Operation Vestal

A few weeks ago, the New York Times published a list of the '50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century'. I love a good thriller and have read many on this list. Irish author Tana French was listed multiple times with four books from her Dublin Murder series, including her first novel, In the Woods (2007), positioned at number three. I loved her Cal Hooper series (The Searcher, The Hunter, The Keeper) and know the quality of her writing. With her Dublin Murder series already on my e-reader, I downloaded the audiobook and set off on a new adventure, In the Woods.

The opening scene is in the summer of 1984 with three children running wild in the woods. The police are called when they don't return home. A search of the woods locates only one traumatised child, Adam, unable to recall what has happened to him or his missing friends. Flash forward twenty years and the boy has reinvented himself has Rob Ryan, a detective on the elite Dublin Murder Squad. When a twelve year old girl is found murdered in the same woods, Rob returns to Knocknaree to investigate, finding eerie similarities to the earlier crime. Are they connected? Will this bring closure to the childhood memories from that summer which continue to haunt Ryan? Or will his presence on this case undermine any chance of resolution?

In the Woods is a slow burn thriller, a form French has perfected since this assured debut. The central character Ryan is an unreliable and unlikable narrator (my favourite kind!), but what he lacked in personality was more than made up for by his partner Cassie Maddox. She is a marvellous creation - a smart, multidimensional character - and I really enjoyed the friendship she and Ryan had which made their partnership work so well. The supporting characters - Sam, O'Kelly, Devlin - are also well formed.

As a police procedural, the novel works well; showcasing the door-knocking, tip-fielding, daily grind of an investigation where leads often go nowhere. What I liked about French's approach, which can be frustrating for some readers, is how she revels in the messiness, refusing to tidy up all strands of the case. Her literary prose draws the reader in. I greatly enjoyed power-reading this alongside the audiobook performed by John McCormack who expertly gave Ryan the 'BBC' voice his character acquired while at boarding school in England.

Other books in this series are on the NYT '50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century' list including the second book The Likeness (2008) [#34], the fourth book Broken Harbor (2012) [#20] along with her standalone thriller, The Witch Elm (2018) [#33]. As The Likeness features Cassie Maddox, I am keen to continue with this series.