{"id":36273,"date":"2014-10-22T10:04:12","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T14:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/?p=36273"},"modified":"2022-01-05T14:48:59","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T19:48:59","slug":"the-secret-place-dublin-murder-squad-5-by-tana-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/the-secret-place-dublin-murder-squad-5-by-tana-french\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret Place [Dublin Murder Squad 5] by Tana French"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Secret<\/a>“One road and two extra-high walls” separate St. Kilda’s and St. Colm’s, two\u00a0privileged, private schools for girls and boys, respectively. Christopher Harper, 16, of St. Colm’s is found dead on the grounds of St. Kilda’s. Over\u00a0the next year, his murder remains unsolved …<\/p>\n

And then\u00a0tacked up on “The Secret Place”\u00a0\u2013 a noticeboard at\u00a0St. Kilda’s where girls can “express emotions that they don’t feel comfortable expressing elsewhere”\u00a0\u2013 is a card with a picture of Chris and the words, “I know who killed him<\/em>.” Holly Mackey decides to bring\u00a0the card to Detective Stephen Moran.<\/p>\n

Moran and the case’s original lead detective Antoinette Conway show up at St. Kilda’s, and are quickly able to narrow\u00a0their suspect pool to eight girls \u2013 two tight foursomes\u00a0\u2013 who could have tacked up the card. Holly, Julia, Rebecca, and Selena\u00a0are the independents, sure of themselves and each other. Joanne\u00a0leads the other four, wielding more fear than friendship over Gemma, Orla, and Alison; Holly and her mates dismissively refer to Joanne’s mean teens\u00a0as the Daleks<\/a> (inspired\u00a0by the mutant extraterrestrials bent on universal domination from television’s Doctor Who<\/em>). The rivals harbor\u00a0plenty of grudges, jealousies, and, of course, secrets from\u00a0each other \u2013 especially when a gorgeous, popular, manipulative boy is involved. Over the course of a single\u00a0day, Moran and Conway manage to find whodunnit.<\/p>\n

For a heart-thumping, moving target sort of brain-tickling\u00a0read,\u00a0Secret<\/em> will undoubtedly satisfy. The reveal is cleverly exposed in alternating chapters: as\u00a0Moran and Conway’s challenging day\u00a0unfolds, the girls’ backstory is dovetailed in between, eerily announcing Chris’s impending death via\u00a0countdown \u2013 “He has eight months and two weeks left to live\u00a0…\u00a0He has two months and three weeks left to live\u00a0… Chris Harper had two weeks left to live” … you get the gist.<\/p>\n

Even if you recognize the murderer long before the confession, finding out the how and why will keep you turning those pages (or headset\u00a0stuck in the ears if you choose to go aural \u2013 the chilling Irish lilts of Stephen Hogan and Lara Hutchinson are definitely recommended).\u00a0For the full experience, however, you’ll be needing the detailed\u00a0history that only reading the\u00a0Dublin Murder Squad<\/a> series\u00a0in order can provide. You need\u00a0The Likeness<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>to first meet Holly’s\u00a0father and why that’s important,\u00a0Faithful Place<\/a><\/em> to know\u00a0why Holly chooses to take the card to Moran and only Moran,\u00a0and\u00a0Broken Harbor<\/em><\/a> to understand\u00a0why\u00a0Daddy Mackey’s reference to\u00a0Kennedy near book’s end is such betrayal. If you’re gonna solve a crime, you’re gonna need\u00a0all<\/em> the details, right?<\/p>\n

From book to book,\u00a0creator Tana French<\/a>\u00a0pushes\u00a0a former supporting character into the latest spotlight and does quite the number on what you thought you knew. That\u00a0character-morphing\u00a0schtick is a reminder every time about\u00a0the importance of perspective\u00a0\u2013 not just in solving cold cases, but in managing\u00a0real\u00a0lives, as well. Next up? I’m predicting we’ll be getting to know just why Conway’s “an uppity ball-breaking humourless” you-know-what. Can’t wait!<\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“One road and two extra-high walls” separate St. Kilda’s and St. Colm’s, two\u00a0privileged, private schools for girls and boys, respectively. Christopher Harper, 16, of St. Colm’s is found dead on the grounds of St. Kilda’s. Over\u00a0the next year, his murder remains unsolved … And then\u00a0tacked…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,81,23,6,358],"tags":[84,6608,11,6039,13,212,216,39,6038,42,359,540,361],"class_list":["post-36273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-readers","category-audio","category-european","category-fiction","category-irish","tag-betrayal","tag-bookdragon","tag-friendship","tag-lara-hutchinson","tag-love","tag-murder","tag-mystery","tag-parent-child-relationship","tag-secret-place","tag-series","tag-series-dublin-murder-squad","tag-stephen-hogan","tag-tana-french"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Secret Place [Dublin Murder Squad 5] by Tana French - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/the-secret-place-dublin-murder-squad-5-by-tana-french\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Secret Place [Dublin Murder Squad 5] by Tana French - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“One road and two extra-high walls” separate St. Kilda’s and St. Colm’s, two\u00a0privileged, private schools for girls and boys, respectively. 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