Book Review: In The Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1) by Tana French

One of the book clubs I belong to decided to read In the Woods by Tana French.  It's the first book in her Dublin Murder Squad series as well as her debut book. Honestly, I'm not really sure what all the hype surrounding this book is about, and I was especially surprised to learn it won an Edgar Award Winner.

To begin with, at least 100 pages could have been cut. I've never read a mystery novel where so little happened over so many pages. On top of that, French spent a lot of time insisting that Detective Adam "Rob" Ryan and Detective Cassie Maddox were best friends, but it felt forced. The friendship came across more like a high school or college friendship than an adult one. Of course, the author had them sleep together, and Rob ended up acting like a complete jerk afterward. He didn't want a relationship with Cassie, yet instead of being honest with her, he basically blew her off. When Cassie tried talking to him about it, he acted immature and sulky, refusing to communicate. By the end of the book, Rob finally realizes how badly he behaved and reaches out to Cassie after learning she is engaged to Sam O'Neill, another detective working the case. We then find out that she deleted Rob's number from her phone.

Another thing that bothered me was how often French referenced television shows and characters throughout the novel, especially in the first third of the book. Most of the references were to police and FBI shows. There were so many that it honestly felt like she had writer's block and was binge-watching these shows for inspiration. At times, I also felt like French relied too heavily on a thesaurus just to work in bigger words. Instead of elevating the writing, those words disrupted the flow and often felt out of place. It came across as trying too hard rather than sounding natural.

As far as the two mysteries in the novel, the present day case was solved, although the culprit wasn't particularly surprising. The mystery from the 1980's, however, was never resolved, and there wasn't much of a meaningful connection between it and the modern day murder investigation. To make matters worse, all the memories Rob started recovering during the investigation eventually faded again. It felt like French simply didn't know how to wrap up that storyline.  I'd be curious to know whether it's ever resolved in later books in the series.

I am glad that I read the book, but I wouldn't really recommend it. If you do decide to read it, I'd suggest borrowing it from the library or a friend rather than spending money on it. Overall, I rated it 2 out of 5 stars for its slow pacing, uneven character development, and unresolved elements that didn't fully come together.

Synopsis:  Set in in Dublin, Ireland, three children disappear into the woods in 1984. Only one is found alive ...  Rob Ryan. Fast forward to the present day. A 12-year old girl is found raped and murdered on an archeological dig in those same woods. Detective Rob Ryan and his partner are put on the case to find the killer. Is there a connection between his friends disappearing all those years ago and this murdered girl?

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