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In The Woods by Tana French


In The Woods is an Irish crime thriller. The story starts with a look at a gruesome crime that took place 20 years before the main story. In the flashback we see the traumatic disappearance of two young kids while a third kid was found in the woods covered in mysterious blood.


The main story takes place 20 years after the disappearance that has remained unsolved. Detective Rob Ryan, is the one person that could hold the key to solving that mystery. He was the little boy found covered in blood, he doesn't remember anything and just wants to move on with his life. Detective Ryan is on the Dublin murder squad when a similar murder in the same area as the one 20 years ago.


Ryan and his partner detective Cassie Maddox catch the case of a 12 year old girl murdered and left at an archeology dig. The detectives must question the suspects, find the murder weapon and find the motive of the killer. You know, the usual things in a detective story. The pair also have to figure out if the present day case has anything to do with the one 20 years ago, while hiding the fact that detective Ryan has an involvement in the old case.


The detectives are gritty, charismatic and so much fun. The story is dark and dangerous with twists and turns. There are conspiracies, child abuse, intense political plots and some great UK dialogue. It was very hard to put the book down, even in that part of any detective story when they have nothing and everyone is depressed. The mystery is always keeping you guessing and constantly getting you to try and solve both cases. In the Woods is also the inspiration for the show Dublin Murders on STARZ, which I would probably watch if I had STARZ. The ending does leave much to be desired. There are plenty of questions that are left unanswered that would usually be in a sequel. There are another few books in the series but I found out that the second book is about different cases, so those questions are left in the void. I would recomend this book because it was so good, it just frustrates me a bit in the end.

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