Saturday, November 9, 2019

The Witch Elm

Book: The Witch Elm
Author: Tana French

Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who's dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life - he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family's ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden - and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.-Goodreads
Review: I've read other Tana French books so I was expecting a long, drawn out story with a phenomenal ending that would make it all worth it. Alas, that was not the case here. The main mystery doesn't begin until almost 40% of the book and once we find out about the victim, I could care less who killed him. I would have liked to have killed him myself. As for the mystery of who killed him, there are only four main characters in this book (none of whom was particularly likable), it wasn't hard to figure out. The big reveal was totally flat and not shocking.  The only shocking thing here was that my favorite character was the head detective investigating the murder of the tree victim.

Overall, extremely long, drawn out and boring. Oddly enough, I do think this would make an excellent miniseries. 

Grade: 2/5

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