I’m really sorry about the title and subhead; I thought of them when I was lying awake at three in the morning last night and haven’t been able to un-think them. Most of you might not even know who I’m referencing, my favorite autumnal author Tana French.
Tana French is an Irish-American crime author who has written eight novels. They are all set in Ireland, most of them in Dublin, and follow detectives or retired cops. She is my favorite crime writer of all time because she has elevated the genre with atmospheric, dare I say spooky prose that creates intrigue and mystery surrounding the seemingly regular people of Ireland. Her books are not fast-paced, and yet they are undeniably propulsive; you become immersed in her paragraphs, dropped into the scene and involved in the investigation. Every year I read one of her novels in the fall, and every time I’m amazed at the way she writes (this year I’m reading Faithful Place).
Here’s a list of my favorites for you all to check out in honor of the *fourth* day of fall!
If you’re a first-time Tana-er (Frenchie?)
In The Woods
Tana’s first book that began the Dublin Murder Squad series is about the mystery surrounding four children who went into the woods near their small town in 1984, and only one returned, covered in blood. Twenty years later the case is still unsolved, and that one survivor is part of the Murder Squad and assigned to a case in the exact woods where it all happened. He has no memory of the event: will returning to the scene of the crime unveil what happened? All the while he must solved the new crime at hand, the brutal murder of a young girl and balance a new relationship with a fellow detective on the squad.
If you’re a fan of A Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Likeness
This novel focuses on a character from In The Woods, one of the female detectives, except she has since transferred out of the Murder Squad thanks to the events of book one. She is called in by the murder team one day because a woman has been found dead who looks exactly like her, eerily so. She channels her undercover roots, going back into a world she hoped to never be in again, and pretends to be the girl, alive, living in the house with her four roommates; they’d only reported her missing, not dead. The roommates have a strange air about them, and as she spends her days pretending to be someone else what really happened slowly comes to light, increasing the danger of her being there by the hour.
If you’re not into crime novels at all
The Searcher
Tana’s most recent novel is about an American cop named Cal Hooper who retires to the Irish countryside after 25 years on the Chicago police force. His retirement came under sketchy circumstances, and he’s looking for a peaceful place to start over. When a local kid takes an interest in him, they strike up an unconventional friendship that leads to Hooper investigating the disappearance of the kid’s brother. This one is more like a Western than a crime novel, so if you aren’t into the genre this one is for you. The sequel comes out in March, so get moving!
If you like darker themes and spooky old houses
The Witch Elm
The beginning of this one gets pretty dark, as our main character is beat almost to death in his apartment by a stranger, so if you don’t mind that kind of thing, soldier on my friend. Rattled after the beating, he moves into his family’s ancestral home where he spent most of his childhood, a dilapidated old mansion where his uncle is slowly dying. He spends his days caring for his uncle, a peaceful time until a skull is found in the witch elm in the backyard. Detectives are called and an investigation begins, and he slowly learns that his past may not be what he thought it was.