In The Woods by Tana French

In The Woods

by

Tana French

Mystery novels are not my normal genre.  They tend to be cozy cutsie things that I have figured out by the second chapter.  I do intersperse an occasional mystery between long historical novels that are long enough to  be used as door stops,  just to break up the sameness.  I consider the occasional mystery to be a fluff book to rest the mind.   Never the less,  I was thrilled to discover my local library started a new book group that fits my schedule and not the least bit anything but pleased that the  book for the first month that I was aware of the group is a mystery.  One of the main purposes of reading groups is to stretch one out of their normal genre.  Besides,  Tana French's novel In The Woods is not a cozy mystery.  It is a challenging and mind stretching psychological thriller that kept me guessing till the last page.   I did think early on that the person who turned out to be truly responsible was involved  but I could not reconcile her alibi, so the book kept me guessing right up to the end.  I am a little disappointed that the mystery within the mystery is never solved in the story line but over all the book is an excellent novel.  I think the people in the book drank too much and did not take very good care of themselves but perhaps that is a realistic picture of young detectives in Ireland.   To recap the story some,  there is a crime that takes place in the early 1980s where three children are playing in the woods and two of them disappear.   The one boy who returns home can't remember what happened.   Years later,  he becomes a detective.  His parents had his name changed and moved away in fear that who ever had grabbed the other two children would come after him.  But he returns to the area as an adult with his new identity twenty years later.  A child is found dead in the same woods, he is assigned to the case  and the story takes off from there.   This book is a good escape and I would encourage others to read it.  Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow the links to more information and enjoy the video that follows.