Her first book, Into the Woods was the first Tana French I read, and it seriously blew my mind. And I don't think anyone can read that one without coming to the end and going, "Wait! Wait! What really happened?!?" But she gives us absolutely no resolution to the central mystery. It's frustrating, but definitely unforgettable.
Her second book, The Likeness is totally different. In this one she establishes the pattern she will subsequently follow, of featuring different lead characters from the Dublin Murder Squad than those in the previous book. And the story is full of a wholly different sort of strangeness than the first book. Still totally fascinating, and there are scenes from the book that I can still conjure up in my mind's eye, even though years have passed since I read it.
Her third book, Faithful Place still remains my favorite of the lot. I felt like I didn't so much "read" that book as lived that book. Again, years later, there are details of that story engraved on my memory, and I can recall scenes out the book as vividly as though I had actually watched a movie, not just read a book.
But for some reason, I can barely remember a thing about Broken Harbour. I can recall a bit about the setting - mainly because as a political junkie I took note of and appreciated the tie-in to the global financial collapse, and what it did to the real estate market in Ireland. But that's about it. I don't remember who the investigators were, I don't remember the plot, I don't remember the solution to the crime. It just sort of left a blank in my mind. I know I enjoyed it as I read it - it just didn't carry me away into the internal reality of the story the way her other books have.
And now that I've read her latest book, The Secret Place twice through in immediate succession, I can say that it ranks up there with Faithful Place in terms of unforgettablity.
So why didn't Broken Harbour click with me like her other books? I have no idea. I've decided I'm going to order all four of her earlier titles from the library and re-read them all, one after the other. That might give me an answer.
In any case, I'll be impatiently waiting for her next book, for sure.
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