Scan barcode
A review by thephdivabooks
The Secret Place by Tana French
5.0
Tana French never disappoints me. Her novels are interesting and her prose is often very lovely. This particular story is set in a girls boarding school.
Holly Mackey (who French fans may remember as Frank Mackey's daughter) brings Detective Stephen Moran a photo of a boy who was found murdered on the grounds of the boarding school the year previously. The photo was posted on a board where the girls are encouraged to create art or poetry to post anonymously as an outlet for creativity and to reduce gossip (yeah right, but they tried). The photo is captioned "I know who killed him".
Stephen Moran thinks this could be his break into the desirable Dublin Murder Squad (he currently works cold cases). But in order to do that, he must win over the tough-as-nails Antoinette Conway, who is the detective on the case. The story takes them to the boarding school, and I won't say much else now for the sake of avoiding spoilers. I will say you do get appearances by the magnificent Frank Mackey, of course.
The story is told in present day and then moves back in time to before the boy (Chris) was murdered. Those chapters are told from the point of view of the girls. I loved the way Tana French used this story-telling style, because it made you see the vulnerability of the girls in a way that you didn't see from the detectives' point of view. To the detectives, the girls are sassy and secretive and flippant (basically, they are teenage girls). But in their voices you see them as children, navigating their way towards adulthood.
I saw some people say they figured out the whodunnits early on. I personally did not, although I didn't really try to think it through either. Honestly, the why is what is most compelling in this book. The teachers, the students, the detectives, the staff at the school--all are well done as characters.
Holly Mackey (who French fans may remember as Frank Mackey's daughter) brings Detective Stephen Moran a photo of a boy who was found murdered on the grounds of the boarding school the year previously. The photo was posted on a board where the girls are encouraged to create art or poetry to post anonymously as an outlet for creativity and to reduce gossip (yeah right, but they tried). The photo is captioned "I know who killed him".
Stephen Moran thinks this could be his break into the desirable Dublin Murder Squad (he currently works cold cases). But in order to do that, he must win over the tough-as-nails Antoinette Conway, who is the detective on the case. The story takes them to the boarding school, and I won't say much else now for the sake of avoiding spoilers. I will say you do get appearances by the magnificent Frank Mackey, of course.
The story is told in present day and then moves back in time to before the boy (Chris) was murdered. Those chapters are told from the point of view of the girls. I loved the way Tana French used this story-telling style, because it made you see the vulnerability of the girls in a way that you didn't see from the detectives' point of view. To the detectives, the girls are sassy and secretive and flippant (basically, they are teenage girls). But in their voices you see them as children, navigating their way towards adulthood.
I saw some people say they figured out the whodunnits early on. I personally did not, although I didn't really try to think it through either. Honestly, the why is what is most compelling in this book. The teachers, the students, the detectives, the staff at the school--all are well done as characters.