Synopses & Reviews
The mesmerizing fourth novel of the Dublin murder squad by New York Times bestselling author Tana French
Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy, the brash cop from Tana French’s bestselling Faithful Place, plays by the book and plays hard. That’s what’s made him the Murder squad’s top detective—and that’s what puts the biggest case of the year into his hands.
On one of the half-built, half-abandoned "luxury" developments that litter Ireland, Patrick Spain and his two young children are dead. His wife, Jenny, is in intensive care.
At first, Scorcher and his rookie partner, Richie, think it’s going to be an easy solve. But too many small things can’t be explained. The half dozen baby monitors, their cameras pointing at holes smashed in the Spains’ walls. The files erased from the Spains’ computer. The story Jenny told her sister about a shadowy intruder who was slipping past all the locks.
And Broken Harbor holds memories for Scorcher. Seeing the case on the news sends his sister Dina off the rails again, and she’s resurrecting something that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control: what happened to their family one summer at Broken Harbor, back when they were children.
With her signature blend of police procedural and psychological thriller, French’s new novel goes full throttle with a heinous crime, creating her most complicated detective character and her best book yet.
Review
"One of the most talented crime writers alive."
Review
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Review
Praise for THE DARK WINTER by David Mark: “British crime reporter Mark’s outstanding first novel, a suspenseful whodunit, introduces Det. Sgt. Aector McAvoy…Readers will want to see more of the complicated McAvoy, who well deserves a sophisticated and disturbing plot.”—Publisher’s Weekly (Starred)
“[A]n impressive debut. John Harvey readers should take note.”
—Booklist (starred) “With a poetic intensity in its prose, an unpredictable plot and a Scottish detective, Mark’s novel gripped me from its opening pages.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “It will not be long until new voices in the genre are hailed as the ‘next David Mark.’”
—Bookpage.com “Fast moving and tightly plotted, with strong characterization and a likeable protagonist, this is an extremely promising debut.”—The Guardian “The Dark Winter is a promising debut by David Mark… certainly provides a trip to Hull and back.”—The Telegraph Dark Winter is a fantastic debut of a police procedural series that takes place in northern England. Just as Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy seems to be able to put himself in the mind of a killer, David Mark has developed his characters so completely that the reader can almost put himself in the mind of McAvoy as he is connecting dots that no one else even sees. McAvoy may be a gentle giant of a man but he is also determined to get at the truth even if his job is in jeopardy. Luckily, he finds a believer in his boss, another dedicated officer who also is fighting to keep her job.—Nancy McFarlane, Fiction Addiction “The Dark Winter is an exceptional debut from an exciting new talent. David Mark is an original and captivating new voice.”—Val McDermid
Review
“Sophisticated plotting, in-depth characters, and sharp dialogue elevate British author Marks gritty second police procedural featuring Yorkshire Det. Sgt. Aector McAvoy. Mark expertly brings together two seemingly unrelated investigations while weaving in McAvoys devotion to his young family and sensitivity to the Roma background of his wife, Roison, whose extended family becomes involved in his inquiries. Fans of John Harvey and Peter James will find much to like.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred review
“McAvoys second is an excellent police procedural featuring sex, violence and complex characters who are quirky but likable.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Compelling … Richly satisfying and told with remarkable flair, [Original Skin] confirms Mark as one of the darkest of the new faces in British crime writing, and not one to miss.”—Daily Mail (UK)
Review
“Fast moving and tightly plotted, with strong characterization and a likeable protagonist, this is an extremely promising debut.”—The Guardian
Review
PRAISE FOR THE DARK WINTER
“Outstanding… Readers will want to see more of the complicated McAvoy, who well serves a sophisticated and disturbing plot.” -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“An exceptional debut from an exciting new talent. David Mark is an original and captivating new voice.” -Val McDermid
“An impressive debut. John Harvey readers should take note.” -Booklist (starred review)
“Fast moving and tightly plotted, with strong characterization and a likeable protagonist, this is an extremely promising debut.” —The Guardian (UK)
“An unusual and accomplished debut with tight plotting and intelligent writing. Mark credits his grandparents with being ‘champion storytellers and hes clearly inherited the gene.” —The Daily Mail (UK)
“A promising debut…certainly provides a trip to Hull and back.” —The Telegraph (UK)
Review
“Ms. French created haunting, damaged characters who have been hit hard by some cataclysm . . . This may sound like a routine police procedural. But like Gillian Flynn’s
Gone Girl, this summer’s other dagger-sharp display of mind games,
Broken Harbor is something more.”
Review
“So much of the pleasure inherent in reading these novels is in trying to figure out where things are going and being constantly surprised, not to mention thoroughly spooked. I predict
Broken Harbor will be on more than one Best of 2012 lists — it’s definitely at the top of mine.”
Review
"
Broken Harbor is truly a book for, and of, our broken times. It's literature masquerading as a police procedural."
Review
“French has that procedural pro's knack for making mundane police work seem fascinating. And she's drawn not just to the who but also to the why — those bigger mysteries about the human weaknesses that drive somebody to such inhuman brutality. What really gives
Broken Harbor its nerve-rattling force is her [French’s] exploration of events leading up to the murders, rendered just as vividly as the detectives' scramble to solve them."
Review
“These four novels have instated Ms. French as
one of crime fiction’s reigning grand dames — a Celtic tigress . . . It’s not the fashion in literary fiction these days to address such things as the psychological devastation that a fallout of the middle class can wreak on those who have never known anything else, and Ms. French does it with aplomb — and a headless sparrow and dozens of infrared baby monitors."
Review
“The fourth book in Tana French’s
brilliant, genre-busting series about the (fictitious) Dublin Murder Squad . . . Invoking atmosphere is one of French’s particular gifts, and in this department,
Broken Harbor (the name of the town before the developers got hold of it) is a tour de force.”
Review
“Ms. French has come to be regarded as one of the most distinct and exciting new voices in crime writing. She constructs her plots in a dreamlike, meandering fashion that seems at odds with genre's fixed narrative conventions. Sometimes, it's not even clear whodunit. Her novels have been translated into 31 languages, with 1.5 million copies in print . . .
Broken Harbor has the hallmarks of a standard police procedural: a cocky homicide detective with a troubled past who educates his younger partner with pat lessons; a shocking crime that seems to defy explanation; a heart-stopping twist at the end. But Ms. French undercuts expectations at every turn. The victims begin to look less like victims; the case starts to unravel and the lead detective makes compromises that could ruin him.”
Review
“Both the characters and the crime command attention, page by page.”
Review
“French's flair for setting and its influence on characters, as well as her elegant prose, shine in
Broken Harbor. The emptiness of Brianstown becomes the modern equivalent of the spooky mansion, complete with things that go bump in the night . . . French expertly shows the importance of connecting with each other, and how fragile those bonds can be.”
Review
"Salon.com’s Laura Miller has this advice for anyone who has not yet read EVERY Tana French novel, 'Just go out and get them right now.'”
Review
“Part police procedural, part psychological thriller, all fun.”
Review
“French’s eloquently slow-burning fourth Dublin murder squad novel shows her at the top of her game . . . As usual, French excels at drawing out complex character dynamics.”
Review
“Each of French’s novels (
Faithful Place, 2010) offers wonderfully complex and fully realized characters . . . French has never been less than very good, but
Broken Harbor is a spellbinder.”
Review
“A mystery that is perfectly in tune with the times . . . [French] continues to distinguish herself with this fourth novel, marked by psychological acuteness and thematic depth . . . There are complications, deliberations and a riveting resolution.”
Synopsis
What Ian Rankin is to Edinburgh, David Mark is to Hull, the northern England port as old and mysterious as its bordering sea. There, a series of suspicious deaths have captured the attention of Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy, whose keen intelligence leads him to notice a pattern missed by others: All of the victims were at one time the sole survivors of tragedies large and small. As McAvoy strives to connect the cases to a single culprit, he is continually torn between his duties and his aching desire to spend more time with his wife and child—both of whom he adores. In McAvoy, Mark has created an unforgettable hero: a family guy obsessed with being a decent cop, a physically imposing man far more comfortable exploring databases than being gung-ho with his muscle.
The Dark Winter is the start of a police series that will rank among the classics of our time.
Synopsis
A series of suspicious deaths has rocked Hull, a port city in England as old and mysterious as its bordering sea. In the middle of a Christmas service, a teenage girl adopted from Sierra Leone is chopped down with a machete in front of the entire congregation. A retired trawlerman is found dead at the scene of a tragedy he escaped, the only survivor, forty years ago. An ugly fire rages in a working-class neighborhood, and when the flames die away, a body is discovered, burned beyond recognition. Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy is sure there is a connection between these crimes, but his fellow officers are not convinced—they would rather get a quick arrest than bother themselves with finding the true killer. Torn between his police duties and his aching desire to spend more time with his pregnant wife and young son, McAvoy is an unlikely hero: a family man more obsessed with being a decent cop, a physically imposing man far more comfortable exploring databases that being gung-ho with his muscle. Compelled by his keen sense of justice, McAvoy decides to strike out alone—but in the depths of the dark winter, on the hunt for a murderer, it’s difficult to forget what happened the last time he found himself on the wrong side of a killer’s blade…
Synopsis
From internationally acclaimed author David Mark comes the second novel in his wholly original and suspenseful Aector McAvoy series.
Synopsis
Detective Aector McAvoy returns in a thrilling new case set in Yorkshire; a series of salacious murders has him on the hunt for a sadistic killer in David Marks critically acclaimed series.
When swinger” Simon Appleyard is found strung-up and naked in his Hull apartment, the authorities are only too happy to chalk up his death to a suicide. After all, a new gang has taken over the local drug trade, and Detective Superintendent Trish Pharaohs Serious and Organized Crime Unit is being run ragged by this well-connected and merciless group of criminals. With violent drug-related crime on the rise, the last thing the police need is an investigation of a depressed young mans death.
But more bodies begin to turn up, and all are somehow connected to the local underground erotic scene. Although Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy would be perfectly content to stay at home with his beloved wife and newborn baby, he begins to suspect that murder is just the tip of the iceberg. As his shrewd investigation brings him uncomfortably close to the local political elitepowerful people who would kill to keep their secrets buried, and who have the power to make or break his careerMcAvoy realizes he is hunting a killer who has plenty more targets in sight, and a lust that wont be satisfied until the River Humber runs red.
Synopsis
Compelling
Richly satisfying and told with remarkable flair.” Daily Mail (UK)
When swinger” Simon Appleyard is found strung-up and naked in his apartment, the authorities are only too happy to chalk it up to suicide. After all, a new gang has taken over the local drug trade, and Detective Superintendant Trish Pharaohs Serious and Organized Crime Unit is run ragged. A murder investigation is the last thing they need.
But more bodies begin to surface, and all are somehow connected to the underground erotic scene. Although Detective Sargeant Aector McAvoy would be perfectly content to stay home with his wife and their newborn baby, he begins to suspect that murder is just the beginning. As his investigation brings him uncomfortably close to the local political elite, McAvoy realizes he is hunting a sadistic killer with a lust that wont be satisfied until the River Humber runs red.
Synopsis
The New York Times hails David Marks police thrillers as in the honorable tradition of Joseph Wambaugh and Ed McBain.” In Taking Pity, Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy returns for another darkly enthralling installment of this internationally acclaimed series.
Synopsis
A series of suspicious deaths has rocked Hull, a port city in England as old and mysterious as its bordering sea. In the middle of a Christmas service, a teenage girl adopted from Sierra Leone is chopped down with a machete in front of the entire congregation. A retired trawlerman is found dead at the scene of a tragedy he escaped, the only survivor, forty years ago. An ugly fire rages in a working-class neighborhood, and when the flames die away, a body is discovered, burned beyond recognition. Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy is sure there is a connection between these crimes, but his fellow officers are not convinced—they would rather get a quick arrest than bother themselves with finding the true killer. Torn between his police duties and his aching desire to spend more time with his pregnant wife and young son, McAvoy is an unlikely hero: a family man more obsessed with being a decent cop, a physically imposing man far more comfortable exploring databases that being gung-ho with his muscle. Compelled by his keen sense of justice, McAvoy decides to strike out alone—but in the depths of the dark winter, on the hunt for a murderer, it’s difficult to forget what happened the last time he found himself on the wrong side of a killer’s blade…
About the Author
Tana French grew up in Ireland, Italy, the US and Malawi, and has lived in Dublin since 1990. She trained as a professional actress at Trinity College, Dublin, and has worked in theatre, film and voiceover. she is the author of Faithful Place, The Likeness, and In the Woods, which won Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for first novel. She lives in Dublin with her husband and daughter.