60 pages • 2-hour read
The Secret Place
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Background
Authorial Context: Dominant Patterns in Tana French’s Writing
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.
Tana French has written both series and standalone novels, and The Secret Place is the fifth installment in her popular, six-book exploration of Dublin’s so-called murder squad. The series differs from other serial thrillers and police procedurals by declining to follow a single detective. Instead, each book introduces a set of characters, some of whom reappear in the next installment. For example, The Secret Place features the return appearances of Stephen, Holly, and Frank, who played key roles in several of the series’ previous books. However, the story also introduces Antoinette, who will become one of the protagonists in the series’ final installment. The best-selling series has become popular with readers and critics alike, and several installments have won awards, such as the Edgar Award, the Irish Book Award, and the Los Angeles Book Prize for mystery.
French’s works typically combine aspects of both psychological thrillers and police procedurals, featuring in-depth characterization and twisting, suspenseful plots that examine the complexities of group dynamics and individual identity. Many of her detectives are inherently flawed, demonstrating a complex mix of honorable practices, unethical decisions, and positive and negative personality traits. For example, Antoinette’s methodical approach to casework and keen insight into human behavior make her an excellent detective, but her fiery temper and intractability render her unpopular with her co-workers. Through Antoinette and other characters, French often makes it a point to depict the multifaceted nature of personal identity by showing one particular figure through multiple lenses. The Secret Place also falls squarely within the author’s pattern of critiquing group dynamics and friendships.
As a socially conscious writer, French is also known for penning works that engage with the nuances of Irish culture and history, and her plots often focus on the impact of religion in Ireland, such as the ways in which Catholicism defines femininity and shapes life for Irish women. Several of French’s novels, including The Secret Place, discuss the so-called “Magdalene laundries”: harsh facilities built to house and hide unwed mothers. (These facilities were discontinued as recently as the 1990s.) Additionally, several of French’s books explore Ireland’s economic boom years, dubbed the “Celtic Tiger” period, as well as the crash that came in their wake. Her novels feature people of different classes who often clash with one another over key social issues, and she also engages in the politics of gender, exploring the ways in which patriarchal society and traditions have impacted women’s identities and lived experiences.
Series Context: The Dublin Murder Squad Series
In the Woods (2007) is the first novel in French’s Dublin Murder Squad series. It features Rob and Cassie, a pair of Dublin detectives who investigate a murder to which one of them has a connection that he would rather conceal. Like The Secret Place, this novel is in part an exploration of childhood. As the novel’s primary conflict forces Rob to confront the lasting impact of his youth, French uses this aspect of the story to examine the effects of early childhood trauma on adult identity.
The Likeness (2008) introduces Frank Mackey (who later appears briefly in The Secret Place) and follows Cassie’s work on a second case. The victim in this novel bears a distinct resemblance to Cassie, and at Frank’s urging, Cassie begins to impersonate the victim in order to investigate her death. As Cassie’s obsession with her victim intensifies, she finds that the boundaries between her personal and professional lives have become dangerously blurred. Like many of the novels in this series, The Likeness focuses on the complex psychology of a strong female character. Because the story is set within an eccentric and reclusive group of friends, it shares with The Secret Place an interest in the complexities of friendship and the impact of group dynamics on individuals.
Faithful Place (2010) is the series’ third installment and features a case in which Holly is a witness and Stephen is the lead investigator; this case is later referenced in The Secret Place. Faithful Place also reveals much of Frank’s backstory, showing that his life and career was shaped by the disappearance of an old flame, whom he later learns was murdered. Like In the Woods, Faithful Place depicts the tight grip that the past can have on the present and anticipates The Secret Place’s even more intense interest in secrecy, lies, trust, and betrayal. Although Holly is only a child in this novel, she nonetheless plays a key role in the narrative, illustrating French’s interest in depicting different versions of female identity.
Broken Harbor (2013) follows detective Mick Kennedy (first introduced in Faithful Place) as he investigates one family’s brutal assault in an abandoned housing estate in Dublin. Like the previous installments, the story features a protagonist whose present-day case holds ties to their own past. The novel specifically examines the economic crash that arrived in the aftermath of Ireland’s “Celtic Tiger” boom years, depicting the lived experiences of the Irish people during the early years of the 21st century.
In The Trespasser (2016), the series’ final installment, Antoinette and Stephen are now partners on the murder squad and return to work on another complex case, which features a female victim whom Antoinette and Stephen suspect to have been murdered by a new boyfriend. Like previous novels in the series, this story features a tension-filled, slow-burn mystery and explores the complexities of the detectives’ interactions as they work on cases together.
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