Review: Faithful Place by Tana French

Genre: Suspense/psychological mystery
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton, 2010
434p


Faithful Place.........where the bodies are buried.

The course of Frank Mackey’s life was set by one defining moment when he was nineteen. The moment his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, failed to turn up for their rendezvous in Faithful Place, failed to run away with him to London as they had planned. Frank never heard from her again. Twenty years on, Frank is still in Dublin, working as an undercover cop. He’s cut all ties with his dysfunctional family. Until his sister calls to say that Rosie’s suitcase has been found..........

Because of his personal involvement Frank is unable to take part in the official investigation but is determined to find out what he can, on his own.

It forces him to return to the area of Dublin known as the Liberties, to the home in Faithful Place where it was not uncommon to be raised by an abused mother and a father ........"he was a full-time drinker with a part-time sideline in things that fallen off the backs of lorries". Returning to the past Frank finds himself having to confront deeply buried and unresolved issues from his childhood.

There is a mystery and crimes to solve but family dymanics take centre stage in this book.........and what a dysfuntional family it is. There is a great deal of dialogue, which I sometimes don't care for, but the nagging, abuse and bickering within this family are further enlivened by the author's use of colloquial Irish words like 'shite' and eejit'.  I found myself mentally translating the conversations into an Irish accent and as each of the characters has a distinctive individual voice it made very entertaining reading.

Great writing and great characterisation make Faithful Place a compelling page-turner. Thoroughly enjoyed every word.