But when she doesn’t show, Frank leaves the Liberties area of Dublin and ends up in Ranelagh (another Dublin area) without her-thinking she had run off without him. Faithful Place is Tana French's best book yet (readers familiar with In the Woods and The Likeness will recognize this as an incredible feat), a compelling and cutting mystery with the hardscrabble, savage Mackey clan at its heart.Īs her third novel featuring the Dublin Murder Squad opens, 19-year-old Frank Mackey is waiting in vain for Rosie, who he’s supposed to run away to London with. Because he is too close to the case, and because the Place (including his family) harbors a deep-rooted distrust of cops, Frank must undergo his investigation furtively, using all the skills picked up from years of undercover work to trace the killer and the events of the night that changed his life. They say going home is never easy, but for Frank, investigating the cold case of the just-discovered body of his teenage girlfriend, it is a tangled, dangerous journey, fraught with mean motivations, black secrets, and tenuous alliances. Faithful Place is Frank's old neighborhood, the town he fled twenty-two years ago, abandoning an abusive alcoholic father, harpy mother, and two brothers and sisters who never made it out. That which was buried is brought to light and wreaks hell-on no one moreso than Frank Mackey, beloved undercover guru and burly hero first mentioned in French's second book about the Undercover Squad, The Likeness. A truly amazing novel - so brilliant on dysfunctional family dynamics, with characters so real that you can hardly believe someone's made them up.The past haunts in Tana French novels. Sunday Independent IrelandĮven more gripping than her last two. Evening Herald (Dublin)įrench copperfastens her reputation as an author of exceptional insight and talent. Just don't plan anything if you pick this up you won't be able to put it down. If you're only going to buy one thriller this year, let it be Tana French's Faithful Place. Irish IndependentĪ gripping, literate thriller laced with black humour - Irish Times Tana French's third novel hooks the reader from the outset the characters are masterfully drawn, and the author's ear for Dublin dialogue is pitch-perfect. A truly amazing novel - so brilliant on dysfunctional family dynamics, with characters so real that you can hardly believe someone's made them up.

Praise for Faithful Place: Dublin Murder Squad: 3Įven more gripping than her last two.

Faithful place novel