The Secret Place: A Novel
Tana French
Language: English
Pages: 480
ISBN: 0143127519
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
“An absolutely mesmerizing read. . . . Tana French is simply this: a truly great writer.” —Gillian Flynn
Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to join Dublin’s Murder Squad when sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey arrives in his office with a photo of a popular boy whose body was found at a girls’ boarding school a year earlier. The photo had been posted at “The Secret Place,” the school’s anonymous gossip board, and the caption says “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.
he’s not like that. He’ll fuck with us, but he’ll do it sideways, and he won’t leave unless it looks like we’re getting somewhere. He’ll want to keep us talking till he works out our theory, what we’ve got.” Conway nodded. Said, “Got his number?” “Yeah.” Next second I wished I’d said no, but all Conway said was, “Ring him.” Mackey picked up fast. “Stephen, my man! Long time no talk.” I said, “I’m at St. Kilda’s.” The air sharpened, instantly, to a knifepoint. “What’s
left evidence all over the place, I figured she’d go to pieces and confess. Do you even remember what a wreck she was?” “So was everyone else,” Conway said. The sharp point on her voice said Should’ve known. “She wasn’t bawling or fainting: she looked to be in better nick than most.” Julia’s eyebrow flicked. “Yeah, if only you’d told me that back then. I was there expecting you guys to come for her any minute. I thought if there was at least a way to show you that she was the one who’d
never thought she was getting it off a guy, though. Thanks for taking one for the team, man. Got your shots? Got your gimp suit? They were all a few years older than me, all dressed that bit snappier. I grinned and kept my mouth shut, give or take. “Never would’ve guessed she went for the redsers.” “At least I’ve got hair, man. No one likes a baldy bollix.” “I’ve got a gorgeous babe at home who does.” “That’s not what she said last night.” Give or take. Antoinette
smacking her forehead. “How do you manage not to kill her? Hello, keep up: you need to bother because if I call Matron and she sees you dressed like that, she’s going to know you’ve been outside. Is that what you want?” “No,” Julia says, standing on Becca’s foot. “We’d all be delighted if you could just go to bed and forget you ever saw us.” “Right. So if you want me to do you a massive favor like that, you should actually probably be nice to me?” “We can do nice.” “That’s great.
staring where Julia had been. “I don’t like being some little rich kids’ bitch.” I shrugged. “As long as they’re giving us what we’re after, I’m grand with them getting a bit of what they want as well.” “I would be, too. If I was positive we had a handle on what they want. Why they want it.” Conway straightened up, took her hands out of her pockets. “Where’s Alison’s phone?” “On her bed.” “I’ll confirm with Alison where she got it. You search this.” The thought gave me the