Secret Place

I almost gave up on this book when I realized that there was magic. It seemed like cheating – I loved [b:Broken Harbor 13123877 Broken Harbor (Dublin Murder Squad, #4) Tana French https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330675374s/13123877.jpg 15718578] for its grittiness and realness and I was worried that would be lost in The Secret Place. But it turned out that for me, the key to really getting Tana French books was embracing the magical realism here. The mental gymnastics I had to do to reach a place where magical realism was okay for me in her books led me to realize that there's a flavor of magical realism in all her books. Not literally, of course, but her books are to traditional murder mysteries the way that magical realism is to traditional fantasy: they aren't about murder, they use crimes as a lens to reflect upon the traits in real life that are difficult to explore in pure “literary” fiction.And in that context, French is a genius. The Secret Place uses its central mystery to explore the tight friendships of teenage years, and how empowering and close they can be. The four main characters are depicted perfectly, achingly nuanced – almost like someone that I've known and drifted away from myself. The overall effect was one of extreme, almost overwhelming nostalgia, so much so that the

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I've always just assumed that I don't like crime novels, apart from the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith I haven't found any crime books I've liked. But I think the problem is I've been reading bad crime books. Because I really enjoyed this. It was less CSI-ey and more people talking to people trying to work out what happened. It was more a book about problem solving and I really liked that.

The only thing I noticed (and this may just be me and not a problem with the editing) was towards the beginning of the book someone mentions the fact that the girls in this school are not allowed to have phones with them. However the girls having phones is a large part of this mystery. In fact the girls having phones is an extremely important part of this novel. I can't tell if I misread something or if this was a plot bunny that the editors missed.

The only other tiny thing that annoyed me was with all the references to Facebook and WTF amazeballs not to mention Voldemort this felt like a very modern book, so the fact that these girls were using flip phones felt very out of place. I realise I'm getting picky here but it's been at least 10 years since I saw someone use a flip phone. However apart from those little problems I really enjoyed this book. In fact I enjoyed it so much I think I'm going to read Tana French's other books.

The Secret Place- It's been a while since I spent time with The Dublin Murder Squad. I returned with this title mainly b/c it was St. Patrick's Day and I wanted to hear an audiobook with authentic Irish accents. I was not disappointed as the story telling used two diffent voices and thus a male and female narrator. The male was first person and amazing! The vocalization opened the character up so much. A great plot about friendship, loyality and trust. The plot moved slowly in places as there was much space and time to develop how the characters interacted and the lush setting. A most satisfying ending - even if one not insignificant aspect of the story wasn't resolved.

My first foray into the crime fiction genre, and i enjoyed it enough to finish it, but I don't think I'll stick around for more. Even though French is really good at writing characters - here I've definitely enjoyed the detective's perspective a lot more than the kids' - the who-dunnit mystery isn't really my thing. Also, I nearly stopped reading/listening when a sudden supernatural element entered the plot. But, as other reviewers noted, it's a side plot, that's not necessarily too relevant for the plot. So, all in all, it was a decent entertaining listen.