Entertainment-seekers on this side of the Atlantic Ocean tend to demand a standoff, a car chase, or some other dangerous and potentially violent incident to satisfy our American desire for drama. Irish and British consumers seem to have a more nuanced understanding of drama and suspense, allowing their artists to create compelling works of fiction that don’t rely on pyrotechnics and explosions to hold the readers’ attention.
Irish author Tana French consistently uses this more understated approach to great effect. In The Secret Place, the fifth installment in French’s “Dublin Murder Squad” novels, the author demonstrates her knack for creating suspense in subtle ways.
Like the rest of her novels, The Secret Place can be read as a standalone, though readers would benefit from the groundwork laid in earlier books in the series.
Read Curiata.com’s review of Broken Harbor, French’s previous entry in the series.
The primary narrator of The Secret Place is detective Stephen Moran, who was first introduced to readers in French’s third novel, Faithful Place. Other returning characters include detective Frank Mackey, who is making his third significant appearance in the series, as well as Mackey’s daughter, Holly, who debuted alongside Moran in Faithful Place.
The Secret Place begins with Holly Mackey bringing Moran, who is now working cold cases, a clue to a year-old unsolved murder that took place at Holly’s boarding school: a photograph of murder victim Chris Harper with the words “I know who killed him” taped over it. The photo was pinned to a board known as the “Secret Place,” where students at the school could anonymously confess secrets. Moran, along with the lead detective of the case, Atoinette Conway, head back to the school to follow up on the lead Holly has given them.
Unlike most of French’s lead characters, Moran doesn’t have a tortured past to draw from. Still, he is clearly a flawed character. Moran has never been able to create a close connection with a friend. He is also trying to prove himself worthy of joining the Murder Squad.
Conway also has something to prove; as the only female member of the Murder Squad, she has struggled with the fine line between proving her competence and fitting in. The boarding school murder has been her highest profile case, and it has gone unsolved for a year. The dynamic between Moran and Conway as they learn to work together creates an interesting contrast with the cliques among the girls they interact with at the boarding school.
French has a unique and often beautiful style of writing. She is able to make even the most mundane details seem fascinating and relevant. The unfolding events of the novel take place over the course of a single day, the bulk of which is spent interviewing witnesses, without much real action. Yet French is able to make every conversation compelling.
French also has a talent for description. Early in the novel, when referring to the impact a photo continues to have on Holly and her friends even after it has been deleted, French writes, “The photo isn’t gone. The faint rank smell of it is still stained onto the air. Becca breathes shallowly, through her mouth, but it greases her tongue.”
Imagery like this is what makes French such an interesting writer and her books so enjoyable to read. She draws the reader in with these vivid descriptions and makes the audience feel like part of the investigation — which also makes it really hard to put the book down.
With The Secret Place, French deviates slightly from the usual structure of her novels. Instead of a single first-person narrator throughout the entire book, The Secret Place alternates between Moran’s narration of events in the present and a third-person narration of the school year leading up to the murder under investigation. Through these flashbacks, the reader gets to know Holly and her friends and learn the story behind the murder just as Moran’s investigation uncovers the details. This technique helps to increase the tension of the novel as the reader gets closer to the truth. It also gives an interesting perspective on the investigation, giving the reader a window into all the characters and motivations involved.
Another way French deviates from her usual style — and the only flaw I can find in this novel — is in a strange suggestion of the existence of the supernatural. Her previous novels have all been strictly grounded in reality, but some of the interactions between Holly and her friends in The Secret Place hint that they have discovered telekinetic abilities. With the rest of this novel being so realistic, that one piece of fantasy seems a little jarring and out of place.
French never addresses whether these special powers are real or if the girls just have overactive imaginations; in fact, the descriptions of the supernatural are presented in such a way that one could argue they never actually occurred. This aspect of the story is minor and doesn’t affect the outcome at all. Because of its seeming insignificance and the unanswered questions it leaves, this plot point feels like the weak link in an otherwise extremely well-written and engaging novel. And if that’s the only flaw, then I would have to deem this novel an overall success in the genre of crime fiction.
If you’re already a fan of French’s writing, you won’t be disappointed with this latest installment, despite the differences in style between this and her earlier novels. And if you’ve never read anything by French but you’re a fan of clever mysteries or British drama, then I can’t recommend this novel — or any of French’s other works — enough.
French has some of the most developed and compelling characters I’ve read in modern fiction; they’re all flawed, but fascinating and so very real. Her plots are also not predictable or formulaic. So put down James Patterson’s thousandth novel and pick up something truly original.