In the Woods by Tana French

I wish I could show you how an interrogation can have its own beauty, shining and cruel as that of a bullfight; how in defiance of the crudest topic or most moronic suspect it keeps inviolate its own taut, honed grace, its own irresistible and blood-stirring rhythms; how the great pairs of detectives knew each other's every thought as surely as ballet partners in a pas de deux. I never knew and never will know whether either Cassie or I was a great detective, though I suspect not, but I know this: we made a team worthy of bard-songs and history books. This was our last and greatest dance together, danced in a tiny interview room with darkness outside and rain falling soft and relentless on the roof, for no audience but the doomed and the dead.

-In the Woods

Readers of In the Woods will soon discover that Detective Rob Ryan never should have taken the Katy Devlin case. Katy, an aspiring ballerina from the town of Knocknaree in Ireland, is found dead at a local archeological dig. She was murdered, and rookie Murder detective Rob and his partner Cassie Maddox are the only ones around when the call comes in. There's a brief window of time when Rob could have taken his supervisor aside, explained the unusual circumstances, and passed the case on to someone else. He didn't.

And as much as we realize the potential fallout of this decision, it's easy to understand why Rob felt he had to take the case. For Detective Ryan, now working in Dublin, grew up in Knocknaree - and he didn't always go by Rob. Twenty years earlier, long before he ever could have imagined becoming a detective, he was called Adam. He spent many a happy day in Knocknaree, roaming the countryside with his two best mates, Jamie and Peter. And then one day, the merry trio went into the woods and didn't come back in time for tea. Their parents waited, and worried, and finally they called the police. Adam was eventually found, catatonic, with no memory of his time in the woods - and little memory of anything before it, for that matter. His shoes were filled with blood that didn't match his blood type. Jamie and Peter were never found. Adam was quickly sent to boarding school, where he acquired a posh new English accent and began to go by his middle name. He left Knocknaree behind and became a detective, working his way up to the Murder squad. "I have serious trouble with murdered children," he confesses, to no one's surprise.

"I'm fine with [the case]," Rob tells Cassie - "Just kick me if I get too moody." Of course, it's not quite so simple as that. After all, as more than one person reasons, what are the odds of two child killers haunting the tiny Knocknaree? I don't think I'm spoiling things if I note that Rob doesn't handle it nearly as well as he had hoped, and he has more and more trouble with his detective work. Cassie is left to worry and persevere with the third detective assigned to the case, the dogged yet seemingly naive Sam O'Neill.

I initially had little interest in reading In the Woods because - like Rob - I don't like cases in which children are killed. However, my aunt sent me the sequel, and it looked good enough that I felt I should go back and read the first book. I'm so glad I did. I found myself completely spellbound - it took a lot of effort to pull myself off the train each morning and not just ride to the end of the line and back again until I finished. I actually finished it Wednesday afternoon and would have written a lot sooner had I not gotten caught up in Hamlet.

So what made it so captivating? I think part of it, certainly, was the idea of the cold case being connected to the new one, which often makes for a good premise. And, of course, it always ups the ante when the detective has a personal stake in a case - especially when you become invested in that detective's well-being, as I was with the increasingly tortured Rob. Combine that with Tana French's excellent writing - occasionally a little too cutesy for me, but in general I found it quite good - and you can begin to see how I couldn't put it down.

French doesn't tie things up too neatly - which, while it can be frustrating, I appreciate for its realism. It is helpful that she appears to be envisioning Rob and Cassie's stories as a series - sequel The Likeness focuses on Cassie, but I've read that French has said she's not done with Rob. It's great news, as I feel there's a lot more of his story to tell. I've skimmed some reviews and found that quite a few find Rob unlikeable. I would be a bit kinder and add him to the list of damaged detectives. I don't mind a hero who makes mistakes - even big mistakes - if they make sense for the character. In this instance, at least, it certainly makes for a thoroughly engrossing story.

Up next: Reading The Likeness, of course!