What Amazon Says:

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.

A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we’re capable of, when we no longer know who we are.

What I Say:

This is the second book that I have read by Tana French. It is dark, depressing, and filled with very human very relatable characters who are not often likable. It takes a slow meandering pace full of nuances, red herrings, and back story and Ms. French keeps one guessing. I like that Ms. French got her idea of hiding a body in a witch elm from a real life mystery of Bella who's body was found in a trunk of an English Witch Elm in 1943. 

I also like the sly way Ms. French took a swipe at the treatment of women by the patriarchal medical establishment and by OB/GYN's in particular. If 3 stars is "I liked it" and 4 stars is "I liked this a lot" then I would rate this with 3.6 stars, but I'm bumping her up for this very timely bit of awareness raising. Reading time well spent.