Being on the Murder Squad is nothing like Detective Antoinette Conway dreamed it would be. Her partner, Stephen Moran, is the only person who seems glad she’s there. The rest of her working life is a stream of thankless cases, vicious pranks, and harassment. Antoinette is savagely tough, but she’s getting close to the breaking point.

Their new case looks like yet another by-the-numbers lovers’ quarrel gone bad. Aislinn Murray is blond, pretty, groomed-to-a-shine, and dead in her catalog-perfect living room, next to a table set for a romantic dinner. There’s nothing unusual about her—except that Antoinette’s seen her somewhere before.

And that her death won’t stay in its neat by-numbers box. Other detectives are trying to push Antoinette and Steve into arresting Aislinn’s boyfriend, fast. There’s a shadowy figure at the end of Antoinetteʼs road. Aislinnʼs friend is hinting that she knew Aislinn was in danger. And everything they find out about Aislinn takes her further from the glossy, passive doll she seemed to be.

Antoinette knows the harassment has turned her paranoid, but she can’t tell just how far gone she is. Is this case another step in the campaign to force her off the squad, or are there darker currents flowing beneath its polished surface? ( )

The fifth novel in French’s “Dublin Murder Squad” series of crime novels. It well and truly keeps up the excellent standard of the other books. It’s interesting how French writes each of these books from a first person point of view, but in each book picks a different character to tell the story. Often the character is one we have encountered before in one of the other novels. As always, the plot turns in unexpected directions.

Now I just have to wait for French’s next novel, which for the first time apparently breaks away from the Murder Squad. I’ve pre-ordered a copy. Obviously. ( )

Not the most complex of plots, but well crafted characters and dialogue and a fun read to see how it ll plays out. In particular, French is great at writing dialogue that's real and regional and not cheesy, as well as writing characters who you may not like but you want to see how they turn out as the story continues. This is one of my favorites of hers, though other books are more mysterious, or more complex, etc. ( )

Another brilliant book by Tana French. She blends psychology, mystery, and a lot of fucked up people into a gut punch of a book. She remains on my must read immediately upon release authors (I don't have many). ( )

This had so much potential! A wonderful author voice, great writing, amazing turns of phrase. But by God, it was so incredibly tedious! Pages upon pages, chapters upon chapters, of absolutely NOTHING happening. For a mystery / thriller, this is one of the most boring books I’ve ever come across. I had such a hard time reading this before bed, because it would put me to sleep every time. I never quite warmed up to Antoinette - I found her way too prickly and defensive, perhaps for good reason but it still made her quite unlikeable. And so since I wasn’t really rooting for her, nor for anyone else, it made for very uninteresting reading. I hung in there and made it to the end, but I can’t say I’m happy to have read it. I’ve heard so many great things about Tana French, and I’m willing to try something else by her at a later date, but THE TRESPASSER was probably not the best introduction to her work. ( )