Broken Harbor by Tana French
I have some mixed feelings about Broken Harbor. It was a good book, but I feel like it started to break from the tradition of the last three Dublin Murder Squad books that has made me love the series.
Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy is called to the scene of a murdered family; the wife was alive, but just barely and will spend the rest of her life maimed from the attack. But what should be an open and shut case is turning out to have too many holes for Scorcher and his new partner, Richie, no matter how they try to look at it. To make the case even harder, the scene of the crime is very close to where is mother took her life when Scorcher was a teenager, an even that has left his sister Dina permanently scarred. But one thing is clear to Scorcher: Broken Harbor will never be a happy place for any family.
Okay, so yes, there is a tie to Scorcher's past, but it is not as strong as the connection in other books. In the Woods happened where Rob's two childhood friends went missing and were never found and he was found covered in blood. The Likeness featured a girl who had stolen an alias used by undercover Cassie. Faithful Place finally solved what happened to the girl that Frank loved 22 years ago. But here, no past crime or connection is made. Scorcher knows what happened to his mother. She had always suffered with depression, and possibly other mental illnesses. But that's a small part of the book.
The rest of the book has all of the beauty of the other French novels that I love. I definitely had Conor Brennan painted as the murderer, but I could not figure out his motive to save my life. Scorcher kept talking about how he felt that Brennan did it because he loved Jenny Spain, or he and Jenny were having an affair; her sister even told Scorcher that she broke up with Brennan because of his interest in Jenny. But I thought what if he was actually in love with Pat all this time. That was the twist that I was waiting for. I was wrong, but I don't think that the reader would have seen that one coming.
I do not really agree with letting Jenny Spain off. Okay, yes, she will more than likely be institutionalized, but I don't think she needs to be handled with kid gloves. She murdered her children. I am sorry, but even fictional child killers get no sympathy from me. She chose not to talk to anyone about her problems because she had to have a perfect life. I understand anxiety and pressure; I have had my fair share of panic attacks. But if my significant other was convinced that there was some imaginary animal in the attic and was tearing apart the house trying to find it, I would be trying to find some ways to fix this. I don't know. Maybe I'm just not sympathetic enough.
Like the other novels, the character development is good, and consistent through the novel. You feel the bond with Richie grow and then be ripped apart when Richie withholds evidence from Scorcher. You, as the reader, begin to trust Richie less the longer he holds onto this knowledge. Scorcher was a very minor character in Faithful Place and I was eager to learn about what makes him such a good detective and how he was dealing with the fallout of the case from Faithful Place when Frank went around him to solve it, and then handed the collar over the Stephen. I did not really feel that Jenny's sister developed properly. She came around too easily in the end and it did not feel natural to me.
While this has not been my favorite book from Dublin Murder Squad, I still enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next two books in the series: The Secret Place and The Trespasser.
Rating: 8/10
Author: Tana French
Series: Dublin Murder Squad (Book 4 of 6)
Genres: Crime, Fiction, Mystery
Dates Read: April 5-11, 2019
 |
| (Source: Kelsey Darling) |
Okay, so yes, there is a tie to Scorcher's past, but it is not as strong as the connection in other books. In the Woods happened where Rob's two childhood friends went missing and were never found and he was found covered in blood. The Likeness featured a girl who had stolen an alias used by undercover Cassie. Faithful Place finally solved what happened to the girl that Frank loved 22 years ago. But here, no past crime or connection is made. Scorcher knows what happened to his mother. She had always suffered with depression, and possibly other mental illnesses. But that's a small part of the book.
The rest of the book has all of the beauty of the other French novels that I love. I definitely had Conor Brennan painted as the murderer, but I could not figure out his motive to save my life. Scorcher kept talking about how he felt that Brennan did it because he loved Jenny Spain, or he and Jenny were having an affair; her sister even told Scorcher that she broke up with Brennan because of his interest in Jenny. But I thought what if he was actually in love with Pat all this time. That was the twist that I was waiting for. I was wrong, but I don't think that the reader would have seen that one coming.
 |
| (Source: Giphy) |
"Richie's eyes fell away from mine. He knelt on the floor and started picking up the papers he had dropped. He said, 'Because I knew what you'd want to do.'
'What? Arrest Jenny? Not charge Conor with a triple murder he didn't commit?What, Richie? What part of that is so fucking terrible that you just couldn't let it happen?'
'Not terrible. Just...Arresting her: I don't know, man. I'm not sure that's the right thing to do here.'
'That's what we do. We arrest murderers. If you have a problem with the job description, you should've got a different fucking job.' (p. 378)
Like the other novels, the character development is good, and consistent through the novel. You feel the bond with Richie grow and then be ripped apart when Richie withholds evidence from Scorcher. You, as the reader, begin to trust Richie less the longer he holds onto this knowledge. Scorcher was a very minor character in Faithful Place and I was eager to learn about what makes him such a good detective and how he was dealing with the fallout of the case from Faithful Place when Frank went around him to solve it, and then handed the collar over the Stephen. I did not really feel that Jenny's sister developed properly. She came around too easily in the end and it did not feel natural to me.
 |
| (Source: Giphy) |
Rating: 8/10
Author: Tana French
Series: Dublin Murder Squad (Book 4 of 6)
Genres: Crime, Fiction, Mystery
Dates Read: April 5-11, 2019
Comments
Post a Comment