“The Secret Place” by Tana French

The most recent novel from Tana French focuses on Stephen Moran. If you don’t remember him, he was a floater back in “Faithful Place” that Frank Mackey bribed to help him out a little. In this book, he tries to solve a case with Conway, a tough-as-nails murder detective. This case involves a murder that took place at the school that Frank Mackey’s daughter, Holly, goes to.

The thing about having this book take place as a school is that the social politics that inevitably get involved alternatively make the story interesting and frustrating. Since, you know, it’s high school. Of course it’s a pretty complicated story as a result, so take a seat and stay there. It’s not too hard to follow along with, French makes it pretty clear where the characters stand with each other with continual reinforcement as the detectives learn about it.

There’s a nice mix of new and old characters, it’s no surprise that Frank Mackey shows up. He’s a bit of a favorite of mine now. There are also plenty of references to the case from “Faithful Place” since that’s the one that made Stephen more than a floater and the one that he knows Mackey from. It’s pretty cool the way the two books work well together, but also can stand alone.

I guess as far as its portrayal of teenage life goes it’s pretty good. Most of the boys are shown as 100% dick which in my experience isn’t necessarily true. But I also did not go to a boarding school so…

This story is structured in an interesting way, chapters alternate with what the detectives are doing and what Holly’s friends were doing in school leading up to the incident. Of course the info that the detectives collect reflects what’s shown with the girls so the two narratives work together well. I really liked it, as a departure from the way she and other mystery writers usually write, focusing solely on the detectives. Another way in which French is taking the mystery genre and turning it on its head in new ways.

The only aspect that I didn’t really like was that there was this supernatural element thrown in that didn’t go with the rest of the story. About halfway through the girls discover that they can turn the lights in their dorm on and off without touching the switch. It’s never explained as anything other than that, and doesn’t really contribute to the story other than some small instances. I’m not quite sure why it’s there…

Having said that, like everything else that French has written, this is enjoyable and a good read.