Book Review: The Trespasser

The Trespasser

Tana French

Viking

449 pages

Synopsis:

Antoinette Conway is fed up with being the low man on the totem pole of the Dublin Murder Squad. Treated by shit for being a woman on the squad coupled with daddy issues have given her a massive chip on her shoulder. She’s sick of getting the crap jobs, so when she and her partner Stephen Moran get handed a case that looks somewhat promising, they charge on full steam ahead.

But what had the looks your run of the mill DV case turner murder, suddenly doesn’t seem as clear cut anymore. And as Conway and Moran get more and more involved in the case, they start to worry that maybe they’ve stumbled on something that is too big for them.

My thoughts:

I was scared for this one. I LOVE Tana French. Love, love, love her. But I’ll be honest, Broken Harbor was a real dud for me, and The Secret Place wasn’t much better. I started to worry that maybe she was losing her touch. But I think I can tentatively say that The Trespasser is my favorite French novel to date. (I’m sorry Faithful Place, I truly am.)

Why did I love The Trespasser so much? First, I love Conway and Moran together. They had such a good vibe, even when Conway was being a huge bitch. And even when Conway was being a huge bitch, I still loved her. She was irritating to me at times, but I still loved her.

I was struck by a revelation when I was reading The Trespasser, and it was that the Dublin Murder Squad series is so great as far as procedural work. French leaves no detail unturned. This was not the most thrilling mystery of all time. It wasn’t a completely crazy whodunit that takes the reader all over the place. Her books are so much more methodical and thought out than that. It’s almost as if the actual mystery takes a back seat to the story. I didn’t even care so much who did it! I mean, I did care of course, but the book was so layered and multi faceted that it wasn’t as important of a focus.

If you’ve not read the Dublin Murder Squad series, I urge you to. It is a phenomenal series. They are written so that they can all be standalone novels, however I have read them all in order. I will list them in order below and rank them as far as my favorite (#1) to least favorite (#6). And I’d love to hear which ones you loved the most!

In the Woods, #4

The Likeness, #3

Faithful Place, #2

Broken Harbor, #6

The Secret Place, #5

The Trespasser, #1