In The Woods: The inspiration for BBC/RTE drama series DUBLIN MURDERS (Dublin Murder Squad)

by Tana French

When he was twelve years old, Adam Ryan went playing in the woods with his two best friends. He never saw them again. Their bodies were never found, and Adam himself was discovered with his back pressed against an oak tree and his shoes filled with blood. He had no memory of what had happened.

Twenty years on, Rob Ryan - the child who came back - is a detective in the Dublin police force. He's changed his name. No one knows about his past. Then a little girl's body is found at the site of the old tragedy and Rob is drawn back into the mystery. Knowing that he would be thrown off the case if his past were revealed, Rob takes a fateful decision to keep quiet but hope that he might also solve the twenty-year-old mystery of the woods.

• ISBN10: 152930380X
• ISBN13: 9781529303803
• Publish Date: 10 October 2019 (first published 8 March 2007)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 27 June 2023
• Publish Country: IE
• Imprint: Hachette Books Ireland
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 608
• Language: English

Reviews

[Eve1972]

First the good, I really enjoy this writer's "style" of prose, it's almost poetic, if that makes sense and the story in this novel I enjoyed more then her other novel (The Likeness), but overall it still fell short for me. The most interesting of the two stories being left unsolved really disappointed me and I found one of the two main characters just truly unlikable, so ya, this was just an OK read for me....

[ibeforem]

Wow. I have so much I want to say about this book, but I don’t want to give anything away! I love the narration in this novel. Rob (Adam) is telling you his story, but one of the first things he tells you is that he is a liar. So can you believe everything he says and hears? When Rob and Cassie are handed Katy Devlin’s case, Rob is brought face to face with the childhood he can’t remember. As the story and the case progresses, you see the stress of his hidden identity and the events he can’t remember weighing down on him. You can easily find yourself lost in Rob’s downward spiral. The little subtle bits of foreshadowing work incredibly well, making you wonder constantly. I really loved the relationship between Rob and Cassie, even if he does screw it up in the end. I have a friend like that that I’m 100% completely comfortable with, so I could relate to their ease with each other. Finally, the writing here is just beautiful... lyrical and haunting... and the ending leaves you wanting more.

There was a time when I believed I was the redeemed one, the boy borne safely home on the ebb of whatever freak tide carried Peter and Jamie away. Not any more. In ways too dark and crucial to be called metaphorical, I never left that wood.

I can’t recommend this book enough.

[empressbrooke]

I started this over a week ago and was so busy I was only able to peck away at it a few pages at a time, which was killing me. Right away in the first few pages, the writing style struck me as almost lyrical and mysterious. The premise was intriguing - Adam Ryan went missing with two of his friends when they were 12. He was the only one to return, with blood in his shoes and without his memory. Many years and one name change later, he's a detective assigned to a murdered child case in the same town he went missing in.

When a book sucks me in and makes me forget that I'm not really in that world like this one did, I consider it a success. One of the novel's biggest joys is the relationship between the main character and his partner and best friend, Cassie Maddox. The evolution of their relationship avoids the cliches and goes in the exact opposite direction I figured the author would take it. This is Tana French's debut, but she's already mastered the art of deciding what to resolve, what to hold back, and what to leave painfully raw.

I have the sequel from the library, and while I plan on reading it, I'm not sure I want a second book. Some stories just end themselves in the perfect place, and In the Woods would have made a very good stand-alone story.