The Witch elm

Locations
Call Number: Mystery / French, Tana, Adult Book / Fiction / Mystery / General / French, Tana
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Westgate Branch

"A brilliant new work of suspense from "the most important crime novelist to emerge in the past 10 years." (Washington Post) From the writer who "inspires cultic devotion in readers" (The New Yorker) and has been called "incandescent" by Stephen King, "absolutely mesmerizing" by Gillian Flynn, and "unputdownable" (People), comes a gripping new novel that turns a crime story inside out. Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who's dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life - he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family's ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden - and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed. A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we're capable of, when we no longer know who we are"-- Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Not as good as her others submitted by bookher on July 12, 2019, 4:20pm I read this book but only gave it 3 stars because Tana French's others are so good. This just didn't compare for me. It might have been because I really didn't like any of the characters especially Toby. He was a jerk and never really redeemed himself so it just wasn't enjoyable.

The skull isn't found until halfway through the book. submitted by eamcdon on July 23, 2019, 10:36am The premise is a skull is found which changes lives. This doesn't happen until you are halfway into the book. As stated above the characters have no redeeming qualities at all.

Big Tana French fan, but . . . submitted by teri on August 8, 2019, 6:02pm this book isn't like her other "Dublin Murder Squad" novels.
The Witch Elm was a good character study - but , as another reviewer says, I didn't care for Toby - the main character. That in itself made the book less satisfying.
There's a lot here about relationships that are formed early in life - their importance and staying power. That was good. And Tana French is an excellent writer! It just seemed slow, and not as enjoyable as her previous novels - which I hope she returns to.

Different and dare I say better?! submitted by ginarae3 on August 14, 2020, 9:02am I couldn't put this down. The slow unraveling of the mystery, the twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and the way that you root for characters that you don't even like... love it! Tana French is brilliant and unique. I love the Dublin Murder Squad, but this is something different and I hope to get more stories like this from her in the future.

slow build, narrator's a jerk, still a good book submitted by apknapp on August 22, 2020, 9:47pm This was long, but the story flows well and kept me engaged, the characters are vibrant, the mystery is spooky and its resolution suspenseful. Unfortunately, everything we learn about the narrator makes him less and less sympathetic; throughout his life, at every opportunity to do the right thing, he has instead opted to do the easy thing, because he just took it for granted that it would all work out. And it did--for him. Until it finally didn't, but even then, it kind of did. And though I often wanted to club him with a heavy candlestick, I still felt sympathy for him, which I consider a feat of truly good writing. Having a narrator I didn't like was a new experience; I'm sure I would've enjoyed the book more if I'd liked the narrator, but disliking him actually kept me tuned in, as I was curious to see if/how events would alter his outlook.