Broken Harbor by Tana French

Broken Harbor (Dublin Murder Squad)

by Tana French

From Tana French, author of the forthcoming novel The Hunter, a New York Times bestselling novel that “proves anew that [Tana French] is one of the most talented crime writers alive” (The Washington Post). 

“Required reading for anyone who appreciates tough, unflinching intelligence and ingenious plotting.” —The New York Times

Mick “Scorcherˮ Kennedy is the star of the Dublin Murder Squad. He plays by the books and plays hard, and thatʼs how the biggest case of the year ends up in his hands. 

On one of the half-abandoned “luxuryˮ developments that litter Ireland, Patrick Spain and his two young children have been murdered. His wife, Jenny, is in intensive care. At first, Scorcher thinks itʼs going to be an easy solve, but too many small things canʼt be explained: the half-dozen baby monitors pointed at holes smashed in the Spainsʼ walls, the files erased from the familyʼs computer, the story Jenny told her sister about a shadowy intruder slipping past the houseʼs locks. And this neighborhood—once called Broken Harbor—holds memories for Scorcher and his troubled sister, Dina: childhood memories that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control.

Reviewed by Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews on

4 of 5 stars

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Can I say Wow? Is it too cliche to say Tana French has done it again? If it is well, I really don't care because it is true! French has hit another ball out of the park.

In the tv show Castle the real culprit is surreptitiously brought into question and typically dismissed, only to come back with a "remember that guy?" Queue handcuffs please. That is how I felt about Conor. He confessed at the beginning of the story, well where's the story in that? There's something fishy, something isn't quite right, but what is it? That's a lot of questions to be answered and the author slowly unrolls them in superb style.

I really like reading more about Scorcher, and learning that he wasn't as big an asshole as he was in Faithful Place. Like all of French's detectives he was smart, and clever although I didn't care for his back story as much as some of French's other novels in the Dublin Murder Squad series. Schorcher's relationship with his sisters felt unfinished and thought it need some fine-tuning. Although, perhaps that was the point.

Richie, Schorcher's partner I don't really have much to say about. I did picture him as Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson but otherwise was non script.

When I was younger, I had an incident where my eye swelled up, and when people I didn't want to see would come over to "see how I was doing" I'd close my other eye and pretend to be asleep. I took advantage of my situation. Jenny closes her other eye from beginning to end, and while annoyed by it carries it off well leaving the reader asking "what could she be hiding?"

My only complaint is that I wish I had bought it in paperback or ebook as it was so gloriously big that when I stayed up late into the night I would wake up to the book in my face. Otherwise, Broken Harbor is a wonderful addition to Tana French's repertoire.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 13 September, 2014: Finished reading
  • 13 September, 2014: Reviewed