The Witch Elm by Tana French is part suspense, part mystery, and part thriller. Toby has charm for days. He can talk his way around anything. He has a wonderful girlfriend and a great job, which he is hiding secrets at…but no one is getting hurt right? Well, he does. He comes home to burglars who beat him almost to death. Recovery takes a while and he struggles with his memory. After he is out of the hospital, he goes to his uncle Hugo’s home, who is dying. There he reminisces with his uncle and cousins…and a skull is found in the trunk of the old witch elm on the property. The detectives are relentless and Toby is a suspect…only he can’t remember if he is a murderer or not.

This is my first Tana French novel. I have so many of her books on my TBR, so it won’t be my last. I really enjoyed Tana French’s writing and how she really fleshes out each character. The characters aren’t all that likable…except for the girlfriend and Uncle Hugo. But I really liked Toby’s development–to a point. To be quite frank, he is an ass who thinks really highly of himself. The more he discovers about himself in the past brings up more anxiety and worry.

However, this book dragged. The beginning is strong…then it just fizzles. I had to force myself to keep listening to it. Then WHAM! There is a moment that took me by surprise, too bad it only took like 20 hours before it happened. The narrator, Paul Nugent, did a fabulous job! I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.