Tana French (Secret Society Mysteries Part 5)

There are two books by Tana French that fall into my sub-genre. First up, The Likeness.

I really loved this book. It’s my highest rated on Goodreads in my sub-genre, although there are others that stand out more in my mind…more on those to come.

Tana French has made a name for herself writing the “Dublin Murder Squad” series. Each book centers on a murder investigation, and has two investigators involved. One is the hero or heroine of that story while the other is more of a secondary character. In the next book, the secondary character becomes the main character, on a new case, with a new secondary partner/colleague. It’s an interesting premise and it’s worked well…I have really enjoyed most of the books in the series.

The Likeness is the second book, following my favorite of hers, In the Woods. The book has as very unusual premise: a murdered girl just happens to look exactly like detective Cassie Maddox. They are so similar that Cassie goes undercover as the murdered girl to find out what happened to her. Pause to raise an eyebrow. The murder victim lived with a group of highly intelligent graduate students who have an insanely tight and loyal bond. Cassie explores this bond as she “moves in” with them and determines which one is the killer, hence my inclusion in the sub-genre.

The idea of Cassie being this doppelganger so similar that even the roommates wouldn’t know the difference is basically ridiculous, but it doesn’t matter. What is important here is the writing. This book is outstanding. I loved In the Woods because French had this sense of ongoing horror on every page. With The Likeness, she keeps up that same feeling of dread, although the murderer is made fairly clear well before the end. It’s almost incidental to the story, which is not uncommon in the sub-genre. The clique/society/community is often the beating heart of the story.

This book really explores Cassie’s own psychological demons. Also, the way French writes about the house and the people who live there makes the entire book feel like a wonderful dream that no one would ever want to wake up from. The character studies are wonderful, and make for a compelling read. This is a book that highlights and focuses on that marvelous sense of community and how it can blind you to true horror. It’s a fascinating story and written with true beauty. At times I reread sentences and was amazed at how poetic they were. Forget about how silly the premise is and luxuriate in the writing.

Now, going from the sublime to the ridiculous…The Secret Place by Tana French and #5 in the Dublin Murder Squad series. I didn’t care for this one very much. The big problem here is that the premise is, once again, completely unrealistic, but in this case, it’s not just the set up but major elements of the plot that stretch belief.

A murder has occurred at a private boarding school for girls, although the victim is a boy from a local town. There is a clique of girls involved in the investigation and French works hard to make the group seem special, beyond the norm, even otherworldly (a silly plot point that had no legs or purpose). However, this didn’t work like it did in The Likeness, and the clique just comes across as creepy and disturbing.

I was reminded over and over of the real life story depicted in the movie Heavenly Creatures, which is about two teenage girls with an obsessive friendship who beat one of the girls’ mothers to death with a brick for no real reason. That story still bothers me. French’s girls in The Secret Place have an equally sick friendship. Granted, the sub-genre’s elite cliques often ARE awful people with questionable morals and/or sanity and often are guilty of murder. That’s really a hallmark of the sub-genre and I am well aware of it, but, for some reason, the clique just didn’t work for me here.

Also, the ultimate reveal of what happened is beyond any reasonable expectation of belief, to the point of being ludicrous. That all said, I did like Detective Moran, the main character in this book. It took some getting used to reading his narrative as it’s mainly fragments, which tends to drive me nuts. His interactions with the girls and with the other detectives are well written and enjoyable to read. There are some good ideas here, but overall it’s just a story about creepy (and not in a fun way) murderous teenagers that has pointless supernatural elements and far too many plot points that just do not ring true. Reviews on Goodreads seem to agree…people liked it, but didn’t feel it was up to French’s usual standards.

Up next…I have finished Ninth House and I am processing…review ahead!

Happy reading!

The Poison Tree (Secret Society Mysteries Part 4)

Okay, let me preface this by saying there is absolutely no secret society or even an elite boarding school in this book. Then why am I including it in my review series? The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly has gotten many comparisons to The Secret History (it’s why I read it). One of the hallmarks of the secret society/elite clique sub-genre is the almost cult-like pull of the clique or society. The group become a powerful entity, a force to be reckoned with, closed to outsiders, and that community becomes incredibly important in the lives of the members. Sometimes, the community is clearly toxic, whereas other times the group seems idyllic and the darkness lies below. The Poison Tree explores that theme of friendships that takes over all else and lead to disaster.

This book follows the usual sub-genre formula of being a  suspense type thriller narrated by Karen in the present (which is 2007) and the past (1997). It’s the story of what happened to her (really, what happened around her is more like it) one summer and how it changed everything and shaped her life from then on. So, in a sense it is a coming of age story, which these often are. It’s also about secrets and the power they have.

The story itself is a good one and the ending has a couple of dramatic twists that I really enjoyed. It’s a rare case where I liked the ending better than the book, and the reason is character development and atmosphere. Karen meets Biba and Rex and spends a summer living with them, a summer that ends in violence – and it takes a long time before we know exactly what happened. Karen is not fleshed out enough and it’s really difficult to see why she is so drawn to Biba and Rex (well, she never really is that drawn to Rex, which is actually one of the interesting parts to the story given their romantic relationship.)

Karen is 20 in 1997, and while this is not set at a school, it still show how young people can fall in love (friendly and romantic) with people who are terrible for them to be around. The way Biba is described, she just doesn’t sound charismatic or interesting. Rex just seems creepy and annoying, feelings Karen seems to have for him throughout the book. So there was a bit of a disconnect for me, as Karen bends over backwards to ingratiate herself with this duo and I just kept thinking, but why??? The pull of the community isn’t apparent.

The other problem is atmosphere. The author tries hard to create a sense of doom and disaster wrapped up in fairy lights, drugs, and a decaying house and woods that are supposed to seem magical (this atmosphere is another hallmark of the sub-genre). The house descriptions are simply disgusting and the intended vibe just never quite gets there.

For all its flaws though, I did enjoy reading this. I don’t think it quite lived up to the potential that was here, but I did like the story and really enjoyed the ending.

Next up…my review of The Likeness by Tana French…with a community/clique that is written so well that the reader ends up longing to be a part of it, even knowing one of them is a murderer, and my review of The Secret Place by Tana French, that has a clique that is simply creepy…