#4: The Witch Elm by Tana French

A young man survives a brutal home invasion, and retreats to his uncle's peaceful home to recuperate, only to have his life upended again when a body is found on the property in Tana French's The Witch Elm.

This taut thriller has a classic "unreliable narrator" hook, as the young man's memory gaps begin to make him wonder if he had something to do with the corpse (who turns out to be an old high school friend).  Two squabbling cousins, a dying uncle, and a questioning girlfriend stir the pot.

This one is a genuine puzzle right to the denouement, holding a surprise or two for the very end.  Satisfying characters and situations throughout, from a popular Irish crime writer.

I listened to this on audio book, on loan from the Henry County-New Castle Public Library in New Castle, Indiana.  Recommended.

#47: Faithful Place by Tana French

A cop returns to the old neighborhood when the body of his lost love is found, triggering buried secrets, in Tana French's Faithful Place, part of her Dublin Murder Squad series.

The cop reluctantly reconnects with his brothers, sisters, and parents, whose fractured family dynamics--the father is a dangerous alcoholic--had driven him away several decades before.  But another killing, much closer to his family center, forces him to stay and try to find out what happened to both people.

I had seen the first season of the TV show but not read the related novels; though the connections between the novels are somewhat tenuous, with minor characters in previous books becoming main protagonists in subsequent ones.

French's strengths are her writing about the family, and the deep psychological trauma that spins out from the poisonous center.  Her sense of place--so to speak--in this case a working-class neighborhood, adds value.

My wife is a big fan of French, but this is the first I've read.  I listened to a very good audiobook reading by Tim Gerard Reynolds.  I will definitely look for more of her writing.