In The Woods (Dublin Murder Squad)

by Tana French

[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.