THE WITCH ELM, by Tana French

Mystery/Thriller -- 5 stars



Just when you thought the mystery/thriller genre was dying from overdone-ness and a lack of any real originality, along comes The Witch Elm. Toby is a the lucky one, the one to whom everything comes easily. A burglary and assault change everything.  Once he is out of the hospital, he and his girlfriend move in with his Uncle Hugo, who is dying of cancer, where both Toby and Hugo can share mutual support.  It's not until a third of the way through the book that a real mystery breaks onto the scene (the burglary and assault quickly become mere background noise to a family drama) --and it's a doozy.  But the real originality comes, not from a discovered body, but from the story's viewpoint.  Instead of detectives sorting through clues (there are detectives, but they are secondary to the telling) the secrets are unraveled by the suspect--who doesn't know if he himself is innocent or not--and who tries to excavate the truth from family memories that he is personally lacking since his assault.  There are twists and turns and surprises right up until the last page, and every one of them is fresh and original.  I have been a fan of Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series for some time, but this stand-alone book put me in awe of her real creative talents.