresome story. Gone is the strong first person narrative of the lead detective told in real time, to be replaced by two time frames. This story is told through alternating chapters. Part A is a group of 4 teenage boarding school girls and Part B is told from Detective Stephen Moran's point of view, only he is NOT the Senior Investigating Officer. The murder happened over a year ago and this constant swapping every chapter between time frames and points of view drove me potty! It was easy to relate to Detective Stephen Moran as it is a workplace drama but teenage girls is another world!  These stories are not aimed at the YA market so I felt it was wrong to donate half of this book to these teenagers and their childish rantings.

There is no specialist police work in this novel and this case is solved purely by talking to 8 school girls. The plot is average and when I got to the end, I felt disappointed. I ran through the what-if's and thought that adults would not have been fooled into being caught. The case was easy for the police to solve and they made an arrest in just one long day at the boarding school.

I did not find The Secret Place a thrilling read, more of a mystery and a drag at that! The murderer is confirmed around three quarters of the way through this book, leading to the frustration that you know more than the police! The last quarter is spent filling in the gaps, more questioning of the 8 school girls, obtaining a confession and alternating between time frames on every new chapter. Even when the girl is in custody the book falls back in time to reveal a motive as to why this case moved from cold to active!

I found The Secret Place to be a POOR read and it only gets 2 stars from me. This was a big disappointment for me as I have given the previous 4 books in this series the top score of 5 stars each. I hope that the 6th novel sees Tana back to form, otherwise it is 2 strikes and you are out lass.

The Secret Place was written in 2014 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

Broken Harbour (Dublin Murder Squad, #4) by Tana French.

Follow Detective Mike "Scorcher" Kennedy as he investigates a crime scene where 2 children have been killed, their father fatally stabbed and their mother sent to hospital with extensive stab wounds.

This is the fourth Dublin Murder Squad novel from Tana and it follows her usual style. Each novel has a new lead character, is written in the first person, has a good balance of work and private life, is realistic, has plenty of background and can be read as a stand-alone.

I really enjoyed reading Broken Harbour. I liked how Tana described the feel and character of new housing estates. I liked how Scorcher was able to build his case given the police had very little to go on. It was entertaining how Scorcher and his rookie partner Richie Curran explored all the possibilities. It was good how their working relationship developed.

As the story rolled on I kept trying to work out how and why the murders had happened. It was quite creepy in places and I really engaged with the story. The plot was good and had plenty of things to make you wonder.

What I liked most about Broken Harbour was the effect it had on me when I got to the end. I felt such a buzz thinking if only he or she had done or said this or that, then Scorcher would never have been able to catch the killer, no matter how many resources the police ploughed into the case.

The fact that this novel is set in Ireland is coincidental as this scenario could so easily have happened at any new-build housing estate in the world. I am a fan of new-build houses and after reading Broken Harbour will always wonder about squirrels as I stroll around with my dog.

So Tana has done it again and Broken Harbour is another book from her that gets the top score of 5 stars from me.

Broken Harbour was written in 2012 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.