Along with Michael Connelly, the other crime fiction writer that I eagerly await each new release from is Tana French. She’s nowhere near as prolific as Connelly - I think this is her sixth novel. Each novel is set in Ireland, most of them cases for the (fictitious) Dublin Murder Squad. Each novel takes a minor character from the previous book and makes him or her the main protagonist in the new book.
I just love her writing and the edgy, slightly creepy atmosphere she manages to create. Most of her novels so far have had a shadow of the supernatural hanging over them without quite losing touch with reality - just enough to make you wonder if something not quite natural is at play. Her last novel, The Secret Place probably probably had the most overtly supernatural elements, whereas this novel probably has the least. The other element to most of her novels to date is that the protagonist in each somehow comes undone in some way, even as he or she solves the case, some fatal flow in their character causes their victory to turn out hollow in some way. That’s one of the things I’ve really liked in her work. The Trespasser goes easier on the protagonists than her previous work - there’s no personal tragedy awaiting them at the end, which is good and bad. This seems to be her most straight-up detective story of her novels so far. Overall, though, another excellent novel from Tana French - can’t wait for the next one!