The Secret Place - Tana French

The Secret Place

By Tana French

  • Release Date: 2014-09-02
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 4
4
From 829 Ratings

Description

“An absolutely mesmerizing read. . . . Tana French is simply this: a truly great writer.” —Gillian Flynn

Read the New York Times bestseller by Tana French, author of the forthcoming novel The Hunter and “the most important crime novelist to emerge in the past 10 years” (The Washington Post).

A year ago a boy was found murdered at a girlsʼ boarding school, and the case was never solved. 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 the boy with the caption: “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.

Reviews

  • Good, too long

    3
    By solve4life
    I enjoy Tana French’s writing. Like so many mystery authors now, the last five chapters are unnecessary filler, I assume to meet a word quota? Just when the story should ramp up, it devolves into back story, redundant explanations, and a list of adjectives. If you page through and just read dialogue, it’s a serviceable ending.
  • Tana French, brilliant again

    5
    By QQQ555
    Great mystery. But even better, this is writing that is lyrical and strong, with characters who are complex and compelling, traveling across moments that almost bring you to tears with their poignancy and poetry. Highly recommended.
  • Too long.

    2
    By typingmonkeys
    Very wordy.
  • A hard pass

    1
    By Amigo73
    It seems the author couldn’t decide what kind of book she wanted to write; an Irish folktale, a murder mystery, a young readers fantasy, or poetry. The result was she sadly failed at all 4. The plot was weak and if this was supposed to be a follow up on a murder from over a year ago, then what was investigated originally? Everything done should have been done at the time of the murder. When you start with that, everything goes downhill from there. I would very much like my money and my time back.
  • Teenage Girls and Angst

    2
    By GVgGardenGirl
    Premise was good but endless details about clothes, makeup, gossip, school….distracted from solving the murder. Books later in this series more tightly woven.
  • Not what I was hoping for

    2
    By Agreen1490
    I absolutely loved the first 4 books. I could not put them down. I finished each of those in a couple of days. This one has taken me a long time to finish. I had to force myself to finish. When it comes the viewpoints of the young girls, it kind of switches characters in a way that was really confusing at first. I found the whole plot kind of boring and it was just not easy to read. Not to mention ***spoiler (kind of)*** the supernatural element really rubbed me he wrong way. It felt out of place and just wrong. I’m still going to read the next one, but this one almost did it for me.
  • Tana is pure writing heinous!

    5
    By Noneayafingbizness
    Absolutely love her stories and characters. The Likeness is my hands down favorite and should be a huge success as a movie! Secret Place is another winner! Thanks again Tana!!!
  • An Incredibly Engaging Story

    5
    By BrianM8614
    Tana French writes so beautifully. But more than that, her stories unfold in a compelling and natural way. The plots are relatively straightforward; but the subtle twists and turns are such that often the best surprises are on the last few pages. The dialogue is always spot on. The Secret Place takes you, along with an unlikely pairing of detectives, to an exclusive teenage girls' boarding school where there has been an unsolved murder. Of course you eventually learn who did it; but the very best part is spending time with each of the characters, getting to know them and to enjoy their company. I really liked every moment I spent with this book.
  • Wolfhound

    2
    By Wolfhound 51
    So boring could not finish
  • Excellent

    5
    By Rapardoe
    Excellent book as Tana French always delivers.