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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
This is my job, and you don't go into it--or, if you do, you don't last--without some natural affinity for its priorities and demands. What I am telling you, before you begin my story, is this--two things: I crave truth. And I lie.
It's been a while since I've obsessively ploughed my way through a book quite this quickly; I ate at restaurants by myself to linger and read, and I started going to bed early just so I could get through a few more pages. Tana French's writing style is gorgeously literary, and she perfectly captures these glimmering images: small-town living and bright idyllic summer days in the woods, but also deep cutting portraits of characters. The whole thing is a murder mystery but it's also character-driven, which I think is why it clicked so much with me: the details of the investigation matter less than what's going on in people's heads, the psychological quagmire that our main character is sifting through. Even the minor characters, like Sam, have touching little moments and memories that bubble to the surface.
So, the premise: Detective Rob Ryan is the survivor of a childhood tragedy in which his two best friends vanished, their disappearances unsolved for decades; and as a present-day homicide detective, he's now on an assignment in his old hometown that may be connected to what happened to him. The murder of a young local girl touches hot buttons for both him and the other two detectives on the case, and they all slowly wind up personally entangled in it, though Rob obviously more than the rest.
I loved Rob's thoughtful voice as he narrates this whole thing, bitterly looking back on the investigation with the advantage of hindsight. But he's also a little bit of an unreliable narrator; not extremely so, but in the sense that he's somewhat aware of his failings but skitters away from them, doesn't present them full-on, and lets you fall into the same traps that he did at the time. Part of the arc of the novel is his dissolution, his disintegration. Over time you pick up on the way he is absolutely Not Coping Well at all, even as he tries to disguise it even for the reader. He's wonderfully fallible and flawed and aggravating (there was an entire section where I wanted to shake him by the lapels because GODDAMNIT, ROB, STOP BEING SUCH A STUPID MAN), which I also found really refreshing, because normally main characters remain Super Likeable.
His relationship with his detective partner, Cassie Maddox, is the emotional heart of the novel. Their chemistry is pitch-perfect, and I loved seeing his observations of her, his constant subtle awareness of her at all times, their casual familiarity with each others' bodies even, so that I was clawing at my face over how much I wanted them to get together. Partners who have each others' back and work well together like a well-synchronised machine = one of my favourite things, so this book gave me so many PARTNER FEELINGS:
The girls I dream of are the gentle ones, wistful by high windows or singing sweet old songs at a piano, long hair drifting, tender as apple blossom. But a girl who goes into battle beside you and keeps your back is a different thing, a thing to make you shiver. Think of the first time you slept with someone, or the first time you fell in love: that blinding explosion that left you cracking to the fingertips with electricity, initiated and transformed. I tell you that was nothing, nothing at all, beside the power of putting your lives, simply and daily, into each other's hands.
Rob's childhood, too, is absolutely heartbreaking; I was always absorbed in his memories of his childhood and his missing friends, the aching survivor's guilt, the fissures and cracks that that traumatic experience left behind and how he struggled to rebuild himself afterwards (and never quite succeeded).
The modern-day mystery itself is tangledy and yet satisfying, with imo just the right amount of red herrings and clues sprinkled throughout. I caught one clue very, very early on, but didn't work my way around to the real culprit until it was too late, so I was so pleased at the way it unfurled (which is part of what contributed to my obsessive "I NEED TO KEEP READING"). It's also nice to see so much focus on procedure: the daily ins and outs, the un-sexy aggravating legwork that they have to do on a detective case, the politicking and even management of their police chief, struggling to get more resources.
Basically I LOVED IT SO GODDAMN MUCH. 5 stars all around.
I ALSO NEED TO TALK ABOUT THAT ENDING
UNDER A SPOILER CUT OBVIOUSLY
Spoiler
[SPOILERS] Sooooo with all of the doomy foreshadowing about Cassie + the clues that Rob had missed + how many mistakes he'd made on this investigation, I was absolutely girding myself for her to die by the end, and prepping myself to be both heartbroken and deeply annoyed, because of course this was going to build Cassie up and make you fall half in love with her too, and in love with their dynamic, and she would die tragically during the course of the case due to a mistake he made. I was constantly biting my nails and on edge for the last third of the novel or so, horrifically expecting something to happen to her...And then. And then. It's not that. It's Rob being such a stupid goddamn man after they sleep together, unable to deal with his emotions and therefore pushing her away, hurting her horribly in the process, self-sabotaging his own relationships. And they don't fix it, they don't work out their issues. She transfers out of the murder squad, gets engaged to someone else, and they drift apart. And he doesn't come around until it's far too late.
And I was heartbroken, gutted in a way even more than her death would've done. Because this is far more realistic; it's the quotidian and almost banal sort of tragedy, the kind that happens every day. Friendships end. People make mistakes. People drift apart. It didn't make me cry, but I felt like a hole had been gouged out of me, a restless sorrow that left me feeling sort of empty. Ugh, my heart.
As for the actual mystery ending...! I gather that there's dissatisfaction with the ending & reader anger at how French left the 1984 mystery unsolved, but I actually loved it. This Tana French Q&A (only read it after you've read the book!) hits on my feelings about it, basically. Life is not always neat and tidy. This novel delivered on the murder mystery angle for me because the modern-day mystery is solved, and I didn't need for the past one to be -- because one's past is not always cut-and-dried, and Rob is so trapped in his arrested development that he isn't going to reach for that closure. And that sort of self-sabotaging character trait is one of my favourite things. It has a touch of hamartia to it, the fatal flaw, the shooting oneself in the foot. I love it when characters are their own worst enemies & bring about their own downfalls, so this really just jotted into all of the literary themes that I adore.
[/SPOILERS]
So basically this whole thing was literary catnip for Julies, and I love it, and I will read everything Tana French now.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Woooow. After a rocky start in which I pushed forward only because it's the book club pick for next month, I was hooked. The story is intelligent and fast moving with all sorts of twists and turns, and the end, though it still leaves the readers with some questions, was perfect and real. I can't wait to read the sequel.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am late to the party on this one. I am not sure how I had never heard of Tana French, but this woman can write. “We made a team worthy of bard songs and history books. This was our last and greatest dance together, danced in a tiny interview room with the darkness outside and rain falling soft and relentless on the roof, for no audience but the doomed and the dead.”
I was riveted by the story, the characters, and the mystery. This was not a short book, but I had to finish. Some readers don’t like the ending. What I know is this book, its characters, and its themes will be haunting me for quite awhile. It will make me ponder and grapple and wonder. Isn’t that the mark of a great book?
I will definitely read more by Tana French and I highly recommend this story to others.
I was riveted by the story, the characters, and the mystery. This was not a short book, but I had to finish. Some readers don’t like the ending. What I know is this book, its characters, and its themes will be haunting me for quite awhile. It will make me ponder and grapple and wonder. Isn’t that the mark of a great book?
I will definitely read more by Tana French and I highly recommend this story to others.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read a review that said the real victims of any Tana French novel are the readers—and I couldn’t agree more. This is not a book for anyone who values peace of mind or prefers neatly tied-up endings. What you do get is the kind of mindf*ck you expect from a brilliantly executed psychological thriller. And trust me, this one keeps you guessing from start to finish.
In the Woods is a story of two murders—one from twenty years ago and one in the present—linked by the lead detective, Rob Ryan, who was the sole survivor and witness of the earlier case. Now investigating a new murder with his partner Cassie, Ryan finds himself navigating two timelines, two mysteries, and his own haunted past. But more than just a twisty thriller, this book is the unraveling of a man. Rob Ryan doesn’t just carry trauma—he embodies it, and it permeates every aspect of the case, his career, and his relationships.
From the beginning, Ryan admits he is not a trustworthy narrator:
“What I am telling you, before you begin my story, is this—two things: I crave truth. And I lie.”
This warning sets the tone and puts you on alert from the get go. It’s 1st person POV so we only know what Ryan chooses to reveal, all the while questioning whether his account is filtered, biased, or deliberately misleading. And because he is the only living witness to a possibly connected past crime, there is this hanging shadow of doubt and complicity that never truly leaves him—or us as readers. And because of this, the mystery isn’t just about the victims. It’s also about the man telling the story. French masterfully explores his psychology, and as layers of the case are slowly revealed, what unfolds is not just gripping but deeply unsettling. This book has a lot of emotional baggage that lingers long after the final page, which makes it easy to see why this was a celebrated debut.
That said, I did find the pacing a bit sluggish in parts. The novel felt too long at times, and I would have preferred more plot momentum to counterbalance the introspective depth. But perhaps the slow burn is intentional—it mirrors the ache and confusion of unsolved trauma.
This was a sharp departure from the cozy Hercule Poirot mysteries I usually gravitate toward, but I’m glad I read it. I doubt I’ll pick up another Tana French novel soon—not because her work isn’t fantastic, but because I don’t think I could emotionally handle it again.