Tana French, In the Woods

The first book I read by French was actually the sequel, The Likeness, and I was equally as thrilled reading her debut novel. The dialogue in the book Tana French, In the Woods, is realistic and the characters are wonderfully developed. The plot is painfully gripping and makes it quite impossible to stop reading. Into the Woods has now been added to my list of favorite mystery novels, and I definitely recommend it. However, if you don't care for stories involving rape or abuse (or are younger than 14) I would not read this book.

In the Woods

Tana French

Viking, May 2007, $24.95

ISBN 0670038601

In 1984, in the Dublin suburb of Knocknaree, three preadolescent children play in the nearby woods. However, none return home so their moms call the police. They find a hysterical Rob Ryan wearing bloody sneakers and unable to recall one iota of what or who terrorized him, whose blood is on him, and where are his companions. The case was never solved.

Two decades later at an archeological dig site near Knocknaree, the murdered body of Katy Devlin is uncovered. Detectives Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox lead the investigation that seems so similar to what happened over twenty years ago at least to the only surviving victim Rob. As he begins to remember fractured oddities, Rob and Cassie try to solve a hot homicide and a cold case that is personal.

IN THE WOODS is a superb, Irish police procedural, especially when it focuses on the Ryan-Maddox investigation and the ties between the two cases beyond that of the lead detective. When the story ine looks at the modernization of Ireland issue regarding a highway project debate it brings a sense of place and time, but loses some momentum. Still, this is a terrific whodunit as the audience will root for the likable, flawed lead cops, especially Ryan who needs to recover his repressed memory so they can solve the children cases of 1984 and now and for him.

Harriet Klausner