Book giveaway: The Secret Place by Tana French

[TinaMumsnet]

'I know who killed him.'

Could these few words, posted on a notice board in an exclusive girls' boarding school, be Detective Stephen Moran's passport to the Murder Squad?

We’re really excited to be giving away 300 copies of The Secret Place this week. Beautifully written and drenched in suspense, we haven't been able to stop talking about this book here at MNHQ.

Click here to find out more, and apply for a copy.

This giveaway is sponsored by Hodder.

Tweet using #TheSecretPlace.

Oh Little I've just given it to my mum to read. I would gladly have posted it otherwise.

butch that's really lovely of you, thank you! Here's hoping your mum is a super quick reader and has already finished it...

Marking place as uve received my copy, and am getting stuck in.

Got my copy-am on chapter 3! Liking it so far! I too appreciate the matching bookmark!

Upto chapter 6. I didn't take to it immediately but it's growing on me.

Firstly, thank you for the opportunity to read this book for free. Here are my thoughts (contains spoilers, so don't read if you haven't finished):

Like everyone else, I thought the packaging made it exciting, and the blurb really draws you in. This book is obviously being heavily marketed, and for me, that added to the excitement; I'm enjoying being part of a wider discussion.

I'm not normally a fan of crime, but I got into the story quickly. As others have said, it's certainly a page turner. Tana French has a short, choppy style, and I'm not sure if this is typical of crime novels. It took me a while to acclimatise, but once I did, I was hooked. This is the sort of book that makes you neglect everything else as you are desperate to find out who killed him. I loved the banter between Moran and Conway, and think this could stretch into other books too.

A few caveats: the book is too long, and I agree with whoever said upthread that you could have condensed the story a little without losing the impetus. Secondly, I did get a bit impatient with the supernatural, telekinesis element. I don't like that sort of thing - personal prejudice I admit - and I think the story would have been stronger without this. I did see Becca as the guilty party from about p300, so the ending didn't come as a surprise.

However, it's still a book I would recommend - come on, you've got to be part of this big online conversation. You know you're being manipulated, but it's still a lot of fun. Go read!

I found it a little hard going to start with but am several chapters of each half odf the story in now and am getting annoyed my day is getting in the way of reading!! I like the alternating chapter style and am interested to see where it is going. Sure is no Mallory Towers boarding school!!!

Was so excited to receive my copy of The Secret Place, even down to design of the cover and matching bookmark! I am new to Tana French and this series of books, so was not sure what to expect. However I was quickly hooked by the story and characters, and as said before it is a real page turner! Although I wasn't keen on the supernatural element in the book, or any book really. I will now have to catch up on all the previous books in this series. Thanks Mumsnet!

Very excited to receive this enormous book and very impressed with the whole design - cover and matching bookmark!

Have just started to read and will come back as soon as possible - I loved her previous book so hope this is as good.

Just got back from holiday and picked the book up from the post. Thanks ever so much for sending. Cannot wait to read it.

I have already posted some thoughts on this already. Just coming back to say that I have finished this. I did enjoy it a lot. Fiendarina has it spot on for me. I also felt it was too long and it could have been edited to be more succinct. The 'woo' bits did not fit with the story in places. I appreciate that some were needed but not all.

THanks. Will pm you Butch as happy to send mine on for postage cost.

Sorry, meant Littleturkish. It's been a long day.

Really enjoyed the 'to and fro' of this book. As others have mentioned, I too disliked the supernatural bits. It has a long ending - as Becca had seemed the obvious culprit for a while, and there was a lot of book left to go, I expected another twist towards the end - Finn jealous over Chris & Julia perhaps.

I loved this book. I knew I would when I read the first few pages - boarding school story mixed with detective story? - right up my street. I managed to save properly reading it until we were away on holiday, but once I started I was hooked. I carried on reading until I finished at 4am (dh still not very happy with me). I just had to know what happened. Unlike most detective stories / thrillers I read, I really liked the characters and cared what happened to them, which added to the suspense. I was dreading that someone I liked would turn out to be the killer...(no spoilers)
After I'd finished it I couldn't stop thinking about it - partly because I hadn't taken it all in in my late night reading, partly because I was so enchanted by the world of the book. In the end I read the whole book again two days later - it still worked, the story hung together, I still loved it, it was still magical.

One thing I wasn't prepared for was how funny it is - both the teenage girl main characters and the detectives are sharp and witty in their different ways. I genuinely laughed out loud a couple of times. The writing is good - nothing grates (and I'm fussy). Not being Irish or a teenage girl I can't comment on the how authentic the dialogue is (would love to know) but I enjoyed it anyway.

The absence of social networking is slightly odd - but is explained early on and can presumably be enforced in a strict boarding school. It's just that I had a teen ds in a boys school who only ever seemed to meet girls from the girls school next door via facebook, and then had long chats on Skype. If only the boys and girls in the book had just stayed in and skyped each other....

I've not come across Tana French before but will be seeking out her other books now.

Right finished and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the descriptions both the tangible and the intangible, they really helped me to immerse myself in the story and not just read the words but imagine it actually happening.

I enjoyed the alternating chapters which gave insight into the strength of the friendship between the four girls, nicely contrasted against the other four, as well as showing the events that led up to the murder. I also enjoyed the actual investigation 'watching' them put the pieces together. I do think the supernatural element could have been restricted to the 'magical' feeling that they got on their nights out that strengthened the bond they shared rather then them turning lights on and off etc, that wasn't really necessary.

Tana French is a name I'll be adding to my list of authors to look out for.

Got the book and it is really good cant put it down at all.
Never read this author and this book has definelty made me look for other books from her

Thank you for my free copy, I'm only a few chapters in and hooked already! I daren't read any of the other posts on the thread yet for fear of spoilers, so I'll pop back when I'm finished - I doubt it'll take me long!

Seems to be running out of steam in the middle, the story is not gripping enough after a while, and the "woo" bit is unnecessary IMO. Will try to finish it ASP and comment on the overall.
I think it is a book to read quickly otherwise it is quite difficult to pick up again as you don't really want to know what happened.

I've just sat down to start reading my free copy (thanks very much!) and I've only the first chapter and I don't like the way the sentences are constructed. It doesn't flow well.
I'm tired following a night shift so it might be me.
I'll try again tomorrow but if it carries on like that I won't be reading it!

NOTE _ SPOLIERS

Well I finished this last night and I suppose I feel a little mixed about it overall.

I would def pass it on and recommend it but probably feel a bit 'cheated' by the hype /packaging/marketing campaign etc which feels a bit over the top for the book as it doesn't feel that good for me.

Overall as others have already mentioned it was too long and at times I just wished it would all just hurry up, however I loved the interaction between the detectives and that was the relationship I enjoyed the most. The whole 'woo' element with Joanne, holly, selena and Becca I just didn't get - it seemed a bit of a bolt on and didn't add anything to the story which couldn't have been achieved in other ways.

I ended up confused about how I felt about Chris and his relationship with Selena - was it actually just a fling for him? I don't think I felt that Julia actually would have gone and shagged him, so the whole element of the girl group relationship breaking down and them all wildly taking different directions to resolve an issue relatively minor, seemed unrealistic given the earlier descriptions.

So I guess I enjoyed the book, i found it pretty compelling but didn't get that utter immersion that normally spells a really magical book for me - but would readily pass it on with good reviews.

But thank you for selecting me and for getting a copy!

I really enjoyed it got immersed in it very quickly i have enjoyed all her books that i have read i look forward to the next one hint hint

I really enjoyed this book.It was like a grown up Malory Towers, with a whodunit twisted into the story.Yes, sometimes the 'OMG amazeballs' seemed a bit OTT, but it didn't detract from the overall enjoyment of the book.It was an ideal poolside read.

I was very pleased to receive this on my return from holiday and dutifully waded through to the end but have just ended up resentful that that is a week of my life I'm never getting back... Despite Stephen King's assertion otherwise, the prose was in no way "incandescent" - leaden more like (and with a lot of typos which I assume would be removed in the final sale version of the book). I found it impossible to empathise with any of the characters, though was slightly more interested in the story from the detective's point of view. The girls all just needed to get over themselves, and the few parts of their side of the story that I thought could go somewhere seem to be glossed over - for example much was made of their supernatural abilities initially to no real purpose. If like wilf83 you are about to start reading again I really wouldn't recommend this as the one to get you back in the saddle.

Brilliant cover though the book was a bit bulky to read comfortably in bed.
Being well out of my teens I thought at first I would find the language of the girls irritating but I soon got gripped by all the intrigues of the plot and had to keep finding time to get on with the story. I think the magicy element had to be in there to make the final confession after seeing Chris's ghost more realistic. I shall now seek out other books by this author and look forward to reading more of the same

I read the book very quickly on holiday and really enjoyed it. Tana French's description of the girls and school took me back to my teenage years in an all girls school. I found it wonderfully evocative.

I knew who the killer was long before the reveal but it didn't spoil the story. Agree with previous comments about the woo storyline. Perhaps it was included to make the sacrifice motive more realistic?

I'll be reading more of the author's books now. Thanks Mumsnet for sending me a copy.