Gifted!! The third book in the (loosely connected) series by French that began with In the Woods and The Likeness.

I was worried I wouldn’t like this book as much; a number of friends read it earlier than me and the reception seemed a bit so-so.

Well, I had nothing to worry about. I loved this book; in fact, it MAY be my favorite of the three. It dips into Frank’s past and the current him gets confronted by the biggest mystery (and heartache) of the younger him. Rosie, his daughter, and really all the members of his family, are so richly drawn. I felt all caught up in their love affairs and their fights and those bitter things we can never take back. Frank was a bit of a cold fish in his earlier appearances in the other books, but you can see inside him here, through his many layers of self protection.

I love mystery and I love fiction but I super extra big time love when they come together in this world of deeper, thicker mystery fiction. Tana French can do no wrong!

Apparently her fourth book will also have a similarly loose connection, following Scorcher Kennedy, who drove me bananas in this book! I can’t wait to read a book from his point of view and come to love him just as I did Frank.

Here’s a cool interview where, among other things, French touches on that idea of moving up above that genre fiction labeling: More and more crime writers are rebelling against that, and I’d love to be a small part of the force that finally crumbles that ridiculous imaginary barrier.