Staff Pick
Tana French's talent for gorgeously crafted psychological mysteries shines in The Secret Place, the latest installment of her Dublin Murder Squad series. The narrative centers on the murder of a boy in the gardens of an exclusive girls' school, but its real drama is in the fraught relationships between teenage girls and the awkward partnership of the detectives working the case. French perfectly captures the slang and posturing of girls and cops alike, making every moment of the novel as engrossing as the whodunit. Recommended By Rhianna W., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
The sensational new novel from one of the most talented crime writers alive” (
The Washington Post).
The photo on the card shows a boy who was found murdered, a year ago, in the grounds of a girls boarding school in the leafy suburbs of Dublin. The caption says I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM.
Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to get a foot in the door of Dublin's Murder Squad and one morning, sixteen-yearold Holly Mackey brings him this photo. The Secret Place,” a board where the girls at St. Kilda's School can pin up their secrets anonymously, is normally a mishmash of gossip and covert cruelty, but today someone has used it to reignite the stalled investigation into the murder of handsome, popular Chris Harper. Stephen joins forces with the abrasive Detective Antoinette Conway to find out who and why.
But everything they find leads them back to Holly's group of close-knit friends and their fierce enemies, a rival clique and to the tangled web of relationships that bound all the girls to Chris Harper. Every step in their direction turns up the pressure. Antoinette Conway is already suspicious of Stephens links to the Mackey family. St Kilda's will go a long way to keep murder outside their walls. Holly's father, Detective Frank Mackey, is circling, ready to pounce if any of the new evidence points towards his daughter. And the private underworld of teenage girls can be more mysterious and more dangerous than either of the detectives imagined.
The Secret Place is a powerful, haunting exploration of friendship and loyalty, and a gripping addition to the Dublin Murder Squad series.
Review
An absolutely mesmerizing read....Tana French is simply this: a truly great writer.” Gillian Flynn
Synopsis
An absolutely mesmerizing read. . . . Tana French is simply this: a truly great writer. Gillian Flynn Read the New York Times bestseller by Tana French, the most interesting, most important crime novelist to emerge in the past 10 years (The Washington Post)--and don't miss her newest, The Trespasser, now available In this "dizzyingly addictive"* novel, Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to join Dublin s Murder Squad when sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey arrives in his office with a photo of a popular boy whose body was found at a girls boarding school a year earlier. The photo had been posted at The Secret Place, the school s anonymous gossip board, and the caption says I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM. Stephen joins with Detective Antoinette Conway to reopen the case beneath the watchful eye of Holly s father, fellow detective Frank Mackey. With the clues leading back to Holly s close-knit group of friends, to their rival clique, and to the tangle of relationships that bound them all to the murdered boy, the private underworld of teenage girls turns out to be more mysterious and more dangerous than the detectives imagined.
Shortlisted for the Anthony Award for Best Novel
Shortlisted for Strand Magazine Award for Best Novel
From the Trade Paperback edition."
Synopsis
Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to join Dublin's Murder Squad when sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey arrives in his office with a photo of a popular boy whose body was found at a girls' boarding school a year earlier. The photo had been posted at The Secret Place,” the school's anonymous gossip board, and the caption says I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM.” Stephen joins with Detective Antoinette Conway to reopen the case beneath the watchful eye of Holly's father, fellow detective Frank Mackey. With the clues leading back to Holly's close-knit group of friends, to their rival clique, and to the tangle of relationships that bound them all to the murdered boy, the private underworld of teenage girls turns out to be more mysterious and more dangerous than the detectives imagined.
About the Author
Tana French grew up in Ireland, Italy, the United States, and Malawi. She is the author of In the Woods (winner of the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards), The Likeness, Faithful Place and Broken Harbor (winner of the Los Angeles Times prize for Best Mystery/Thriller). She lives in Dublin with her husband and two children.