In the woods

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English

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Make this your next book club selection and everyone saves.Get 15% off when you order 5 or more of this title for your book club.Simply enter the coupon code FRENCHWOODS at checkout.This offer does not apply to eBook purchases. This offer applies to only one downloadable audio per purchase.As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.Richly atmospheric, stunning in its complexity, and utterly convincing and surprising to the end,In the Woods is sure to enthrall fans of Mystic River and The Lovely Bones.

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ISBN
9780670038602
9781456100704
9781101147153
9780143113492

Table of Contents

From the Book - First American edition.

In the woods --
The likeliness (excerpts).

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Also in this Series

  • In the woods (Dublin Murder Squad novels Volume 1) Cover
  • The likeness (Dublin Murder Squad novels Volume 2) Cover
  • Faithful Place: a novel (Dublin Murder Squad novels Volume 3) Cover
  • Broken Harbor (Dublin Murder Squad novels Volume 4) Cover
  • The secret place (Dublin Murder Squad novels Volume 5) Cover
  • The trespasser (Dublin Murder Squad novels Volume 6) Cover

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Author Notes

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Similar Series From Novelist

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for series you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
In addition to atmospheric and richly detailed Irish settings, these lyrical, character-driven mysteries also contain a hefty dose of psychological suspense. Both intricately plotted series feature complex protagonists who delve into their troubled pasts to solve crimes for Dublin's police. -- NoveList Contributor
Though Dublin Murder Squad novels are set in Ireland and the Aaron Falk novels take place in Australia, both of these mystery series are full of rich atmospheric details that evoke their settings and star complex and sometimes troubled protagonists. -- Halle Carlson
Though Detective Galileo stars throughout his series, and each volume of Dublin Murder Squad focuses on different protagonists, both of these twisty psychological suspense series feature gritty, sometimes-disturbing mysteries and complex, well-drawn characters. -- Stephen Ashley
Although the Dublin Murder Squad novels rely on a rotating cast of first-person narrators instead of the multiple, shifting perspectives offered by the central protagonists of the Simon Waterhouse/Charlie Zailer novels, both compelling series are character-driven, psychologically suspenseful police procedurals. -- NoveList Contributor
These suspenseful police procedurals both balance lyrical, richly detailed prose with propulsive, fast-paced plots. Dublin Murder Squad stars multiple protagonists, while Hana Westerman is the focus throughout her series. -- Stephen Ashley
Readers looking for a suspenseful police procedural that uses richly detailed writing to create a complex atmosphere and also features twisty, sometimes disturbing cases should check out both of these engaging series. -- Stephen Ashley
Though Dublin Murder Squad is a bit faster paced than Detective Harriet Foster, readers looking to follow complex detectives as they investigate a variety of twisty cases in these suspenseful police procedural series. -- Stephen Ashley
Complex detectives navigate personal trauma exacerbated by the tough cases they investigate in these suspenseful police procedural series. Dublin Murder Squad is a bit faster-paced than Detective Elouise Norton. -- Stephen Ashley
Though Tuva Moodyson is more character-driven than the faster-paced Dublin Murder Squad, both of these suspenseful mystery series feature complex characters, atmospheric writing, and twisty cases. -- Stephen Ashley

Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Detectives investigating brutal murders similar to ones from their own past are forced to confront personal demons in these haunting suspense novels. Both contain lyrical language, complex and well-developed characters, with a riveting and evocative style that compels reader involvement. -- Jen Baker
Both tense, character-driven suspense novels center on unsolved disappearances from decades ago and how those close to the crimes still grapple with their connections to the victims. -- Halle Carlson
Secrets can come back to haunt you, as demonstrated in these moody mysteries starring troubled police detectives with complex emotional lives. Rich detail and a disturbing feel make these twisty novels compelling, intriguing, and ultimately heartbreaking. -- Mike Nilsson
Decades after being the victims of a brutal crime, the protagonists in these character-driven, richly detailed mysteries investigate a similar attack which dredges up long suppressed memories and traumas. Grisly descriptions of violence upon children make these intense and disturbing reads. -- Halle Carlson
The drama of police procedurals is captured in psychologically nuanced mysteries about Dublin, Ireland detectives re-investigating 20-year-old cold cases. These moody novels each feature plenty of soul-searching. -- Mike Nilsson
Murders that mirror distressing events from detectives' pasts, which they use to solve the cases, feature in these two suspenseful, compelling thrillers. Memory Man features a quirky hero and wry humor, while In the Woods has a moody, disturbing tone. -- Jen Baker
Missing persons cases drive these lyrical, richly detailed novels that blend Mystery and Psychological Fiction to explore family secrets, childhood friendships, and the loss of innocence. First-person narration heightens suspense by calling into question the reliability of memory. -- NoveList Contributor
Both of these compelling thrillers are propelled by main characters who were once held captive as children; as they investigate their current cases, they remain haunted by their own experiences. -- Andrea O'Shea
These psychological suspense novels feature characters who, as young children, witness horrible crimes and must now revisit their painful pasts to discover the truth. The stories are fast paced, chilling, and atmospheric. -- Sarah Dearman
The silence of the white city - Garcia Saenz, Eva
We recommend The Silences of the White City for readers who enjoy In the Woods. Both are moody mysteries featuring a strong sense of place where a twenty-year-old mystery has ties to a current case. Each stars a complicated lead investigator. -- Halle Carlson
In each of these taut suspense novels, protagonists are embroiled in investigations with disturbing similarities to disappearances from years before. Both offer well-drawn characters and a strong sense of place. -- Halle Carlson
These unsettling, psychologically intense mysteries focus on missing children cases that relate directly to the investigator's past. Both compelling, character-driven stories have an overarching moodiness and reflective tone enhanced by a lyrical writing style. -- Jen Baker

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Stieg Larsson and Tana French both write exceedingly dark crime stories which feature a compelling investigative team. Their work is set in bleak landscapes with intricately plotted suspenseful story lines that are marked by violence. -- Becky Spratford
Elizabeth George and Tana French both use an elegant literary style to write mystery novels featuring unforgettable characters whose professional and personal lives are inextricably mingled. A dark tone and realistic violence set the moody atmosphere for their stories. -- Jessica Zellers
Tana French writes mysteries that are darker and grittier than Liane Moriarty's more humorous domestic dramas, but they both create suspenseful, character-driven stories in which complex interpersonal dynamics and emotional consequences from past incidents are as important to the plot as the central mystery. -- Halle Carlson
Tana French and Karin Slaughter pen similarly fast-paced dark thrillers that focus on bizarre, brutal crimes (often vividly described). Their works combine police procedural action plus memorable, well-crafted protagonists facing their own inner demons. The result? Razor-sharp psychological tension and nail-biting plot twists. -- Kim Burton
Although Moore's novels include literary fiction as well as mysteries, both authors write leisurely-paced, intricately plotted stories with a cast of sympathetic and complex characters. A strong sense of place is a hallmark of each author, as is intensifying suspense. French writes series while Moore's novels stand alone. -- Mary Olson
Both Tana French and Gillian Flynn write dark, literary suspense stories in which extremely flawed narrators draw readers into emotionally charged stories. They create unsettling and disturbing tales filled with psychological twists and turns, and their protagonists tend to be intimately involved with the crimes they are investigating. -- Becky Spratford
Tana French and Kate Atkinson both dispense with rigid notions of literary fiction or mystery and instead focus on crafting uncommonly good stories. Both authors deliver unforgettable characters, violent crimes, twisting plots, and superb prose. -- Jessica Zellers
Though the locations are different (Ireland for Tana French, Australia for Jane Harper), both authors write gripping, atmospheric mysteries that are deeply rooted in a strong sense of place and feature authentic characters grappling with personal issues while investigating crimes. -- Halle Carlson
Tana French and Ausma Zehanat Khan write intriguingly complex police procedurals where the setting informs the story just as much as the characters or plots. Past events from the investigators' personal lives surface and shapes the way they view the cases they are assigned, often with complicated results. -- Halle Carlson
Tana French and Dervla McTiernan both write atmospheric, intricately plotted police procedurals. While their mysteries are complex, it is the nuanced characterizations and strong sense of place that stand out. Their protagonists are often flawed people who have made past mistakes which influence how they approach the central investigation. -- Halle Carlson
These authors' works have the appeal factors disturbing, bleak, and dialect-filled, and they have the genre "police procedurals"; the subjects "police," "detectives," and "women murder victims"; and characters that are "introspective characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors angst-filled, melancholy, and leisurely paced, and they have the genre "police procedurals"; the subjects "police," "detectives," and "cold cases (criminal investigation)"; and characters that are "introspective characters" and "flawed characters."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

Rob Ryan and his partner, Cassie Maddox, land the first big murder case of their police careers: a 12-year-old girl has been murdered in the woods adjacent to a Dublin suburb. Twenty years before, two children disappeared in the same woods, and Ryan was found clinging to a tree trunk, his sneakers filled with blood, unable to tell police anything about what happened to his friends. Ryan, although scarred by his experience, employs all his skills in the search for the killer and in hopes that the investigation will also reveal what happened to his childhood friends. In the Woods is a superior novel about cops, murder, memory, relationships, and modern Ireland. The characters of Ryan and Maddox, as well as a handful of others, are vividly developed in this intelligent and beautifully written first novel, and author French relentlessly builds the psychological pressure on Ryan as the investigation lurches onward under the glare of the tabloid media. Equally striking is the picture of contemporary Ireland, booming economically and fixated on the shabbiest aspects of American popular culture. An outstanding debut and a series to watch for procedural fans. --Thomas Gaughan Copyright 2007 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

Irish author French expertly walks the line between police procedural and psychological thriller in her debut. When Katy Devlin, a 12-year-old girl from Knocknaree, a Dublin suburb, is found murdered at a local archeological dig, Det. Rob Ryan and his partner, Cassie Maddox, must probe deep into the victim's troubled family history. There are chilling similarities between the Devlin murder and the disappearance 20 years before of two children from the same neighborhood who were Ryan's best friends. Only Maddox knows Ryan was involved in the 1984 case. The plot climaxes with a taut interrogation by Maddox of a potential suspect, and the reader is floored by the eventual identity and motives of the killer. A distracting political subplot involves a pending motorway in Knocknaree, but Ryan and Maddox are empathetic and flawed heroes, whose partnership and friendship elevate the narrative beyond a gory tale of murdered children and repressed childhood trauma. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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Library Journal Review

Three children wander into some woods near Dublin, but only one is found, hysterical and bloodied. Some 20 years later, he's a detective investigating a child's murder in the same woods. Lots of in-house excitement, though one wonders whether Coben (see The Woods, above) and French have talked. With a reading group guide. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Kirkus Book Review

The discovery of a body near a spooky wood forces a murder-squad detective in Ireland to confront his own horrific past, in an engrossing if melancholy debut. This mystery, heavy on psycho-drama, is set in the Dublin suburb of Knocknaree and is the first in a sequence to feature detectives Cassie Maddox and Adam Ryan. Adam has hidden his secret from everyone in the police force except his partner and best friend Cassie. She alone knows that he was the surviving child of three who went missing in the wood in 1984. Adam was found clinging to a tree, his shoes full of blood; there was no trace of his pals Peter and Jamie, nor could Adam remember a thing. Now, 20 years on, Katy Devlin's battered body has been found by the same wood, where an archaeological dig is in progress, under threat from plans for a new road. The investigation--Operation Vestal--evokes queasy sensations and flashes of recollection in Adam. The relationship with Cassie goes awry after the two sleep together. Adam eventually solves the Katy Devlin murder, but in this meditation on lost innocence, psychopathology and fear, his success is ruined when his own history emerges, leading to demotion. When not lengthily bogged down in angst, a readable, non-formulaic police procedural with a twist. It's ultimately the confession of a damaged man. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Booklist Reviews

/*Starred Review*/ Rob Ryan and his partner, Cassie Maddox, land the first big murder case of their police careers: a 12-year-old girl has been murdered in the woods adjacent to a Dublin suburb. Twenty years before, two children disappeared in the same woods, and Ryan was found clinging to a tree trunk, his sneakers filled with blood, unable to tell police anything about what happened to his friends. Ryan, although scarred by his experience, employs all his skills in the search for the killer and in hopes that the investigation will also reveal what happened to his childhood friends. In the Woods is a superior novel about cops, murder, memory, relationships, and modern Ireland. The characters of Ryan and Maddox, as well as a handful of others, are vividly developed in this intelligent and beautifully written first novel, and author French relentlessly builds the psychological pressure on Ryan as the investigation lurches onward under the glare of the tabloid media. Equally striking is the picture of contemporary Ireland, booming economically and fixated on the shabbiest aspects of American popular culture. An outstanding debut and a series to watch for procedural fans. ((Reviewed May 1, 2007)) Copyright 2007 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2007 Booklist Reviews.
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Library Journal Reviews

Three children wander into some woods near Dublin, but only one is found, hysterical and bloodied. Some 20 years later, he's a detective investigating a child's murder in the same woods. Lots of in-house excitement, though one wonders whether Coben (see The Woods, above) and French have talked. With a reading group guide. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
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Library Journal Reviews

Tana French's debut Irish mystery, In the Woods (Viking. 2007. ISBN 978-0-670-03860-2. $24.95), is a tightly woven police procedural that carries a huge psychological punch. When he was a boy, Det. Rob Ryan was found in the woods, clinging to a tree, shoes soaked in blood, and his two best friends were missing. Fast forward 20 years, and the detective and his partner, Cassie Maddox, catch the case of Katy Devlin, a 12-year-old who has been murdered in the same woods. As he investigates, Ryan hopes to solve his own cold case. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

Irish author French expertly walks the line between police procedural and psychological thriller in her debut. When Katy Devlin, a 12-year-old girl from Knocknaree, a Dublin suburb, is found murdered at a local archeological dig, Det. Rob Ryan and his partner, Cassie Maddox, must probe deep into the victim's troubled family history. There are chilling similarities between the Devlin murder and the disappearance 20 years before of two children from the same neighborhood who were Ryan's best friends. Only Maddox knows Ryan was involved in the 1984 case. The plot climaxes with a taut interrogation by Maddox of a potential suspect, and the reader is floored by the eventual identity and motives of the killer. A distracting political subplot involves a pending motorway in Knocknaree, but Ryan and Maddox are empathetic and flawed heroes, whose partnership and friendship elevate the narrative beyond a gory tale of murdered children and repressed childhood trauma. (May)

[Page 34]. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
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