Dublin Murder Squad series begins

Although I twice vowed not to read another Tana French novel, I’ve read five of the Dublin Murder Squad series and plan to read the sixth one and her standalone crime novel, The Witch Elm (2018).

I can’t recall how I was introduced to In The Woods (2008), but if it was you that recommended it, and you’re reading this, thank you. Of course, I wasn’t grateful when I first finished the novel, but I am now.

French’s series is unique in that each book is narrated by a different detective. Each one works or has worked on the Murder Squad of the Dublin police, and they are all flawed. Also, in each novel, the detective-narrator has some personal connection to the victim, witness, or crime scene.

The books are full of twists that are impossible to see coming, unless you’re used to French’s unconventional protagonists and plots. There are no happy, satisfying endings. Just realistic ones. Sometimes justice is not done; sometimes the “good guys” do “bad things.” This is how French challenges our notions of right and wrong and human imperfection. And this is why I twice vowed not to read another French novel, but ended up doing so anyway four times.

The tone of her books has been compared to that of Swedish crime novels. Anyone who has read the Millennium series, beginning with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or any of the Kurt Wallander books will note the similarity. However, French’s characters offer the reader more than excessive coffee drinking and ennui. They offer us a close, sometimes painful, examination of human failing and weakness, even in humans with the noblest intentions.

The television adaptation of the series began Sunday night on Starz and continues for the next seven Sunday nights. The sweeping grey landscapes and mossy, fog-shrouded woods certainly capture the mood of French’s books.

The first episode presents the crime from the first book, In The Woods. However, the crime from the second book, The Likeness, occurs in the second episode, and detectives Maddox and Reilly (Ryan in the book) solve the two crimes simultaneously. The primary complaint of the UK audiences who have already seen the entire season was how the screenwriter has melded the two novels.

Although viewers of any television or movie adaptation who know and love the books are not going to be happy about the changes made by the screenwriter or the director, changing from a print to a visual medium is going to require accommodations.

However, it is difficult to understand what necessitated combining the two plots. Both novels are long enough with enough complexity to fill an entire eight-episode season. Perhaps the screenwriter wanted to reduce the brooding-to-action ratios.

And brooding is the only way to describe Det. Reilly/Ryan. His is the most disturbing plot and the most complex character. His story sets the tone and expectations for the novels that follow. His story deserves a treatment without the distraction of another story interwoven with it.

Another complaint of the UK audiences was about the lack of resolution in the final episode. Some complained that the most intriguing mystery is never solved. In this regard, the television adaptation is true to the novel. But that is what makes French’s books so compelling and irresistible to her readers, even those that vow not to read another of her novels.