The Trespasser

My preordered copy came in the day before Rosh Hashanah. On the second day, after services were over (my synagogue runs short and under-populated on the second day), the house quiet without electricity and my toddler at daycare, the idea of just reading a little was unbelievably tempting, albeit borderline sacrilegious. And of course, once I started, Tana French's writing was addictive.

I remember very little of the “central” mystery. What I remember about is the creeping, burning embarrassment of self-recognition reading about how Antoinette Conway nearly let a mystery go unsolved because she was so caught up in how others saw her. Many mystery novels have the “stupid plot” error, where an idiot could solve the mystery if they simply followed the obvious clues, and so the writers have to make the brilliant detective look over the one clear next step to prevent the novel from early closure. In this case, there's no inconsistency: French's novel is literally about the narrative that Conway tells about herself of being an isolated loner. The mystery is window-dressing for the consequences of letting yourself be seduced into such a narrative, and the hard climb back out.

So in the end, it was pretty apropos of the holiday – I'm definitely guilty of perpetuating negative self-narratives, and choosing to fail rather than challenge them. And I felt inspired by French to try to do better this year.

A solidly entertaining and occasionally moving crime novel. I found myself wondering throughout if all the inner-monologue/focus on the main character's mental health and feelings was necessary but once I finished I was glad that Tana French spent so much time digging deep into her (anti)heroine's neurosis and history.

I was eager to listen to the audiobook of this the sixth and final novel (for now) in the Dublin Murder squad Series. Once again the reader captured the first-person voice of the story-teller in a way which enhanced and expanded what was happening in the story. I've learned that these books are not electrifying page burners, but rather mysteries which unfold amidst compliated relationships, dark motives and what I imagine is rather authentic dective work. The plot had twists-some of which had much buildup with little payoff. And I have mixed feeling about how satisfied I am with the resolution. Having completed the series - with only hearing the last two as audiobooks, I am going back to the start to listen and gain more from those stories then when can be gained by simply imagining the voices of the characters.

Another enjoyable installment in the Dublin Murder Squad series. I found this story to be a slow burn and at times wished that it moved at a faster pace. I thought the ending was satisfying, though, so that made it worth it for me. Highly recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced digital review copy of this book.

I think this is my second book by Tana and I liked it much better than the first. Solid, interesting plot, lovely writing and descriptions, she's a great writer and I enjoyed it.

HOWEVER. It loses a couple stars for the awful Antoinette. The MC was so extremely unlikeable, paranoid, annoying, and... kind of bad at her job? All while bragging about how bad ass she is. Pass on her, her partner saved this book for me. I get wanting to have an edgy flawed MC, but for me she was just mean and whiny.

As many of Tana French's characters say, Jaysus! That was a helluva ride that crackled from start to
finish. There was never a point in which the pacing was off or I found myself wondering how there were still another 200 pages to go.

The characters were stellar and real-life; it was interesting to be in DI Antoinette Conway's head, even when she had run unto obstacles or approached things in a way not everyone does. It's been awhile since I read #5 in the series, in which DI Conway's partner, Stephen Moran, is the driver. It would be interesting to go back and hear his POV now that we've heard hers.

As always, Tana French has an amazing here for dialogue and sneaks in poetic flights when you least expect it. She really is a gifted writer and seems to be improving her game as she goes along. I've now read all of the Dublin Murder Squad books, as well as the standalones and am itching for another book from her.