Faithful Place by Tana French

Faithful Place is a wonderful follow up novel to The Likeness. I am so glad that my book club lead me to this series, because it is so amazing and I'm not sure if I would have found it without them. I know In the Woods is in one of my lists of books, but I probably would have put it off until I had read more of the books with titles I was familiar with. But I am living for this series.

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

In 1985, Frank Mackey was nineteen and about to run away to London with the love of his life, Rosie Daly; only Rosie never showed. Not wanting to return to his life, but not able to go to London, he left for Dublin. Twenty-two years have gone by and no one has ever heard from Rosie, and Frank is now a detective for the undercover unit, when one day, his sister Jackie calls saying that a suitcase has been found-a suitcase with Rosie birth certificate in it. Once Frank confirms the worst, he calls it in. Scorcher Kennedy is the lead detective on the case, but Frank cannot let sleeping dogs lie, not when he possibly has a chance at finding out if his Rosie really left without him, or if something much worse happened. But with Frank digging up the past, other skeletons are sure to come to light, and  many people could end up hurt or worse.

This is the first French novel that I did not know who the murderer was until the pages just before the confession, and that is hard for me to admit. But Rosie really was a person with no enemies, so it was looking more like a crime of opportunity than a crime of passion. And when you live in a small town, basically anyone is a suspect. When Kevin Mackey ended up dead by what was probably the same person, it cut the numbers down a bit, but it still was not cut and dry. Obviously the murderer would have seen Kevin as a threat since he was digging around, and so that would mean the murderer was someone who lived at Faithful Place in 1985 and present day, but not a lot of people leave Faithful Place. Really, my money was more on Frank and Kevin's dad before Shay Mackey, but we also do not have a lot of interaction with Shay, so he was not really someone I considered. But as he is explaining his reasoning, it made sense, and with his anger, I bought it.

What I have a hard time buying is the family being upset with Frank for catching Shay, and at Frank's daughter Holly for testifying. I mean, he killed his brother. He killed the baby of the family. He could have killed Holly. I know family dynamics are different with each family, but if one of my brothers killed the other one, I would not be standing by him. Hell, I would not stand by any family member that killed another one. And I definitely would not hold anything against a child for coming forward with what they know if it means saving lives and getting a murderer off the streets. But what do I know? Like I said at the beginning of this paragraph, every family dynamic is different, and apparently the Mackey family is very different.

"I said, 'Should I go over and give a hand?'

There was a startled instant of silence. 'Should you...? Ah, no; no, Francis. You're all right.'

'I'll get my arse down there tomorrow, if you think it's a good idea. I've been staying clear because I figured I'd do more harm than good, but if I'm wrong...'

'Ah no; I'd say you're right. Not meaning that in a bad way, like; just...'

'No, I get you. That's what I thought.'

Jackie said, 'I'll tell them you were asking for them.'

'You do that. An if anything changes down the road, just let me know, yeah?'

'I will, yeah. Thanks for the offer.'

I said, 'What about Holly?'

'What d'you mean?'

'Is she going to be welcome over at Ma's, from now on?'

'Do you want her to be? I thought for sure...'

'I don't know, Jackie. I haven't got that far yet. Probably not, no. But I do want to know exactly where she stands.'

Jackie sighed, a small sad flutter. 'Sure, no one else knows that either. Not till...you know. Till things sort themselves out a bit.'

Till Shaw has been tried and acquitted, or else convicted and put away for life twice over, either way due at least partly to what kind of job Jolly did giving evidence against him. I said, 'I can't afford to wait that long, Jackie. And I can't afford to have you being coy with me. This is my kid we're talking about.'

Another sigh. 'Being honest with you, Francis, if I was you I'd keep her away for a bit. for her own sake. Everyone's a mess, everyone's up to ninety, sooner or later someone's going to say something that'll hurt her feelings-not meaning to, but...Leave it for now. Do you think that'd be all right? It wouldn't be too hard on her, like?'

I said, 'That I can deal with. But here's the thing, Jackie. Holly's flat-out positive that what happened to Shay is her fault, and that even if it isn't, the whole family thinks it is. Keeping her away from Ma's-not that I have any problem wiht that, believe me-is only going to leave her more convinced....'" (pp.387-388)

The family dynamic with the Mackey's is an interesting one. Frank talks frequently about how he never takes Holly around his family because of the lies and abuse, but to the best of his knowledge, his family has no idea that Holly exists. That is a pretty big lie. And none of the Mackey children knew about the history with their parents and Rosie's parents. So maybe I should not be surprised about their reaction. Let's just say I am glad it is not my family.

The plot and character development are strong in Faithful Place, just like they have been in the previous two novels. French definitely knows how to draw you in quickly and keep you around. She has a writing style that I really connect with. All of the novels so far have read as if you are listening to the detective while they are on the witness stand. It reads like a procedural, but has enough detail to keep you enthralled. I am pretty sure I would read anything she writes.

Rating: 8/10
Author: Tana French
Series: Dublin Murder Squad (Book 3 of 6)
Genres: Crime, Fiction, Mystery
Dates Read: April 1-5, 2019