In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad #1)
By Tana French
Publication Year: 2007
Type: Fiction
Genre: crime, mystery
Read on 2019-01-22
View additional specs on this book in Muhan’s 2019 Reading Survey ➞
★★★★★
A stellar murder mystery, rife with detailed local lore, a wide and richly suspicious cast of characters, a heart pounding B-plot/protagonist backstory, and a dissonant resolution that is as heart wrenching as it is satisfying. Definitely among the best I’ve read in this genre.
The characterizations of the protagonist and first-person narrator, Detective Rob Ryan, were sometimes irritating. But this is deliberate as Ryan is meant to be an emotionally stunted vaguely misogynist asshole. So it’s only natural I didn’t always enjoy being in his head.
The densely woven plot is unbeatable, but the writing does sometimes descend into cliche. I found the sprinkling of “if only I had known then” ‘s at the end of chapters especially grating. But again, the positives outweighed the negatives for me. I loved gruff old school head detective O’Kelly, cantankerous archaeology nerd Mark, sweet earnest Sam. I loved the setting in a small estate with a bizarre name by a wood outside Dublin and the constant Irish inebriation. In the end I even loved the slightly iffy and objectifying descriptions Ryan imposed on Cassie, and how they revealed the depth of his damage.
Partway through I googled if they were making a movie (no, but they are doing a Dublin Murder Squad series coming out this year!), and one article I read said that Tana French’s books are not so much about uncovering the mystery but moreso about deeply exploring a singular main character. This is definitely true, but god damn does she also deliver a juicy murder mystery along the way. Another last minute google - I wonder if the early reference to Munchausen-by-proxy (and quickly eliminated as a possibility) was a nod to Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, which I just found out came out the year before. If so, !!! how cute!!! A murder mystery multiverse! Marvel is shook
