Faithful Place (Dublin Murder Squad, #3)
Author: Tana French
Rating: ā 3/5
Date Read: 2016/03/21
Pages: 400
Although I found Frank Mackey to be a fair compelling character in The Likeness, I have to say that this is not my favorite of Tana Frenchās Dublin Murder Squad novels. As in the others, the writing is beautiful, the mystery is compelling, so Iām surprised that this one kind of fizzled. The Likeness may not have been the most believable book ever, but boy was it fun. Coming off the heels of The Likeness made the paucity of fun in Faithful Place pretty striking.
Most of the problems I have with the book come from the focus on family dynamics, rather than the mystery itself. The problem is that, while Frank Mackey is an interesting and well-sculpted character, his family comes across as a fairly flat rendering of a lower-class catholic family. Iām cool with one-dimensional characters as long as the mystery is fun, and Iām cool with family dramas if the characters are fleshed out. But I felt that French kind of pulled herself in both directions without choosing one, and the book is worse for it.
Faithful Place was still an enjoyable mystery, and Iāll definitely be reading the rest of the books in the series. I just didnāt love this one quite like I loved the rest.