Book Review: In The Woods

Author: Tana French
Title: In The Woods
Publisher: Penguin
Publish Date: May 27, 2008
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: A 12-year-old girl is found murdered at an archaeological site at the center of a controversial highway construction project. Katy Devlin was a popular girl who had recently been accepted to the Royal Ballet School; her father is an outspoken opponent of the new roadway. But what haunts Detective Rob Ryan about this case is its location: the quiet town of Knocknaree, Ireland -- in the very woods where he used to play as a child.
Twenty years ago, a young Rob and his two best friends went into the woods, chasing each other, playing in a castle of ruins. But they didn't return to their homes at sunset. A search party was dispatched to canvas the woods, finding only a catatonic Rob clawing at a tree, his clothing ripped, his shoes filled with blood.

Detective Ryan has always guarded this secret of his past, but the recent murder forces him to reveal it to his new partner, drawing them closer together in the search for the perpetrator. Is there a connection between Rob's childhood trauma and Katy Devlin's murder? And is Detective Ryan prepared to confront the secrets that lie deep in those woods? Suspects abound in this fast-paced mystery -- a stunning debut that examines the complexities of the human mind and the cost of discovering the truth.

Review: This book was really good, for awhile. I liked getting the backstory of Detective Ryan and Cassie. I also like how bits and pieces of his past crept into this story. However for me that's as far as it went.

When the actual murderer...ok not actual..but ....AGH...I don't want to give away anything...but as soon as this particular character was introduced.....I knew they had something to do with Katy's murder, so much so I had to jump to the end to see if I was right. And I was.

GAH!

After that, getting those last 200 pages read was a chore. On top of it all, the author leads us to believe we might get some resolution on Detective Ryan's past, don't get your hopes up for that, either.

What Tana French does deliver is a mystery with a really quirky bunch of charcters. Through 90 % of the novel, you like most of them. The big problem, however is the ending. It just doesn't satisfy. At least not me. I like resolution when it comes to mysteries, and this one doesn't really have that completely, which made this a frustrating read for me.

Rating: 3 flowers