Review: Broken Harbor

It wouldn't be R.I.P. Challenge season without a Tana French novel! My husband and I both love her Dublin Murder Squad series. I read the first three (though they don't have to be read in order): In the Woods, The Likeness, and Faithful Place in previous years, so earlier this month, I dove into book four, Broken Harbor. All of French's books in this series are beautifully written, twisty mysteries with in-depth characters, and this one was no exception.

Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy was a minor character in Faithful Place, a member of the Dublin Murder Squad of detectives. In Broken Harbor, the spotlight is fully on him, as he is assigned a huge case that is sure to be all over the media: an entire family brutally assaulted in their beautiful home. Husband Patrick Spain and their two small children were murdered and wife Jenny is barely clinging to life in the hospital. Mick has a new partner, rookie Richie, who turns out to be pretty well-suited to the job. To Mick's pleasant surprise, Richie is smart, dedicated, and willing to learn. The two of them begin investigating this grisly case, heading out to the Spain's home. It's a nice looking house and clearly well-cared-for, but it's sitting in a mostly abandoned "luxury" neighborhood well outside of Dublin, by the sea. Many of these high-end neighborhoods popped up during the boom years and then went bankrupt when the economy crashed, leaving families like the Spains stuck out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by half-finished houses. And despite the nice look of their home, it's clear the construction was shoddy and even just a few years old, it's already starting to show. Of course, the husband is always a suspect in a family case like this, but by all accounts, Patrick was a great guy and he and Jenny loved each other deeply. A potential intruder also becomes a suspect, as the two partners follow the clues to try to solve this horrific crime, while Mick deals with personal issues as well.

As with all Tana French novels, this is a super-twisty mystery, with lots of unexpected surprises in store for the reader. At about the halfway point, it seems like the two detectives have the case all sewn up, so you know some unexpected turns in the case must be coming. As always, French makes the detectives central characters, and Mick's complicated family life comes into play and is actually related to the site of the murders. For extra fun, she throws some really weird details into the murder scene this time: holes in the walls, video cameras mounted all over the house, and more. I was kept guessing as to how all of it fit together. I can always count on Tana French for a gripping, suspenseful read that is hard to put down; this was a perfect book for October!

450 pages, Penguin Books

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