First, I am truly impressed with this book and I’ll definitely read Tana French again, no matter in what genre she writes. In general, I am not too fond of murder mysteries, partly because for my taste, the language is usually too dry, characters too simple, and the subject matter too gory, but none of those is true for this novel. The language used is exquisite. Characters are aptly drawn and shown with all their positives and negatives through keen insight, and the grimness of the murder only serves to heighten the story’s other positive aspects.

The Mackey family is a dysfunctional one with five children and an alcoholic, abusive father. The viewpoint character that gives his voice to the story is Frank Mackey, an undercover detective and middle child of the family. After reading for a while, I found Frank Mackey to be a first-person narrator a bit on the unreliable side. The author did a great job with him as Frank finds out some truths together with the readers and others, especially those about himself that he can’t see but the readers can. He is confident, morosely wisecracking, and doesn’t like following rules. He is deeply hurt and injured inside but covers that up with a detached aura, reminiscent of the noir detectives of an earlier time.

The story begins somewhere after or around the middle of the chronology of the events, where it shows the divorced Frank Mackey picking up his daughter Holly when his younger sister Jackie calls him with the news of a found suitcase.

The setting as to the place is Dublin, and the main story begins when Frank is nineteen years old (in 1985) and is about to elope with Rosie Daly, the love of his life. When Rosie doesn’t show up and Frank finds a note telling that she left to go to England alone, he is heartbroken. The cul-de-sac where the impoverished Mackey siblings and Rosie grew up is called the “Faithful Place.”

Disappointed in his beloved and already at odds with his quirky and dysfunctional family, Frank never goes home again for 22 years. He manages to become a detective, get married, father a child, and become divorced. Frank’s being a detective helps to uncover some aspects of the story but it doesn’t make the novel a detective story. I found it to be more of a love story of two star-crossed lovers with danger and tragedy peeking from every corner.

When the story starts as middle-aged Frank is picking up his daughter, he already has been a detective for years now. This is when Rosie’s suitcase is found in an abandoned building behind a fireplace with the ferry tickets to England Frank had bought for Rosie and himself.

In the meantime, through his sister Jackie and his daughter Holly, Frank finds himself pulled back into his parents’ and siblings’ place that he had left more than two decades ago. Thus, the story captures the family’s age-old resentments, grudges, and sibling rivalries by immersing the readers inside the flavor of the neighborhoods and distinctive quirks of the people, whether they are primary, secondary, or supporting characters.

Duty to the family is what has caused the murder and drives the plot throughout the story. The killer is not necessarily a bad man and his problems are hinted as to be caused by a parent’s abuse. In his mind, the killer has a good reason to do the things he does.

Without saying more on the plot, I see this novel as another version of the Romeo-Juliet tale, especially because of the feud between the Mackeys and the Dalys. Although the plot is complicated, it is a lot more than a murder story. I see it as a human story of misunderstandings, misjudgments, and families. The murder in it only serves as a catalyst.

seeing how a murder story can also be a literary love story, plus a human story.

Everything and above all, the characterization.

read every book this author has written.

is Tana French, the author of In the Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, Broken Harbor, The Secret Place, The Trespasser, and The Witch Elm. Her books have won awards including the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and Barry Awards, the Los Angeles Times Award for Best Mystery/Thriller, and the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction.

I found this book to be literary, well-written, with excellent characterization, and deep insights. It is a bit on the dark side but not lacking a sense of humor when it is acceptable.

Just to give a taste of the story:

Frank says, “Nobody in the world can make you crazy like your family can,” and he recalls the chaos and abuse at the hands of his parents, but even his parents' abuse and dysfunction has a point of origin.

Then, "I had spent my whole adult life growing around a scar shaped like Rosie Daly's absence," explains Frank, but after he and Kevin (younger brother) find Rosie's remains, he realizes Rosie loved only him.

And, "Personally, I would in fact have bet on at least one member of my family coming to a sticky and complicated end,” Frank says, and he is proven right.

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Created May 15, 2019 at 4:52pm • Submit your own review...