Faithful Place by Tana French

'Breathtaking -- an elaborately twisted ballad of class resentments, family burdens, regret and passion' The Washington Post 'An author of exceptional talent and insight' Sunday Independent 'In all your life, only a few moments matter. I was lucky. I got to see one of mine face to face, and recognise it for what it was.' The course of Frank Mackey's life is set by one defining moment when he was nineteen. The time his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, failed to turn up for their rendezvous in Faithful Place, failed to run away with him to London as planned. Frank never heard from, or of, her again. Twenty years on, Frank is still in Dublin, working as an undercover cop. He's cut all ties with his dysfunctional family. Until his sister calls to say that Rosie's suitcase has been found ...

From the unpromising foundation of a twenty-plus year old murder, French weaves a tapestry of personal and familial interaction that is riddled with tension, envy, resentment, fear and hatred that is horrifying and at the same time compelling and gripping. The standard set in her first two novels is met and perhaps exceeded. I look forward to more of her work. Very impressive

This is my favorite of the Dublin Murder Squad books so far, mostly because of how much I loved Frank. He is one of those guys with that tough but sensitive personality type plus a touch of good humor. I was pulling for him, not just to solve the mystery but to get his shit together too, emotionally speaking.

The mystery was good, not too hard to figure out but satisfying and it connected so well to everything Frank went through. Of course it helped that he had such a personal stake in it.

The heart of the story is Frank returning to his home neighborhood and dealing with his troubled family, something that he had been avoiding for decades. The conflicting character theme that you can never go home but also that you can never really leave your home behind either resonated with me.