Broken Harbor in Around the World in 80 Books

Apr 10, 2018 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: broken, detective-mystery, mystery, psych-psych-psych, ireland

3.5 stars

The smell of the sea swept over the wall and in through the empty window-hole, wide and wild with a million intoxicating secrets. I don’t trust that smell. It hooks us somewhere deeper than reason or civilization, in the fragments of our cells that rocked in oceans before we had minds, and it pulls till we follow mindlessly as rutting animals.

At first, I wasn't so keen on reading a book featuring Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy, because he had seemed like such a "pompous git" (to quote his ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 07, 2017 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: whodunnit, kindle, owned, audio

I'm never satisfied with French's endings, because she always leaves questions unanswered. But I always enjoy the ride anyway. Life isn't always tied up in a neat bow. Sometimes in life you never find out what the animal in the attic is, so to speak. But I enjoy getting to know her detectives and seeing how their lives intersect with their cases, and the audiobook narrators always do a great job. This narrator is one of the best. He made each character sound different, with a different voice and ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 03, 2019 Colleen Chi-Girl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ireland-irish, audiobooks, 2019, thrillers, crime-mysteries, europe

Tana French's writing is beautiful and clever and intriguing. I have to say I prefer reading her work vs. listening to it (as I did with this novel). However, the narrator did an amazing job with different voices for different characters, and stayed in character the whole time. It was natural and I never thought about him. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 31, 2018 Tony rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, novels, setting-ireland

I think this is the fourth of French's books I've read, and the first that didn't rely upon some kind of outrageous improbability or coincidence. (That said, the protagonist is sent to investigate a murder in more or less the same place his mother killed himself 20+ years previously -- it's just not critical to the plot.) Set roundabout 2008, the basic setup is that a family of four is discovered murdered in their home in a failing new development far outside Dublin, and it's not clear if this w I think this is the fourth of French's books I've read, and the first that didn't rely upon some kind of outrageous improbability or coincidence. (That said, the protagonist is sent to investigate a murder in more or less the same place his mother killed himself 20+ years previously -- it's just not critical to the plot.) Set roundabout 2008, the basic setup is that a family of four is discovered murdered in their home in a failing new development far outside Dublin, and it's not clear if this was a home invasion or some kind of murder/suicide or something else.

Detective Michael "Scorcher" Kennedy is assigned, along with trainee detective Richie Curran and the first third or so of the book is a pretty gripping blow-by-blow police procedural covering the first day or so of the investigation. Anyone who likes a nice TV or book police procedural is going to love this part. The middle third of the book opens things up, with one discovery inside the house concerning an animal, that's very odd, and a second discovery in a nearby house that appears to point pretty clearly to what happened. So, by about halfway through this very long book, it's a little puzzling to see how the story won't wrap up in the next 30-50 pages.

That's probably the main issue with the book -- from this point on it starts to drag quite a bit, as the detectives do deeper and deeper dives into their discoveries to no discernible effect. There are other subplots, such the tightly-controlled Kennedy has to deal with his mentally unstable sister who is roaming the streets of Dublin unsupervised. And then there's the flickering into flame of a promising partnership between Kennedy and Curran, something Kennedy has never been open to in the past. But these aren't really enough to sustain the 150 or so pages that make up the final third of the book. There simply aren't that many options on the table, and I suspect that a great many readers will have arrived at a pretty solid idea of whodunit, as well as whydunit by the time the truth is finally revealed. An underwhelming effort in dire need of a strong editorial trimming. ...more

Like · see review

Sep 15, 2011 Madeleine rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller, smart-nonannoying-entertaining, series

Mild spoilers for all Tana French books here.
(view spoiler) ...more

Like · see review

Dec 02, 2016 Annie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2016

This is my third Dublin Murder Mystery novel - I'm jumping around out of order - and I think it is my favorite so far. I love how French's novels are plot-driven "whodunits" while also exploring deeper themes - in this case (as well as others, I suppose), that environmental or situational factors can endanger the sanity of even the strongest, most even-keeled minds. The parallel narratives of the Spain family's tragedy and Scorcher's painful past were woven together strongly enough to amplify e ...more

Like · see review

Jul 21, 2012 mstan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, irish, src-fall-2012

Something about French's writing spoke to me here - the eerieness of a property development by the beach gone wrong, coupled with the cold reality of an ideal couple whose lives take a beating from the male being retrenched. I was seriously scared reading most of this book.

Don't read French for her solutions though. I find them largely improbable, requiring a huge suspension of disbelief. Read her instead for her gripping way of reconstructing the murder scene, the toughness of her approach to p ...more

Like · see review