The Secret Place

A Novel

By: Tana French

Narrated by: Stephen Hogan, Lara Hutchinson

Length: 20 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Listen to the New York Times best seller by Tana French, author of the forthcoming novel The Searcher and “the most important crime novelist to emerge in the past 10 years” (The Washington Post).

A year ago a boy was found murdered at a girlsʼ boarding school, and the case was never solved. Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to join Dublin’s Murder Squad when 16-year-old Holly Mackey arrives in his office with a photo of the boy with the caption: “I know who killed him".

Stephen joins with Detective Antoinette Conway to reopen the case - beneath the watchful eye of Holly’s father, fellow detective Frank Mackey. With the clues leading back to Holly’s close-knit group of friends, to their rival clique, and to the tangle of relationships that bound them all to the murdered boy, the private underworld of teenage girls turns out to be more mysterious and more dangerous than the detectives imagined.

©2014 Tana French (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"An absolutely mesmerizing read." (Gillian Flynn)

"A book full of giddy, slangy, devious schoolgirls who cannot be trusted about anything, at least not on the first, second, third or fourth rounds of questioning.... Part of this book’s trickiness is its way of letting characters hide the truth behind the smoke screen of language and let both readers and investigators gradually figure out who is lying." (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

"There are echoes of Leopold and Loeb and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, but the language and landscape are unmistakably French’s, as is the way she excavates the past to illuminate the present." (O Magazine)

Another home run.

Another great Dublin Murder Squad mystery. I love how interconnected these books are while remaining a fresh new experience each time.

highly Recommended!

I love Tana French's books. They are truly deep immersion experiences. So set aside some time to be drenched in her 400+ page world. The book had a good mystery (murder at a girls boarding school), compellingly drawn detectives (who I want to read more about please), and the most richly detailed descriptions of the lives of teenage girls. In fact, those chapters were probably what made me give the book four stars instead of five. The chapters in the world of the girls really captured the crazy, self-centered, all-consuming nature of those years. I didn't like it then, and I still don't like it...but boy does she capture it! Highly recommended!

The dual-perspective storyline really works

If you could sum up The Secret Place in three words, what would they be?

Smart writing, intriguing structure, engaging performance

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed hearing the girls' perceptions of events in the voice of Lara Hutchinson. The dual-perspective performance was a refreshing addition to the usual single-reader presentation. It was true to the spirit of French's story. I suspect that some of the negative reviews were written by listeners who didn't like hearing about certain hard realities of girls' lives in a young-sounding, female voice. Never thought I'd be a murder mystery fan, but I love all the audiobooks in the Dublin Murder Squad series.

Excellent mystery!!

I love the Dublin Murder Squad series, and how each book brings to life one character from the previous book. However, the books don't need to be read in order for each story to come alive. Great narration made this a real listening treat!

A literary adventure.

This story captures adolescence with familiarity and mystery. Characters well-drawn. Intriguing story keeps you wanting to know more. Great!

whining Irish teenage girls

What did you like best about The Secret Place? What did you like least?

The character of MackyI liked least the whinging teenage girl voices. sounding like, in the words of the book"bad actors doing an American accent"

If you’ve listened to books by Tana French before, how does this one compare?

Nowhere near as good, not even close

Would you be willing to try another one of Stephen Hogan and Lara Hutchinson ’s performances?

Stephen Hogan- Yes
Lara Hutchinson- not this side of hell

Could you see The Secret Place being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I can see it being made into a bad TV movie

Any additional comments?

way below par for an author I had enjoyed in the past.

Not the best, but --

I'm a huge fan of Tana French, but this wasn't my favorite. I think the girls' story could have been cut by half to have a tighter narrative. I disagree about the woman narrator -- I thought she was fine and had a thankless task in doing the voices of eight teenage girls. I'm hoping her next will be up to the level of Faithful Place (my favorite).

Engrossing, masterful storytelling!

From the first book, I have been hooked this author. She has a way of telling a story that slowly, almost imperceptibly pulls you in until you don't want to leave. Each book seems to build on the one before even though each story and each main detective is very different. I love the look she gives us inside the internal life of each of her characters. She switches effortlessly between the mind of complicated teenage girls, to the minds of the detectives, building up to a surprising ending. The narrators perfectly complemented the story. If you are looking for something that will draw you in and stay with you after it's finished then please do not pass this up!

Never sending my kids to Boarding School

You've seen variations of the plot before but the author does such a good job unfolding everything and hopping between time zones and characters that by the end you can't help but feel heartbroken and exhilerated at the same time. Beautiful imagery too. Everything just comes alive. Conway and Moran can be a hot mess but listening to them bounce off each other is gold. I listened to Trespasser first, so this made a good double feature.

Great Plot! Great Narrator!

This is well worth your time. A wonderful marriage of story and storyteller! I could say more but why?