The Trespasser was published in 2016 and I’ve owned a copy about that long. But I waited as long as possible, nearly 10 years (!) to read this book because it is the last in Tana French’s “Dublin Murder Squad” series and I couldn’t bare for it to be over. But what good is a book you never ever read, one that you’ve been anticipating and are excited to read?
I finally got over myself and decided it was time to read this final chapter in the story. If you’re unaware, the “Dublin Murder Squad” is a 6 book series and French has done something very interesting. Each book takes a character who is minor or tertiary in a previous book and focuses the action on them. The story never gets stale, and in each volume you are learning a bit more about the world and the squad and the characters.
She is a master at the thriller, keeping you the reader in the dark about where the story is going to go. Each volume is a balanced novel of plot development and character growth, and this final installment is no different. Detective Antoinette Conway has finally made it to the murder squad. She’s the only woman in the squad, and her welcome has varied from lukewarm to downright hostile. Only her partner seems happy she is there, but she isn’t going to let anyone stop her. She walks around, ready to fight, with chips on both her shoulders about her co-workers, determined to prove herself, but for herself, not because of their judgment, but to spite it. A seemingly open-and-shut case is given to her and her partner, more of the same they have been given, but something seems off and Conway and Moran are determined not to just toe the line, but get to the bottom of it, no matter what.
Though throughout the series we have met different members of the squad and dove deep into their lives and psyche, this is the first book where the squad itself is a character, almost a living thing both composed of individual officers, but with a culture and personality all it’s own. When I started this book, I was so sad to know that it was the last of the series, but now that I’ve read it, I am quite satisfied. I can’t imagine a more satisfying conclusion, and French has managed to close it out in a way that I’m not left wanting more, but I will continue recommending this series to anyone who loves a good thriller.
Thankfully, French isn’t done writing, she has one standalone book and another (so far) two book series, the second of which I’ll be recommending shortly.