I'd been delaying this read because it's my last in the Dublin Murder Squad series (shouldn't have read out of order oops), and BOY WAS I RIGHT to hold onto the magic! I really enjoyed this entry, it has absolutely everything I expect and love in a Tana French book—spooky setting, detectives with secrets and ulterior motives, and a spellbinding mystery. There's just something about a schoolyard murder mystery that gets me, and "The Secret Place" has a very "The Secret History" vibe to it, which is one of my favorite books period.

I loved/loved to hate the teenage characters here, and there's even a bit of nostalgia here remembering how weirdly complicated high school friendships could be. I was also properly shocked at the murderer reveal, which the flashback chapters did a good job concealing while still giving you enough to speculate (even if you were wrong like me).

The one thing I didn't love was the strange supernatural element in this book. I don't like supernatural elements in realistic stories as a general rule anyway, and here it just felt a little pointless; the girls were already close, and Tana French did a great job of binding them together without

Spoiler

the random discovery that they can all do magic?

But to have one flaw in an otherwise great book is forgivable; 5 stars for Tana color me shocked.