Book Review: The Witch Elm by Tana French
I recently finished a great mystery novel: 'The Witch Elm' by Tana French. Tana French is an especially skilled mystery writer and I am always excited when I see that she has a new mystery novel to read! All of her other books are a part of the same series: The Dublin Murder Squad series. The Witch Elm is her first stand alone novel.
Toby is a blessed man whose life is easy and full of good luck. That is, until the day his house is robbed and he is brutally beaten. The assault left him a changed man because his brain suffered damage and he lost a bit of himself in the damage of his brain. As an opportunity to recuperate in peace, he along with his girlfriend move in with his Uncle Hugo on his fancy country estate. At first, everything is going well except for some mild family drama. But soon, the peace is decimated when a body is discovered on the estate!
For a while when reading this book, I was wondering when the actual mystery was to begin. I knew it was a mystery book, but in the beginning, there wasn't much of a mystery except for maybe who assaulted Toby. But then it finally happened when a skull was found by Toby's nephew. From here, the plot twists and surprises slowly start unfolding, till we get to the last one hundred pages of the book or so when the plot twists just start tumbling rapidly off the page!
Even the actual 'mystery' part of the novel took a while to develop, I enjoyed the slow build up. Since we were fully immersed into Toby's life, it made the sense of unease all the more strong once the mystery began.
One thing I felt unsure about with this book was how the reader was suppose to feel about the main character, Toby. I for one was not a fan. It didn't make me not like the book. I also didn't despise Toby. I wanted the best for him and still cared about what happened to him. I found parts I liked about him. But overall, he wasn't the type of person I would want in my life. He seemed playfully mean spirited and oblivious the feelings of others. I just couldn't quite trust Toby, which maybe was the intent of French.
A lot was made about Toby's girlfriend Melissa and how wonderful of a human being she was. I felt confused through the novel why Melissa would be with someone like Toby. I kept waiting for more to be revealed about Melissa that proved she wasn't the innocent, pure-souled human she was described as, or at the very least explained better what she appreciated so much about Toby.
For some reason, while reading this book, Toby kept reminding me of a character from another book: Hugo Lamb from The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. The two novels are vastly different, so I am unsure why I made the connection, but Hugo Lamb is definitely written as an unlikable character. Maybe if I hadn't kept making this connection in my mind between the two characters I would have liked and trusted Toby a little more.
Overall, this book was wonderful and shared many of the characteristics I so appreciate in French's other works: Strong character development, unexpected plot twists, and good ol' page-turning fun!