Alternately intensely descriptive, maudlin, gruesome, melodramatic & vague. Not a fan of Steven Grossley's audio interpretation. ( )

I want to give this book 5 stars because honestly it deserves it. I was captivated the entire time I was reading it. I thought about it when I wasn’t reading it and tried to find excuses to get 3 minutes with it to read another couple of pages quickly. But the ending...... I am so unsatisfied with it. I know this sounds very melodramatic but I felt betrayed by Tana French! I spent all this time with the book and this is how it ends?! I gave this one star because I don’t want anyone else to read it and be as disgusted and unfulfilled as I was. ( )

I've seen this book recommended everywhere - the whole series, actually - so I decided to pick it up. Into the Woods was absolutely riveting and enjoyable, but ultimately left me feeling mildly unsatisfied.

There's a murder in a small town in Ireland, a young girl's body is left at the site of an archeological dig. Detective Rob Ryan and the Dublin Murder Squad investigate. What nobody except his partner and best friend know is that Rob Ryan is from that small town and twenty years before, as a twelve year old, he had been involved in a mysterious incident that found him terrified, amnesiac and covered in blood and his two best friends lost, never to be found.

Most complaints I've seen about the book is that they don't like the ending, as the mysterious disappearances of three preteens that Into the Woods opens with is not solved by the end. That's a reasonable complaint, though it didn't bother me particularly much. My quibble was that early on in the narrative, our main character, Rob, admits that he lies. I thought that meant I was in for an unreliable narrator, but I found Rob to be a straightforward narrator, relating the story with an earnest vulnerability.

The mystery was enjoyable enough. I guessed the killer by the third chapter, but that didn't really detract from my overall enjoyment of the book. One of the best part of mysteries is trying to guess who did it and seeing if you're correct at the end.

My favourite and least favourite parts of the book were the same: the relationship between Rob and his partner, Cassie Maddox. Their friendship and working relationship was a bright spark, bringing a clever, affectionate air to the otherwise sombre novel. I was delighted by the platonic nature of their friendship, as I find partners who get romantically involved to be a stale narrative. Of course, this falls apart soon enough, and while I understand why the author made the choice, I didn't particularly like it.

One thing I really liked is how Rob's distant past and his present met, how it sent him for a tailspin. Rob's fractured psyche and desire to discover what exactly happened to him as a child twenty years earlier was a great subplot. It worked well as a parallel and counterpoint storyline, mixing in Rob's head to create a compelling, interesting story that I enjoyed very much. The lack of resolution in Rob's story can be seen as a detractor but I liked it. Solving the case and Rob's old history would have felt far too pat, too much like an episode of a crime procedural so I'm actually glad that French sidestepped that, leaving the resolution almost within the reach of Rob and the reader. ( )

Aaaaaarrrrrgh! I want to know what happened!!!!!!!

I picked Rosalind for the villain pretty early on and became more and more annoyed with Ryan as he fell apart.

Still, three stars because it was well done. The characters (especially Maddox) were complex with interesting relationships.

But I really wish Ryan’s story had been resolved. ( )

I'm so delighted to have found this author and this series. I read the second book first, and then decided I need to read the series in order.

It's a police procedural set in Ireland, the murder of a child that stirs echoes from the past of the lead character (we'll call him Rob, you'll see why). Deep complexities among the main characters, psychological darkness all around, some interesting questions of why Cassie and Rob, and even apparently Sam at one point, violate the rules of procedure. Mysteries often skimp on the minor characters, but there are several good ones here. I especially like Sophie, the evidence tech, in her few appearances.

And the writing is brilliant. Brilliant. Since I read the books out of order it was interesting to see that the second book, centered on Cassie, was neatly alluded to and folded into the final chapter of this first one. ( )